Team Xtina – Geoff Mcbride and Sera Hill singing Chain of Fools
Both of these artists are really great to me. Singing an old school song like Chain of Fools really seem to fit both Sera and Geoff. I really tried to focus on their voices and not so much the performance, which was good but I feel like they were both giving each other a lot of attitude which became distracting. They were definitely fighting to stay in the competition. Closing my eyes, they blended really well together. I feel they were evenly matched.
Coaches Pick:
Cee Lo: Geoff
Blake: Sera
Adam: Geoff
Xtina has final choice. She loves Geoff’s vocal power. She has respect for Sera as vocalist because of how technical her runs on. Xtina’s pick: Sera Hill
Team Blake – Lex Land and Charlotte Sometimes singing Pumped Up Kicks
Blake says he loves the song and realizes its not going to be easy but is confident they could do it. Blake says he paired them together because of their personalities: Charlotte, with a boisterous personality and Lex very introverted. Charlotte had 4 coaches turn around for her, and though Lex Land had 3, I had a feeling this battle was going to be really good. I wasn’t a fan of this song choice for either of them. They both have really great voices and good delivery. I was really drawn to Lex’s voice over Charlotte’s in the Battle.
Coaches Pick:
Xtina: undecided
Cee Lo: Charlotte
Adam: Lex
Blake has final choice. He says he loves Lex and how she delivers her notes, though she had 1 pitchy note. With Charlotte he says she has the look, which is what it takes in the industry, but she didn’t deliver like Lex Did. Blake’s pick: Charlotte
Team Cee Lo– Sarah Golden and Juliette Simms singing Stay With Me
Cee Lo says there is a contrast between their two voices with Juliette’s grit and Sarah’s smooth sound. Its funny though, Juliette says she has been called a female Rod Stewart; Sarah feels stylistically the song is a fit for Julia, so from the get go, Juliette seems like a sure win here. After a quick practice, Cee Lo said though Juliette sounds great, so does Sarah. During the battle, all I could notice at first was how great Juliette’s legs look. She definitely fit this song a lot more then Sarah Golden. Sarah was really solid and sang her heart out. It is ridiculous to me to pair a mellow folk singer versus a rock singer.
Coaches Pick:
Adam: Juliette
Blake: Sarah
Xtina: Juliette
The final pick goes with Cee Lo. He explains to Sarah that the song choice was a challenge she deserved to show the range of her vocal ability. But if he has to make a decision he goes with: Juliette
Team Adam– Whitney Meyer and Kim Yarbrough singing No More Drama
Adam feels they are both powerful singers and paired them for this reason. I like how they keep emphasizing that Kim has over 25 years of experience on Whitney. Is that in the music business or life? Because age doesn’t guarantee a win (see Geoff vs Sera). During the Battle Round, the song didn’t really pick up for me until they got to the end when they began harmonizing. At that point, they both had their A-game. Kim’s voice is huge kind of reminds me of Jennifer Hudson’s in how she delivers, which isn’t necessarily my style of music. Whitney kind of reminds me of Rihanna in her delivery, and I am a sucker for Rihanna.
Coaches Pick:
Blake: Carson Daly
Xtina: Kim
Cee Lo: Kim
The final pick goes with Adam. The Verdict: Kim
Team Xtina– Lee Koch and Lindsay Pavao singing Heart-Shaped Box
I have never heard of this song before so I no preconceived notions of how the song should sound. Lindsay is one of my favorite voices and Lee had such a dope performance during his Blind Audition AND he has a fro. During practice with Lee, it looked like Jewel and Xtina were not enjoying his performance, and suggested he really spend some time learning the song and pronouncing his words. During practice with Lindsay, Lionel and Xtina suggested she worked on her stage presence and getting out of her head, bringing some confidence to the stage. This was my first favorite performance of the night. They both were quite amazing and this song was so haunting. They took all of the advice from practice to heart and created such a great duet. This song fit them both so well.
Coaches Pick:
Cee Lo: Lee (he said no one outperformed the other and I agree with him. They were both good)
Adam: Lee
Blake: Lindsay
Final pick goes to Xtina. She picks Lindsay Pavao
Team Cee Lo– Jamar Rogers and Jamie Lono singing I Wanna Know What Love Is
Cee Lo says he was inspired by the both of them and feels their experiences will add to the performance. Jamar is another of my favorite voices from this season so though I enjoy Jamie Lono, I am really rooting for Jamar. Jamie had a little trouble during practice. His nerves were showing through and his voice cracked a few times, which I think was making him feel worse and worse as he progressed. Jamar’s practice seemed to go well, and Ne-Yo suggested he let all the emotion show and not focus entirely on the technicality of the song. The harmony in the beginning of Battle, was so dope. I felt like Jamar was singing his ass off in the song, but was also very respectful to his friend and didn’t over sing Jamie while he sang his verses.
Coaches Pick:
Adam – Jamar
Blake – Jamie
Xtina – Jamar
Final pick goes to Cee Lo. Cee Lo felt that Jamie was so nervous while Jamar displays power and confidence. The winner of the battle: Jamar
Any thoughts on the battles?
Any one get sent home unjustly?
Or do you agree with the coaches?
I was very unhappy with CeeLo’s pairings and song picks. I felt like both were very unfairly weighted to his favorite. A more fair pairing would have been Jaime versus Sara. Someone good would have still gone home, but the two of them doing a folky-rock song would have been a fair battle. Juliet versus the heavy metal brothers would have been a fair battle or even Juliet versus Angie. She could have still moved on, but it would have been fair. I love Jamar and so I’d want him to move on no matter what, but it just wasn’t fair.
My other big disappointment of the night was Adam’s pairing. I like both Whitney and Kim. But I felt pairing them was a disservice to Whitney. He TOLD Whitney she could win it all, begged her to be on his team, said he would do everything in his power to make it so she could win and then . . . paired her against one of his strongest singers on a song designed to showcase that other singer’s voice. Kim sold the song, and while her voice is a bit too generic for me, there’s no question she’s a powerhouse and deserves to be here. But I feel like Adam lied. Flat out lied to Whitney to get her on his team. I think if he hadn’t told her he’d do everything to help her win, I wouldn’t feel so bitter. Christina or Blake might have still axed her, but it wouldn’t have been so much a betrayal. Or had she picked CeeLo, a Whitney versus Sara Golden battle would have been epic. I don’t like liars, and this plus last season’s cutting of Rebecca Loebe and last week’s pairing that eliminated Chris Cauley has me firmly off Team Adam right now.
I think Lex has the nicer personality compared to Charlotte who said some pretty rude things. Charlotte comes off as fake and not very nice to be around. But Lex’s nerves got the better of her again, and Charlotte really did sell the song. Right call for Blake, but I’m still sad for Lex.
i love this comment. i agree that Adam comes off as deceiving in regards to Whitney. He said that he would help her win, but pairing her against Kim on a song tailored for Kim’s style was crazy. Kim performed her perfectly too. She fits that style to the T. her vocal power cant be denied. but whitney has a beautiful voice and a style that could’ve been featured in a better song where she could really show her range.
I didnt like the song choice for Charlotte and Lex Land. Pumped Up Kicks is a fun song, but that song doesnt show off vocal range for Foster The People either. Its basically the same 3 notes. I know Charlotte cant possibly be as cocky and negative as she appeared on tv. She mightve just said some things in a joking tone that added to the drama. She came off a little mean. But we will see. I am sad to see Lex go too. I am a big fan.
Sarah should not have been paired against Juliette in my opinion. Cee Lo shouldve paired The Shield Brothers against Juliette. I think that wouldve been an epic rock battle. Great thought you had there!
I feel the hand of the producers in these pairings and picks. Almost every battle has gone to the younger and/or prettier face, not necessarily the best voice. I’m wondering if they’re trying to avoid the ignominy of having a 40-something, bald lesbian in the final round again. Sure she had a voice like Roger Daltrey and Janis combined, and the stage presence of all of KISS combined, but they’ve got Kias to sell! They need pretty faces!
Last year, the judges found the voices and made them shine. They’ll need to change the name of this show to “the Face” by season 3.