The Voice Crowns It's First Winner

And the winner is....  

Really? Do I have to go there?  

Ugh, as I have stated all season, Javier Colon does nothing for me - he is just more of the same.  So instead of going for someone amazing and really outrageous, like Beverly, Dia, or Vicci, America chooses Javier?  And to think that only 2 percent of the votes separated the top two, is mind-boggling to me.  What a Hot Mess!  I'm sorry America, but you always get it wrong! Always!

About the only good thing about last night's results show, were the duets the finalists sung with people other than their coaches.  Beverly McClellan sang, "Good Life" with Ryan Tedder from One Republic, Dia Frampton sang, "The House That Built Me" with Blake Shelton's wife, Miranda Lambert, Vicci Martinez sang, "Drops of Jupiter" with Pat Monahan, the lead singer from Train, and Javier Colon sang, "Landslide" (how fitting) with Stevie Nicks.

Other than that, you can catch the Top 8 contestants, Xenia Martinez, Nakia, Frenchie Davis, Casey Weston, Javier, Dia, Beverly, and Vicci, as they kick off their summer tour in Los Angeles on July 27th.  Regardless of the ouctome, Ryan and I really did like the show, and we're looking forward to the second season in 2012.

Feel free to watch last night's duets after the jump if you're interested. Their coaches really did say some nice things to their young artists. Enjoy!

The Voice: Final Performances

You know I'm going to be straight-forward with you.  

All season long I've been saying how great The Voice has been with the production, time, and sets of the show, but last night's 2-hour-long fiasco was a bit much.

The coaches commenced the show with another performance by Queen, "Under Pressure." It really wasn't that great, and when you have to see them again on stage singing with their team finalist, it kinda makes you wonder, is this promotion really necessary?  Geez, the judges have gotten more airtime than the contestants.  They also had a Ne-Yo duet with Pit Bull, and a Brad Paisley performance on top of that.

For their final performance, each of the contestants sang an original song.  Many online sites, including my partner, Ryan, mentioned that they should have sang a cover instead of an original.  I could "maybe" agree with that, but then again, I can't.  If you would have given one of these original songs, to let's say, Adam Lambert, or hell, all of the judges - they would have belted these same songs out like there were no tomorrow.  Seriously, if you cannot take an original song, and make it your own, then you have some problems.

Let's watch the performances:

Javier Colon sang "Stitch by Stitch" written by Rodney Jerkins.  Honestly, I was falling asleep listening to this number.  First, the title sounds like something out of Disney's Lilo & Stitch, and finally, like I've said it all season long.  He's just "more of the same."  Nothing unique about his voice.  If he wins, its because of "fan favorites," and not-so-much "an out of this world" performance.

Vicci Martinez sang "Afraid To Sleep" written by Butch Walker. In my opinion, this was the worst of the night.  "Afraid To Sleep," really?  You probably had difficulty sleeping last night, after this hot mess.  At this point, I'm really disappointed with the contestants.

Dia Frampton sang "Inventing Shadows" written by Frasier T. Smith.  If I had to rank last night's performances based on this song, I'd have to say Dia would be in the top 2.

 

Beverly McClellan sang "Lovesick" written by Bill Appleberry. Obviously the best performance of the night, Beverly actually sang the song like all the others should have.  My guess is, favoritism will decide the winner, and not so much their talent.

Team Cee Lo vs. Team Adam on The Voice

While I commend the producers of "The Voice" on the great progress the show has made, I'd have to say I was rather disappointed with both teams this week.

If this had been the semi-finals, Team Christina and Team Blake would have "owned" Team Cee Lo and Team Adam. I am shocked at the way these guys performed last night.  They should have been the top two teams.

The two-hour episode started out with Carson Daly revealing the first 2 contestants who made it through to the semi-finals next week.  Ryan and I laughed, because afterwards, Carson stated that it only took 5 minutes to reveal the results, when in reality, it was more like 13 minutes.  Christina Aguilera just couldn't keep her damn mouth shut. As I predicted last week, Frenchie Davis and Beverly McClellan made it through, and you can easily see why by catching their performances right here.

At the end of the show, Blake Shelton learned his team's fate, and what seemed to be disappointed look on his face, when he found out America voted for Dia Frampton.  I think he was upset with America choosing Dia, because he then had no chance of saving Xenia, whom you could tell in his heart of hearts, sees something in her that nobody else does.  That was exactly what I told my partner, Ryan last week.  

Blake knew Jared Blake and Patrick Thomas were great, but he shocked America last night by choosing the girl he loved most, Xenia.  And I can't say I blame him, I would have done the exact same thing.  Hey, at least I got 3 out of my 4 predictions correct - woo, hoo!

So just like last week....

Each of the contestants sang a solo performance, and then later in the evening, they performed as a group.  In this particular case, it was Cee Lo and Adam Levine.

Only one person from each of the teams will be able to advance depending on the viewers votes, but another one will advance solely on the judge's discretion.  What does all this mean?  It means Cee Lo will lose half his team and Blake will lose half his team.  I loved it last week, and I love it again this week.

As with Christina and Blake last week, the judges provided one-on-one coaching, and they spent some time getting to know their contestants.  Cee Lo chilled at the spa with his team.

Watch the performances, and my reviews after the jump...

Team Christina vs. Team Blake on The Voice

I love the way the producers have handled The Voice in comparison to the sloppiness that is American Idol.  With American Idol you feel like the show drags on, and on, and on.  

So this is how the performances work this week....

To start out, the live show is only one night a week, not two nights like American Idol, thank God! Carson Daly informed us last night that each of the contestants would sing a solo performance, and then later in the evening, perform as a group. Little did we know, their group performance also included their judge, which I truly believe was a creative idea on their part.  

Only one person from each of the teams will be able to advance depending on the viewers votes, but another one will advance solely on the judge's discretion.  What does all this mean?  It means Christina will lose half of her team and Blake will lose half of his team.  I'm loving this already.  Can you imagine having to wait for each contestant to be voted off one by one?  Not in The Voice's case, they got it together, it seems like.

Before the contestants sang for their lives, the judges belted out a few of Queen's hits, which was quite entertaining.  And another thing great about the show, is the judges' willingness to know their team.  Not only do they provide the one-on-on coaching the contestants desperately need, they spend a good amount of time together, going out to dinner and such.  I thought that was impressive.

Okay, so before we get started on the performances, let me reiterate.  Each judge will lose half of their team, one contestant chosen by the viewers and one contestant chosen by their judge will advance.  Next week Christina will only have 2 people on her team, and the same goes for Blake.  Adam Levine and Cee Lo Green's teams will be performing next week, and the same rules will apply.

Watch the performances, and my reviews after the jump...

The Battle Rounds - Week 2

I won't bore you with the whole process of how the competition works, because I already explained it last week, but I will say...   

Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, and Adam Levine didn't really have any hard decisions to make this week.  Each pairing had a very strong contestant and a weaker one.  I look forward to next week's round, because the previews show some "very hesitant" judges not wanting to pick their winner. Could be interesting.  If you missed Battle Week - Round 1 - click here.

In the following video, Tje Austin and Nakia battle it out, singing, "Closer" by Ne-Yo

Nakia knocks it out of the ballpark.  At first I thought Tje was going to take it home.  But Nakia's voice is so damn powerful. He had me in his pocket the moment he belted out the first words.  My fingers were crossed and Cee Lo agreed!  I'm 4-1 counting last week's results.

In the following video, Elenowen and Jared Blake battle it out, singing, "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tami Terrell

There wasn't no competition here, Jared had this in the bag, hands down.  He felt the couple were at an advantage, because there were 2 of them, but I disagreed with him, and agreed with Blake Jackson on this one. 5-1

In the following video, Angela Wolff and Javier Colon battle it out, singing, "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King

My favorite performance of the night.  Javier took this one home, and rightly so.  His voice rocks.  Angela held her own, and she did amazingly well, but Javier outshined her in every aspect of their performance.  They did sound great together though. Adam Levine seemed to agree.  6-1.

In the following video, Beverly McClellan and Justin Grennan battle it out, singing, "Baba O'Riley" by The Who

Beverly was the bomb.  She showed her strength and absolutely took this home.  She showed great desire and heart was in her performance.  I felt Justin lost his pitch several times and kinda floundered towards the end. 7-1

I ended week two of the Battle Rounds and stand with a 7-1 record! Woohoo!!