Category Archives: Performance Shows

The Voice Battle Showdown Deux

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Laura L | 1 Comment

Another round of big voices dukeing it out in the ring. Lets get to this, shall we?

Xtina tells her team that Geoff McBride and Sera Hill will be the first match up tonight. The will be singing Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin. (Have I ever mentioned I named my car Aretha? She is a diva and she ain’t afraid to flaunt it). Geoff gets to work with Lionel, and he is a bit starstruck. Sera gets some pointers from Jewel. In battling it out in the ring I was impressed with the precision of Sera’s voice in her runs. She is a technical, polished vocalist, and while Geoff has the power, he lacks the precision. I would choose Sera in this matchup. And clearly Xtina agrees with me, and she also chooses Sera.

On TEAM BLAKE, Charlotte Sometimes goes against Lex Land singing Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People. Charlotte gets to train with Kelly C, Lex gets to train with Miranda. Between these two ladies, I think Lex is the most versatile, although Charlotte is probably better on tv. Blake picks Charlotte for his team, and Lex seems so sad. Aww.

On TEAM CEELO, Sarah Golden and Juliet Simms will battle it out with Rod Stewart’s Stay With Me. Sarah gets to train with Babyface, and Juliet trans with NeYo. It is pretty clear Juliet has the more interesting tone. I don’t think there is much more Sarah could do – she did the best she could with the song she was given. The harmonies and arrangement were great though. CeeLo chooses Juliet, of course.

In the land of TEAM ADAM, it is Whitney Myer vs. Kim. They are singing No More Drama by Mary J. Blige. Whitney gets to train with Alanis. She over thinks many things and seems to have confidence issues. Kim trains with Robin Thicke which she surprisingly seems pretty excited about. Whitney seems really nervous at the beginning and her voice waivers a bit. The blending of both of their voices on this duet is the worst of all the battle rounds that we’ve seen so far. For once, I was not a fan. Adam chooses the obvious choice and goes with Kim.

Back with Xtina, she pairs up Lyndsay Pavao and Lee Koch. She assigns them Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana. Lee is training with Jewel, and he appears to be struggling with the song and the performance. Lyndsay trains with Lionel and she learns she needs to work on stage presence. This is a very dark haunting song for this pair of indie singers. I don’t love either of these two after this performance. Not great! But Xtina goes with Lyndsay, who I do feel was better suited for the song.

Last up, CeeLo pairs up Jamar Rodgers and Jamie Lono to sing I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner. Jamie, who had a great audition with Folsom Prison Blues, is very nervous and has voice crack issues. He trains with Babyface, who tries to give him some pointers. Jamar gets to work with NeYo. Jamar is the clear winner of the duo, and I think he would have been even more successful with a different partner. It is too bad Jamie was sort of set up for failure with this matchup. CeeLo goes with the obvious choice–Jamar.

This weeks battles weren’t as impressive as last week. It wasn’t for fault of the singers, but more so the song choice or matchup being severely uneven. We are halfway through the battles, so we’ll see what next week brings. I can’t wait to get to live voting!

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Posted in Performance Shows, The Voice

Stevie, Whitney, and Randy Jackson’s bedazzled lapel button (Top 13)

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Laura L | 8 Comments

Guys are singing Stevie, Girls are singing Whitney.

At the beginning of the show, Ryan announces a little rule change-up. As if there wasn’t enough boy vs. girl already on this show, even into the finals they will compete head to head. tomorrow they will reveal the bottom girl and bottom guy, and the judges will choose who goes home. Sounds very X-Factor. Hmmm.

1. JOSHUA LEDET

I Wish by Stevie Wonder

Um, the awkward dancing I can’t handle. It was a little out of control. But in kind of a good way. Despite the manic dancing the vocals were quite controlled (much more than Lusky Stank ever was). I think there is a place for this kid to go far in this competition.

RATING:

2. ELISE TESTONE

I’m Your Baby Tonight by Whitney Houston

First, I think Jimmy steered her in a better direction with this song, although Whitney isn’t exactly compatible with her voice. But that is what happens when they ask the ladies to do the unthinkable and sing songs they shouldn’t touch. She did ok with it, although admittedly there wasn’t a whole lot of originality brought to the interpretation.

RATING:

+1/2

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Posted in American Idol, Idol 11, Performance Shows

The Voice Battle Showdown!

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Laura L | 1 Comment

The battle rounds! We are cutting the 48 down to 24 people…these are going to be some brutal cuts, I think.

On TEAM ADAM the first match up consists of Tony Lucca Vs. Chris Cauley and they are singing Beautiful Day. Tony is mentored by Alanis…and she is pretty freaking awesome. Chris gets mentored by Robin Thicke, who likes to wear sunglasses inside, apparently. In their performance both of these guys were quite amazing and very comparable. But TONY LUCCA wins the battle.

On TEAM BLAKE, his first matchup is Adley Stump vs Raelynn singing Free Fallin’. Raelynn is mentored by Miranda Lambert, who Raelynn was super pumped to meet. Adley gets to be mentored by KC herself! I would be way more pumped to meet Kelly than Miranda (sorry, Miranda). In their performance it seemed that Adley was the much stronger singer, both in pitch and pipes. However, Blake decides that RAELYNN wins the battle. I think she started out very weak, and even though she came around in the end, I don’t think she deserved to win this one.

Next up is TEAM XTINA. Chris Mann vs Monique are going to sing the forbidden Celine with the Power of Love. Chris gets mentored by Lionel Ritchie, and Monique gets mentored by Jewel. In their performance, I don’t think they harmonized together too well. Individually, they were both strong, but they felt a little off kilter together. I actually think Monique won the battle in the performance. But Xtina takes CHRIS MANN as the winner.

For TEAM CEELO, Cheesa is paired with Angie Johnson. They will be singing Total Eclipse of the Heart. In their first rehearsal, they seemed a little petty and competitive with each other. Cheesa has the opportunity to meet with Babyface for her mentoring opportunity, while Angie gets to meet with Ne-Yo. This is a badass battle between these two divas. Angie was more technically accurate on this, but Cheesa had more passion. CeeLo goes with CHEESA as the winner.

Back with TEAM BLAKE, it’s Jordis Unga vs. Brian Fuente. They will be singing Ironic by Alanis. So much Alanis tonight! Brad gets to meet with Kelly, who is basically all sorts of awesome. Jordis meets with Miranda, and she is too in her own head. They tell her to stop thinking and just sing. In the performance, these guys did not harmonize well together, either. The key change between verses was awkward. But Jordis definitely wins out on this battle. She was way stronger. And Blake agrees…he chooses JORDIS UNGA.

On TEAM XTINA, Anthony is battling Jessie Campbell with Alicia Keys’ If I Ain’t Got You. Jessie gets to rehearse with Lionel Ritchie, and Anthony rehearses with Jewel. They don’t show Anthony meeting Jewel because he probably only knows her from the Intuition razor commercials. This gets the award for the most mismatched contestant/mentor pairing of the evening. As for the performance itself, it was pretty amazing. They definitely saved the best for last. Neither of these guys should go home, because they are both so strong. But Xtina has the tough decision, and she goes with JESSIE CAMPBELL.

So we only saw 6 matchups tonight, and there will be a total of 24. Will it really take us 3 more weeks before we reach the live shows? Man this show moves at such a snail’s pace! Even though it is done well, there are way too many contestants on this show.

That said, this battle round is rough. It is obvious that two similar (in genre or style) contestants get paired together to preserve the diversity of the team. I don’t know if this is producer-driven or judge-driven. I think it is advantageous to the judge to keep the absolute best contestants regardless of the genre or style, so I assume this is a producer choice. Either way, I am enjoying this show overall, but I am getting impatient to move forward with the whole shebang.

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Posted in Performance Shows, The Voice

Guys Semi Finals: Surprise! Jermaine is Back.

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Laura L | 1 Comment

Wow, our first live show! I thought it would never get here. Idol has a fancy pants new stage, too, and Ryan is dressed to match. Tonight the guys perform and they are all aiming to be in the top 5. The top 5 guys and girls move forward into the finals, and the remaining contestants have to fight for a wildcard spot from each of the judges, which will round out the top 13.

1. REED GRIMM

Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5

Glad to see that the Voice/Idol crossover continues on the other side of the coin, as well. Reed shows America the wonder of the cheese curd, and now I am extremely hungry for cheese. The performance itself started out well, and I liked the swagger he brought, but then the standing drum set, the scatting, the galloping all over the stage–well it all got a bit over the top for me. Simon would have called it horrendous. The current judges seemed to love it. I am somewhere in the middle. Dude just needs to calm down a bit.

RATING:

2. ADAM BROCK

Think by Aretha Franklin

I want to say it is an original choice for him to sing a large black woman’s song, but since the producers constantly remind us that he has one living inside him, it is almost a predictable choice. His voice has power but the shades of his voice are not that extensive. He has a good shot of making the finals but he definitely won’t win this thing. The performance was adequate but “I’m not jumping out my chair.”

RATING:

+1/2

3. DEANDRE BRACKENSICK

Reasons by Earth Wind and Fire

When he is in the lower falsetto he lacks control. Unfortunately the verses of this song showcased that weakness. I understand that some people might like this vocal technique (Hello, JLo), but I personally do not enjoy him at all. However, I liked the last note that he belted in his lower range. I feel like I could like him if he sings more of that. But for now, not really a fan.

RATING:

4. COLTON DIXON

Decode by Paramore

I love him. Like, A LOT. I think he is really talented, both vocally and musically in general. I think girls will like him, and he could be radio friendly in some “I wanna be emo but really I’m mainstream” type band.

RATING:

+1/2

5. JEREMY ROSADO

Gravity by Sara Barellies

Um, that was bad. I was not impressed with his voice. I was never impressed by any of his performances throughout the audition process actually–I always thought he was carried by his group. They let David Leathers go for this guy? Because I can’t be totally mean, the performance was technically proficient. He didn’t sing off-key or anything. But his voice is weak and the stage and the backing vocals just seemed to swallow him up. In this stiff competition, I doubt he makes the cut.

RATING:

6. Aaron Marcellus

Never Can Say Goodbye by The Jackson 5

I enjoy his voice, and I enjoy the song choice, but did he miss the memo that choosing a song with “goodbye” in the title is the ultimate Idol kiss of death? Dude will definitely not make it. And in a season where the guys category appears to be well populated with male black soulful singers, someone is going to have to get the boot. He is generic and didn’t really get enough buzz or face time to be memorable. But don’t worry, Aaron, i am still a fan!

RATING:

+1/2

7. Chase Likens

Storm Warning by Hunter Hayes

Blah. Blah Blah. He was cast as the requisite male country artist, but in the standard of the real world, there is no way he could have a career in country music. He is just one in a million guys. There is nothing unique about him. Proficient? Yes. On Key? Yes. But I was just so bored.

RATING:

8. Creighton Fraker

True Colors by Cyndi Lauper

I hope he can act because he will be great on Broadway. There is no way he makes the cut tonight, though. I just don’t see what type of fan base he will find on this show. Good voice and good control. I love his range, too. Maybe with a different song I would feel differently, but I just can’t see him on this show. And what is up with the faux-hawks this season?

RATING:

9. Phillip Phillips

In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins

This kid is Dave Matthews. Or really trying to emulate him anyway. He pulls it off quite well, and I would actually love to see him sing some Dave (or a song Dave covered, which would be cool.) There was much buzz on twitter about him winning the whole thing because he is a white guy with a guitar, and they certainly have a track record. But I’m still thinking positive and rooting for the ladies tonight. As for Phil’s performance, he does need to stick to the melody a bit more and will eventually need to change up his shtick as to not get boring throughout the next few months. But he definitely has staying power.

RATING:

10. EBEN FRANCKEWITZ

Set Fire To The Rain by Adele

Let me reiterate…they sent home David Leathers for this guy? Really? He is 15, he looks 11. He chooses to sing Adele and absolutely fails. I hated the whole thing. His emotions are totally flat, his voice is very juvenile, and he was singing under pitch. Maybe there is a place for him in the world of Radio Disney, but he seems like he might even be too uncool for that. Hate to bash a little kid like this but he is absolutely not ready for this.

RATING:

11. Heejun Han

Angels by Robbie Williams

Maybe if he sticks around he will earn enough money to by real lenses for his glasses. Overall, I am on the fence about this guy. He is mostly on pitch, but there is something off about his style. Maybe it is his pronunciation or lack of enunciation, but his performances seem a little sloppy. I really want to like him, and sometimes he surprises me, but I could live without him in the finals.

RATING:

12. Joshua Ledet

You Pulled Me Through by Jennifer Hudson

Amen Brotha! In the last few seasons we have had some gospel singers on the stage (Lusky Stank, anyone?) but this guy is the best, most powerful, and most moving one of all of them. I may not be a fan of gospel or r&b singing in general, but I recognize his talent. I am rooting for him to make it through.

RATING:

13. Jermaine Jones

Dance With My Father by Luther Vandross

Surprise! Jermaine is back! I was still rooting for David Leathers, but it is a good story that he (and his mama) came back. However, I hate that he chose this overdone and totally predictable song. Nothing off-key or anything, I was just bored. Blah. I would like to see him on a much more creative song choice. Plus, I like how he makes Ryan look like a midget. And he got the pimp spot, so he might squeak through.

RATING:

+1/2

Tonight was a bit lackluster for me. My favorite by far was Colton Dixon–he might even be my favorite of the whole competition, but I will reserve judgement until I watch the girls (I know…me have a guy favorite? That hasn’t happened since Daughtry!)

I also think PhilPhil will do well in the competition, but is the world ready for the second coming of DMB? Not sure. My top 5 guys would be Adam, Colton, Jacob, Phillip, and Aaron, but Jermaine will make it in place of Aaron. I doubt it will actually go down this way–my ability to predict the idol voting population has significantly decreased in recent seasons.

Looking forward to the ladies, who will likely (fingers crossed) outshine the guys.

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Posted in American Idol, Idol 11, Performance Shows

America picks, and is stuck in the Clinton Administration (Top 4)

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Laura | Leave a comment

Yep, Rachel Crow left last week. And although apparently America voted her off, Nicole could have singlehandedly changed this outcome. But alas, she effed it up for everyone, and was crying harder than a 13-year-old girl…literally.

#impeachnicole

But this is all old news, and tonight we get to hear the Pepsi choice song that was mysteriously pushed back from last week. Spoiler alert: America sucks at choosing songs.

1. Marcus Canty		I’ll Make Love To You by Boyz II Men – I suppose I can’t fault him for song choice, so I guess I’ll fault America. FAIL America. Fail. And the performance? The dancers? Not a fan. It all just drowned out the mediocre vocal stylings.
2. Chris Rene		Fly by Sugar Ray – Chris is never good doing covers. And of all the covers to do, this was one of the lamest choices. The performance was weird, the staging was weird. America can’t choose the songs. Lesson learned yet, xfactor?
3.Melanie Amaro		Hero by Mariah Carey – Again, and America fail on the predictable song choice, but a flawless performance nonetheless. The weird minor chords on the first verse were ineffective at “changing up” the song, and felt like a half-hearted rearrangement, as they progressed into the original major chords as the song went on. It could have been arranged better. That said, I’m not sure it could ahve been sung any better, even by Mariah herself!
4. Josh Krajcik	+1/2	Come Together by The Beatles – Look, a song choice not from the mid-90s! Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it. I do like this song, and I like this song for him, but I didn’t love the arrangement. Maybe it was the grim lighting or Josh’s fighting face, but something felt off.
5. Marcus Canty		Careless Whisper by George Michael – I kind of liked the spin they put on the song–mixing some GeoMich with some dance beats. Didn’t love the production so much, but I disagree with Simon that it was horrific.
6. Chris Rene		No One by Alicia Keys – I loved the first half of the song with him at the piano, and when he got up from the piano I would have loved if he would have busted out some of his own lyrics or something. But no…the rest of the song was heavy on the backup singers, and off key singing. Bleh…this could have been so much better. But he does get props for the first half!
7. Melanie Amaro		Feelin Good by (most recently) Michael Buble – I mean, it isn’t my fave that she has ever done, but she is always amazing. I do appreciate this song choice more than the predictable song, but I guess I just don’t love the song in general. That said, she better effing make the finale
8.Josh Krajcik		Hallelujah – I loved this performance, and I don’t even particularly love this song. Nice work, Josh! The piano was played with soul, and the interpretation was emotional and spot on. I loved it…really!

Best of the night was Josh’s Hallelujah. I can understand why he was pimped. Marcus was the worst of the night and most definitely deserves to be sent packing tomorrow. If I can rank the remaining performers it would be:

4. Marcus

3. Chris

2. Josh

1. Melanie

Chris and Josh might swap, but I’m not sure. Chris has had more brilliant performances than Josh, but Josh is much more consistent. However, if Melanie doesn’t win the crown it is serious blasphemy.

And remember to follow me on twitter for unedited, off the cuff comments. @idolreview18. (Not that this entire website isn’t unedited and off the cuff. )

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Posted in Performance Shows, X Factor, XF 1