The Voice: Reflecting on Eliminations And Why I May Have Not Seen All of Season 1

 

I can’t hide the fact that I am addicted to Season 2 of The Voice.  I sometimes rearrange my whole schedule (band rehearsal and the like) so I can watch 2 hours of nail biting performances, while binging on fast food, taking shots whenever Blake says “tender” and telling my friends to shut the hell up because I can’t hear who is singing.

Confession: I didn’t watch all of Season 1 of The Voice.

There we have it. I watched clips online and YouTube, but I delved  into my music and just used the momentum to book shows do as much as possible.  A lot of people had things to say about my elimination, good and bad. Even now people come up to me with opinions on how I should’ve performed or sang to beat Nakia. I even had one person insist that it was my fault I lost because I didn’t take their input.  That is the way of the world. Everyone has an opinion. Hindsight is 20/20. What I know is I had the best time being part of the show and getting to be on Cee Lo’s team.

This season is bigger and the show has more credibility.  The artists performing are incredible. And America shares its opinion all of the time online via twitter, facebook and blogs.  I love reading the blogs.  I love seeing the artists involved in the show tweet.

My thoughts so far on how things are going:

• I am going to miss Moses Stone and Sera Hill. I really root for R&B and hip hop.  Sometimes I feel like R&B singers are the black character in a horror flick.
• I think it was funny to see honest emotions on twitter about people getting eliminated and how JUSTICE IS SERVED. that is all i will say on that.  But I mean, that is real.  It may not have been nice, but I was amused.  There are so many thoughts and feelings that run through the mind of anyone that has been eliminated off the show. I gave myself 3 days to be sad about it when I was eliminated last year. Its really not the end of the world, and being on the show has helped me out a lot. I can only imagine what it can do for Season 2.
• To the coaches: Coming to the rescue of one of your artists who is being bashed is beautiful, just don’t forget to do it for all of your team members.
• Ashley De La Rosa impressed the hell out of me. She is a totally different performer from when I first saw her.  Very interested to see her progress.
• I tend to get overly emotional and start screaming at my television when the bottom 3 are announced. I almost threw something at my tv, and then realized that i wouldn’t be able to watch the episode anymore.
• Christina looked really good during eliminations. She is refusing my advances but I think we could have beautiful afro-hawaiian mixed babies together.
• I don’t know who I want to win yet. Do you? There are a lot of good artists so far.
• I have a whole list of people who I think were robbed.  But I guess that is what makes good television… i.e. The Shield Brothers, Jonathas, Lex Land, Lee Koch, Anthony Evans… I just feel they should still be in the competition. I want these guys to succeed.

As a viewer, my opinion counts, and it doesn’t.  I just want to share my thoughts having been involved in a great show.  I hope many of you who have dreams of being a singer will try out for Season 3.

Anxiously waiting for the next eliminations.

The Voice Season 2 Episode 5 (final blind auditions)

Whitney Meyer - from Nevada. A flame haired beauty, who kind of looks black to me. She is a musician raised by an awesome musician dad. for her Blind Audition song she sings “No One”. I love her version. It was a mix of R&B and Sheryl Crow.  Making the song your own is very popular this season because she gets all 4 coaches to turn around, with Adam being the first coach, Xtina the last. Adam goes as far to say that Whitney could win the whole thing and he would be there for her. In the end, Whitney chooses Team Adam.

David Dunn – from Midland, Tx (TX STAND UP!!) this guy is from west texas, not too far away from where my family is. David feels he is the black sheep, as he is wants to break out of the family business of oil rigs to be a musician. his dad rubs me the wrong way when he says “david is following the music passion… we’ll see how long it lasts.” i’m sure he was just trying to be funny but it just sounded mean. For David’s Blind Audition, he sings The Man Who Can’t Be Moved (a very familiar song via XENIA season 1). His performance was nice, but you could tell by the shake in his voice he was extremely nervous. And unfortunately none of the judges turned around. Blake said he had to compare it to Xenia, and hearing the song takes him back there which sucks for David. SWEET MOMENT: Dad was the first to hug him.

The Shield Brothers - Tristan and Rory from Virginia. These dudes crack me up. They look like the party and dont give a shit about anything. They want to punch America in the face with rock n roll. For their Blind Audition, they sing Dancing With Myself.  I’m not familiar with this song at all.  They sound like a rock n roll group to me. I don’t feel this song particularly showed off their voices, but Cee Lo turned around and seemed to enjoy the performance. I did like how they ended their song. Lots of energy. TEAM CEE LO.

Cheesa - from Honolulu, HA. A fellow Hawaiian, which excites me. I feel so many Hawaiians have soul. For her Blind Audition she sings If I Were A Boy. She starts off in a low register, kind of like Toni Braxton would. Then as she got to the chorus, she belted it out like there was no tomorrow. Then she lets out the last of a phrase and there is a pause in the music. Cee Lo looks shocked like he wanted to push his button but wasnt sure if that was the end of the song. He pushes it, she sings one more sentence and she is on Team Cee Lo.

Preston Shannon - from Memphis, TN. 64 year old blues singer and for his Blind Audition he sings In The Midnight Hour. The dude is good. He’s got a gravely tone and a lot of confidence. You can tell he is no stranger to performing. And he’s incredible on the guitar. Unfortunately no one turned around for him. Adam lets out an expletive, to which Preston replies, “my sentiments exactly.”

Lex Land - from Austin, Tx (REPRESENT!!). a singer-songwriter who volunteers at a Girl’s Rock Camp. for her Blind Audition she sings If I Cant Make You Love Me. from the moment she begins, I smile. Smooth, sexy, and sultry. Then when Cee Lo and Adam both turn around, her nerves and complete bafflement take over and she fights to regain control. Adam says “she’s nervous”. Blake turns around. Carson says “she sounds nervous, but she’s still killing it.” FUCK WHAT YOU SAY I LOVE LEX. In the end, she goes with Team Blake.

Cameron Novack - from St. Louis, MO. this guy looks like a tall vampire. Maybe I watch a little too much Vampire Diaries and reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  For his Blind Audition, he sings You Oughta Know. Xtina immediately calls out Cee Lo’s name, I guess thinking that Cameron would be perfect for him. This guy definitely has his own style and power in his voice. No coaches turn around, and when they do they are all shocked by the way he looks. Adam is shocked that he isnt a woman. Cameron just looks pissed and then busts out a lil flow. Then there is the awkward moment where Adam calls out to the producers “Can we cheat?” getting everyone’s hopes up. Cee Lo reins the crowd back in with how that would ruin the integrity of the show.

Orlando Napier - an LA blues singer. Orlando grew up a reckless partier that spent a brief stint in jail over a bar fight. He recently calmed down a bit, and performs with his dad. For his Blind Audition he sings Waiting on the World to Change. Adam immediately turns around. And here is where Adam becomes the first coach to land his 12th and final artist.

Lee Koch - works in a bakery from California. This dude needs to be my best friend. I love bread and bread like substances. Will his music be as good as his baked goods? For his Blind Audition he sings Like A Rolling Stone. I dig this guys look and his voice. As soon as he started playing the harmonica, Xtina turned around. Good thing because that was it for his song. Xtina now has one more spot on her team.

Wade - 18 year old R&B singer from Alabama. he seems to have a positive spirit about him and I am excited. I’m already pulling for this dude. For his Blind Audition he sings Rehab. I love the rasp in his voice. Cee Lo turns around for him and doing so fills up Team Cee Lo! PREDICTION: I feel like in the BATTLE ROUNDS he is going to go against JAMAR ROGERS. They both have that awesome rasp. That Battle would be sick, but very sad at the same time.

Adley Stump – singing country music for 10 months from Tulsa, OK. For her Blind Audition she sings Last Name, a song I’m not familiar with it. She has power in her voice. At the last minute Blake and Xtina both turn around, to which Adley’s mom freaks out in the back and jumps on Carson Daly, straddling him. I rewound that part over a couple times because she has height in that jump. Haha. There is a bromance moment between Adam and Blake where Blake tells Adamhe loves him. Adam says I love you too, in a non sexual way. Blake replies he cant say the same.Good stuff. Good stuff. So who does Adley choose? Blake Shelton. So Blake fills his team with his 12th artist.

Sera Hill - from ATL, GA and from the get go we already know she is Team Xtina. She is the last performer of the night, so she has to be something special. for her Blind Audition she sings I’m Goin Down. When Xtina finally turns around, her family of course goes crazy. After her final note, Sera does a victory dance. Xtina soon grabs a mic, gets the band to play, and they rock out. A sweet moment in The Voice history. An impromptu duet with a coach during a Blind Audition. CRAZY!

So the teams are filled. Battle Rounds will be fought.

Everyone is amazing but these are my favorites:

RaeLynn, Juliet Simms, Jamar Rogers, Lex Land, Jonathas, Jesse Campbell, Wade, Gwen Sebastian,Sera Hill, James Massone, Lindsey Pavao… i know i’m missing some folks. But these are favorites so far, from one performance. I’m open to being swayed. 

Who are your favorites?

Any battle round predictions?