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 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 3

Now this is what I'm talking about!  This week's Battle Rounds was fantastic!  Loved each pairing, and the battles were tough. If you've missed the previous two rounds, don't worry, because I have posted "Battle Round - Week 1" here, and "Battle Round - Week 2" here.  Next week is the final Round before the contestants go live in front of a large television audience, where we will decide their fate.  Not sure how this portion will work, but I'm sure they'll explain it as they did the Battle Rounds segment. 

As with the previous two rounds, Sia, Reba McEntire, Adam Blackstone, and Monica were back to help the judges with their contestants.  They offered advice, and suggested a few changes to their styles of singing; a few of them were nervous, but so were the judges.

In the following video, Julia Eason and Raquel Castro battle it out, singing, "Only Girl" by Rihanna

I didn't take me long to decide on this one.  Raquel looked intimidated by tiny Julia Eason who was kicking her ass on the song.  But it wasn't just the singing, it was the outgoing personality Julia contributed to the performance.  Luckily for Christina, she agreed with me on this. 8-1

In the following video, Serabee and Dia Frampton battle it out, singing, "You Can't Hurry Love" by The Supremes

Wow, what a tuffie!  It was the preacher girl against the soft-spoken angel.  While Dia didn't belt it out like she was in the church choir down in the Bible belt, she held her own and was consistent throughout her performance.  It didn't take long for Blake Shelton to make his decision, during the mentoring session he stressed how much he didn't like loud singers or runs.  While most of America probably would have chosen Serabee, I chose Dia.  I don't know why, there's just something about her that I like. I lie. I do know why.  She's a damn good singer!  A little soft, but she was able to stand up to that preacher girl.  She was "Born This Way" dammit! 9-1

In the following video, Rebecca Loebe and Devon Barley battle it out, singing, "Creep" by Radiohead

OMG - definitely the best performance of the night!  I'm surprised Adam chose two of his best singers to perform against each other.  I think he knew he made a mistake, and it was too late to change his mind.  At one point he stated he couldn't pick anyone, but in the end he had to.  And he chose Devon.  There's something about him being the son of two doctors who want him to go to school instead of following his dream, that makes it bittersweet. Rebecca and Devon really sounded great together - they would make a cute couple too :-) 10-1

In the following video, Kelsey Rey goes up against sisters, Tori and Taylor Thompson battling it out to "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield 

What the hell crawled up Cee Lo's ass!?! Seriously!  Kelsey took this to the bank and back, and he chooses the Thompson sisters?  Really?  Where were you when they won "American Juniors?"  They still suck - nothing's new.  This was definitely disappointing. 10-2

Remember! Next week is the final Battle Round; Make sure to watch it!