[ad_1]
The voice The Season 19 Battle Rounds kicked off this week, featuring Guest Advisors Kane Brown (Assistant Team Blake), Miguel (Team Legend), Julia Michaels (Team Gwen) and Leon Bridges (Team Kelly). But Monday’s battles weren’t exactly the dramatic face-to-face that Voice viewers have been expecting since the series debuted in 2011.
While John Legend’s rubber-glove shtick on a stick had thankfully been put aside – along with Gwen Stefani’s own socially estranged accessory, her t-shirt gun – COVID-19 protocols were still very much in place for them. battles. During rehearsals, for example, the candidates were separated in the studio from their coaches and advisers by taxi-tour / taxi-type glass partitions. And on the main stage, the singers were more than six feet apart, performing in separate, roped rings that sometimes made them look like zoo animals endlessly circling tiny cages. This awkward setup naturally changed the whole vibe of battle phase contact sport, with Blake Shelton noting that the ‘energy level’ would have to ‘increase a bit’ to make up for the gaping physical distance, and Gwen grateful that it would be. be more difficult for candidates to “connect and emotion”.
The coaches faced their own battle challenges, as they tried to go through the entirety of each battle – an experience John Legend likened to watching a “tennis match,” and which Gwen joked to him. gave a “boost”. Luckily for Kelly Clarkson, by the time the Battles took place on the NBC soundstage, she had recovered from an eye infection that had forced her to wear a pirate / movie-villain eyepatch for all of them. repetitions. Without any depth perception, there is no way that Kelly could have made informed decisions about which contestants to keep, save, or steal if she had had to watch all those performances causing a boost on a stage too. wide and spacious.
Kelly Clarkson rocks a “movie villain” look for a first night of bizarre battle rounds on “The Voice.” (Photo: NBC)
Despite these obstacles, Monday’s competitors did well, adapting easily. But that doesn’t mean the coaches always made informed decisions in the end. These were the Monday night battles:
TEAM BLAKE: Worth the Wait vs Taryn Papa, “Little White Church”
It seemed that this song choice would favor the three-part harmonies of Worth the Wait, but once all four singers were on stage, the family trio emerged as the backup singers for pro gigger Nashville Taryn. (The inevitable staging, with Worth the Wait clustered on one side on their own island, didn’t help matters.) The harmonies in Worth the Wait were indeed impressive (Kelly said they “sounded like a human ”), but 15-year-old Mia could hardly understand Little Big Town’s words about desperately wanting to get married, and Kelly noticed that Mia seemed to be holding back. (“Own that little lion in you,” Kelly advised.) Taryn, 30, however, was credible throughout. I was shocked when Blake saved Worth the Wait, but relieved when he immediately hit his Save button and said to Taryn, “I’m not letting you go. … Welcome Home! ”Considering he had pitted his last rookies of the season (four-chair trio Worth the Wait), against the competitor for whom he blocked Kelly (Taryn), I bet that that had always been Blake’s master plan.
WINNER: Worth the Wait / SAVED: Taryn Papa goes four-way KO
TEAM LEGEND: Tamara Jade vs. Olivia Reyes, “Hard Place”
It was an apple / orange pair, with Tamara’s round, resonant and heavy vibrato sound, which contrasted sharply with Olivia’s pure pop clarity. While I would have assumed that HER’s intense alt-soul ballad would lend itself better to Tamara’s style, I found myself drawn to Olivia’s distinctive voice (who Kelly compared to Jessie J) throughout. this battle. However, the older Tamara definitely showed more stage presence and storytelling skills, ultimately doing a better job of commanding her side of the stage. It was a battle I could have seen end with a Save or Steal, but instead Olivia found herself in a tough spot and sadly returned home.
Winner: Tamara Jade
TEAM KELLY: Madeline Consoer against Eli Zamora, “Nobody wants to be alone”
Poor Madeline was at such a disadvantage here. She’s a Nashville-based country-rock singer, but Kelly assigned her a bilingual soft-pop ballad that Madeline freely admitted was “100% out of her comfort zone.” Eli, who spent part of his childhood in Mexico and speaks fluent Spanish, was a true team player, teaching Madeline the Spanish part of the Ricky Martin / Christina Aguilera song phonetically, and in the end that battle worked much better than me. I had planned. Blake called Madeline a ‘cliffhanger’ singer who always seems about to miss her high notes (it was a compliment, I think?), While John praised less out of hand the “urgent and piercing” quality of Madeline’s voice. All of the coaches liked Eli’s ‘effortless’ performance, but maybe it was a bit as well effortlessly, as Kelly finally appreciated Madeline’s ability to get down to business and adapt to any genre. “The sky is the limit for her now,” Kelly said.
WINNER: Madeline Consoer
TEAM GWEN: Lauren Frihauf vs. Payge Turner, “If the World Ends”
I would have assumed that 27-year-old dynamo Payge would wipe out sweet little 16-year-old Lauren in the ring – or, uh, rings – since Payge arrived at The voice with much more experience. (Blake had actually already predicted that Payge would be Gwen’s final finalist.) But Lauren held her ground, even in the agonizing situation of having to sing a Julia Michaels song in front of Julia Michaels. The voices of the contestants complemented each other beautifully, Payge taking on the male role of the duo in a lower octave, while Lauren’s delicate and angelic whisper brought out the devastating vulnerability of the lyrics. On stage, Payge served up the daring drama, sometimes almost to the point of overdoing it, while the more fragile Lauren tastefully overpowered it. All in all, it was an exquisite display of yin and yang, so I understand why John and Blake rushed to steal Lauren after Gwen chose Payge. (I bornHowever, understand why Gwen didn’t want to save Lauren.) Considering Blake didn’t even turn around for Lauren during the blind auditions, her decision was clear.
WINNER: Payge Turner / STOLEN: Lauren Frihauf moves on to Team Legend
TEAM BLAKE: Payton Lamar vs. Jus Jon, “Dancing With a Stranger”
Blake explained that he brought them together because they both occupy the ‘soul / pop track’ of his team, but I haven’t heard anything similar between Jon’s warm and traditional sound (which Blake says , had “a built-in reverb”) and the bright, cutting edge of Payton tone (which Kelly described as “very particular, a quality that few people have,” and Gwen said she “shocked” her in the common sense). During this battle, Payton seemed particularly embarrassed by the oddly distant stage setup, struggling to use her tightly closed space and waving and rhythm whenever she wasn’t singing. However, Jon looked even more nervous, so much so that the coaches pointed him out twice. So I was stunned when Blake called this round for Jon and Payton was knocked out. Not only was this a major mistake, but I was sure Gwen was ready to fly. I think Payton had the potential to deliver some very interesting and unique performances on this show. Never mind.
WINNER: Jon Juice
TEAM LEGEND: Sid Kingsley vs. Bailey Rae, “Tennessee Whiskey”
I easily assumed that Sid, 37, one of Season 19’s top auditioners, had this one up for grabs. Bailey, at 18, confessed that she had never even tried whiskey (or any sort of alcohol) before, while the grizzled Sid seemed to gargle with everyday things. Sid took that classic country song by storm with such force, and eclipsed Bailey so completely in the process, that Kelly jumped out of her red chair and whispered on stage, “You betta sannng! But for some reason John made the “impossible decision” to keep… Bailey. Maybe it was because he was excited to work with his very first “pure country” artist. Or maybe it was because Blake, who couldn’t recruit Bailey during the Blinds because his team was already full, threatened to steal Bailey from John if he ever had the chance – and John didn’t. didn’t want to give Blake satisfaction. . Fortunately, Kelly was lucky enough to steal Sid. And she did, without hesitation.
WINNER: Bailey Rae / STOLEN: Sid Kingsley joins Team Kelly
Learn more about Yahoo Entertainment:
Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, Spotify.
[ad_2]
Source link