"The Voice" - Season 7 (spoilers?)

[Himm2]

I was disappointed that Adam picked Mia over Alessandra Castronovo and that no one was willing to steal her:
[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=600u9W67iKI [/video]
I guess Alessandra reminded me a lot of Haley Reinhart.

[mercfan3]

She reminded me of her during that performance as well. Not her voice at all, but her movement and looks a bit. I could understand why he took Mia, but I preferred Alessandra too.

Also, WTF is Pharrell doing?

I like a lot of them this season. Top 3 is probably Taylor Phelan, Reagan James, and Bryana Salaz.

But I also like Chris Jamison (a lot, he'd be number four), Matt M., James Taylor Williams (although I really did enjoy Troy's performance tonight), Anita..and Danica. (I think Katriz should have been stolen as well..)

[mercfan3]

So, I started this thing at the IDF forums.

This girl Rebekah Samarin...made it to the knockouts of the Voice. And she probably had about 3 seconds of air time. Probably the meanest thing The Voice has ever done or will do.

Thing is...she has an absolutely stunning recording voice. (Beautiful girl too, for those that care about that. )

So, here is her blind audition song..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3BCnB0MRRE

And for anyone interested, I'm trying to get as many people as possible to purchase her song, tomorrow after 10ET. For one, it would be cool if her song charted a little bit. She's the only contestant in the history of the show to make it three rounds and not get to see her song have a chance to chart, which I'm sure is a fun aspect of the show. Also..it's a little bit of a message to the producers of.."that wasn't cool..don't do it again."

So it's only two bucks..and if you like the cover (even if you don't feel like purchasing the itunes, it's a beautiful cover..take a listen..) please think about participating.

Here is the cover (A Case of You)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3BCnB0MRRE

(Here's a Sam Smith cover)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avxVrqXnB50

[Tom22]

Hey Merc. I'm really enjoying the quality of all the remaining contestants.

I have a bit different taste in music than a large segment of the population so my opinion isn't really any attempt to say "I'm right"

I just don't hear much to enjoy in the linked performances you give above and I really enjoyed performances of the contestants that remained instead of her.

So, perhaps it was 'mean" not to let her be heard and perhaps attract some new fans. It was mean if there was no other reason beyond singing quality as certainly she was good enough to be heard (I just have got to think there was some personality dispute between her or her agents and the show producers ... that's the only thing I could imagine... but perhaps it was just mean and unfair.. we can't really know though).

All in all, I agree with almost all the coaches picks each season on the voice. Some are close calls certainly

All in all I share the tastes that the coaches see far more than I share the taste of Michael Slezak (who I often sharply disagree with) or the tsaste than the average person in the blog comment section.

The only time I felt injustice on the show was the way they handled the voting fiasco in season 3 ... because I felt that they didn't really let viewers pick the top 2 when they didn't count the text or computer votes. And that sense of injustice wasn't about who the coaches picked for their own personal teams .. which should be who they as professionals would like to work with(IMO). It was really more about voting systems and public acceptance of voting anomalies in society at large not about singing shows that rubbed me wrong there.

[mercfan3]

Oh, I have no problem with her exiting the show. It's just, in 7 seasons of the Voice, she's the only contestant to make it three rounds and not have at least one performance shown. That's what I had a problem with. I prefer her recording voice to many of the contestants remaining, but that wasn't my problem with what happened.

As for the voting issues..just so you know (because it actually happened again in season 6..in the finale..) what happens is, every once in a while, itunes screws up..and people are unable to buy a contestants song. Because of this, The Voice will throw out the itunes votes. Now, that sounds bad..but really, the itunes votes don't make a difference. They are usually accurate, because it's a sample size. But truthfully, we're talking about 1,000 to 10,000 votes, in the playoffs. And when you consider that individuals can vote up to 30 times in other ways..mathematically, it doesn't make a difference.

I'm not even sure it would make a difference if the multiplier came into play..(As, contestants have been able to easily pass over other contestants who had the multiplier difference. Chamuel passed over Amber Carrington and The Swons, Jake Worthington passed over Christina Grimmie, and Carson has confirmed that Christina Grimmie had passed over Kristen Merlin.) but The Voice has been lucky in that the two times the show has had this error, the multiplier didn't come into play.

As for the contestants this season..in general, I think they are very good..but many aren't my taste. It's a plethora of White Guys With Guitars. I've been spoiled in that I adored Michelle, and had two bluesy rock singers in a row the next two seasons. No such luck here. And I'm concerned a lot of my favorites are going to go home this week. (Bryana, Taylor P., Chris Jamison..I think I could lose two out of the three..)

On a completely different note, Gwen Stefani has shown herself to be a fantastic coach. The improvement in all of her contestants, both vocally and stage presence wise, is huge. Her song picks, IMO, have been great. She also had an ear for talent and even though she didn't get all the four chair turns, entered the playoffs with the strongest team (IMO) and had 9 out of the 20 people competing had once been on her team. I love all of the coaches, but she's shown she's really good at this, and really likable. (I found Usher to be extremely impressive too.)

[Himm2]

I Definately liked Haley & Casey's cover better than this on the Voice last night:

[mercfan3]

I really like Anita. She's very entertaining. I like Taylor John Williams as well. His tone is really pretty, and something about it is shocking when it comes out of him. Plus, he makes really interesting musical choices.

But obviously, Haley's version is better than all other versions.

I actually think it would be adorable for Casey and Haley to duet on "Stuck In The Middle With You." (Taylor's song)

[Tom22]

I really like Anita. She's very entertaining. I like Taylor John Williams as well. His tone is really pretty, and something about it is shocking when it comes out of him. Plus, he makes really interesting musical choices.

But obviously, Haley's version is better than all other versions.

I actually think it would be adorable for Casey and Haley to duet on "Stuck In The Middle With You." (Taylor's song)

I love the original of that song.. didn't love Haley and Casey's and definitely didn't love Anita's (for one thing.. I could use a bit more booty on both girls (hubba hubba?)and while Haley and Anita have some curves...not sure they're conscious enough of it to truly embrace the emotion with full ownership) .... I'm usually not into "studio sound" but I think it suits some songs .. "All about that Bass" particularly. (might add blurred lines and fun too)

RE voice voting irregularities.. No the one I speak of wasn't about itunes.. i can forgive itunes.. it was about only counting phone dial ins when that is an antiquitate notion for many.. and certainly skewed against some demographic groups (younger, more affluent, more likely to be from suburban areas of large cities rather than in-urban or more rural. or southern cities). It only happened once but the response still bothers me. It was at this critical cut stage too yet again it was't the results but the response and the "guarantee it wouldn't have changed results".
Had they qualified or given details on that second part in a separate press release perhaps they could have had the data that convinced me (they didn't need to release actual numbers but explain how they were able to get a glimmer of failed votes, look at past relationships of voting patterns and perhaps refute my premise that there are different voting patterns).

lol obviously that's still a hot button issue for me... perhaps it belongs in the "other subjects thread but I'll leave it to that paragraph ... too much "cronyism" and "fix is in" in society at large the last 10 years after a pretty good relative hiatus for 30 years after the 60's revolts.

RE STUCK in the Middle With you !

Yes ! I'd love to hear Haley and Casey do that one! I bet it would be the "best 'evhah" !

[Tusk]

You are a conundrum Tom, often talking (essays?) about enjoying the textures of this and the resonance of that, The clarity of sound in a performance, how a fan video is distracting because the audio is not just so.....but you like this better?


How because the girl doesn't have the prerequisite curves she couldn't possibly give the song it's needed interpretation? Really?

I couldn't get through the video mostly because of her voice (probably why she ends up talk/singing in most of it)

[My Alter Ego]

Tusk, I agree with you regarding Meghan Trainor's voice. Nails on chalkboard would be more pleasant (-- and, no, I don't find anything charming about that sound. Of course, since chalkboards probably no longer exist, maybe the younger members here, have no idea what that sounds like).