‘I was kicked out of my label when I became gay’

The voice The Knockout Rounds ended on Tuesday, but only one contestant was knocked out during the hour-long episode. And that farewell turned out to be one of the saddest of Season 19, when Team Kelly’s pop-belter Marisa Corvo lost to country singer Tanner Gomes after performing a song that meant a lot to her. and his difficult professional career.

Marisa chose to cover Cher’s “If I Can Turn Back Time” because songwriter and occasional Marisa boss, Diane Warren, had stood up for her when no one else had – and was. in fact the person who had encouraged her to try for The voice. “I was kicked off my label when I became gay,” said Marisa, 33, a freelance artist who started again after retiring from the music industry for several years. “[Diane is] a huge reason why I am fighting for this career again, because she was the first to believe in me after a very long time. … I have been hurt by so many women and so many nays in this industry. So, this is the opportunity to show all these people who told me no that I am here, and that you must continue.

Diane, who met Marisa in October 2018 and has since brought the struggling singer into the studio and hired her for various concerts and functions, even sent Marisa words of video encouragement. “Now you know what to do,” Diane proclaimed. “You must to win! “

I wonder what a hard cookie Diane thought of Marisa’s version of “If I Could Turn Back Time” – which unfortunately effectively thwarted any chances Marisa had of making it to the Live Playoffs next week, without talk about winning the whole season. I’m all for contestants who give a song their own twist – in fact, I think it’s necessary in order to stand out, and even coach Kelly Clarkson had asked Marisa and Tanner “to be themselves, not imitations” – but it was, well, a odd turn. Marisa changed Diane’s melody so drastically that the Cher hit was almost unrecognizable, and the slowed-down arrangement, which John Legend noted “took a long time to find its place,” undermined the battleship’s anthem with all its force. energy and fighting spirit. It just didn’t work as a performance, although Marisa’s intention was well intentioned and her voice technically flawless.

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Tanner then made a more faithful version of Tim McGraw’s “Real Good Man,” and while that Rockwellian boy next door didn’t quite get the sexy bad-boy character Kelly wanted, it was a solid performance – and probably the sort of performance that during the live playoffs would get votes. John liked that Tanner “lights up more and shows more personality”, while Gwen Stefani praises her “cowboy booty”. Even though Blake Shelton, surprisingly, rooted for Marisa more vocally gifted – which must have given Marisa some validation – Kelly still enjoys competing with Team Blake with a country singer, so she went with Tanner, the safer choice and the most obvious. Poor Marisa looked downright crushed. She’s a talented woman, and she absolutely shouldn’t give up, but she just took a risk that didn’t pay off this week.

Next are Team Legend’s John Holiday and Cami Clune. I do not know what John was thinking as he pitted his two best singers against each other. First, Cami did Annie Lennox’s version of Screamin ‘Jay Hawkins of “I Put a Spell on You,” which she hoped would highlight her musical theater experience. It was also a risk; Legend was concerned that the fiery melody was too different from Cami’s signature indie-pop sound. But once they remade the arrangement to make it more “haunting and disturbing” it totally worked. It was, in Legend’s words, “artistic” and “one of the best performances of this season” – kind of steaming gothic (right down to Cami’s pointy-claw manicure and Chanel Vamp’s lips), and quite simply cool. As Kelly said: “It was intense! “

But then, Holiday upped the intensity even further with her ambitious, octave-hopping cover of Celine Dion’s version of “All By Myself”. Like he said, “Either I’m going to sink or I’m going to swim” – and man, he swam. And sang! Regarding the lonely words of a once-bullied gay kid, and following his trainer’s advice to “think about what Aretha would do with this version of Celine,” he delivered a Grammy-level tour de force (Gwen described it as “the Olympics coming out of your mouth”) which had Kelly and John L. standing in shock and awe. (If Jennifer Hudson was still a coach on this show, she surely would have thrown both of her shoes on stage.) That big silver note didn’t even appear real, as humanly possible. “We have never seen or heard someone like you on planet Earth, out of 7 billion people,” marveled Legend, who was now in an unhappy position – a position he had put himself in – to send Cami home.

But Cami, unlike Marisa, does not have go home. Kelly, the only coach with a left fly on that final knockout night, was probably ready to pounce on the contender Legend stupidly dismissed, so it all worked out. Cami joined Team Kelly … but Legend has definitely weakened his team’s ranks with this misguided couple.

And finally, Tuesday concluded with the ever-popular four-way Knockout – a sort of toy island from the Misfit series, similar in intent to the failed comeback stage tricks of the past few seasons, with four contestants taking part. lost their respective battle rounds giving it one last. go. With no in-game saves or thefts, only one of those candidates will advance, via a public vote (the result of which will be revealed in next Monday’s top 17, the first live show of the season).

The first to sing was Team Blake’s country singer Taryn Papa, emotional on Faith Hill’s “Cry”. She had someone good times, but this truncated version of the song didn’t feature the most powerful and accelerated moments of the original chorus, so the whole performance was hesitant and anticlimactic. Blake, perhaps realizing this, rallied his base, declaring, “I’m counting on the country fans out there, to portray my daughter as Team Blake!” Based on how Blake-dominated past seasons have played out, this tactic might work well.

Team Legend’s Julia Cooper then blunted Billie Eilish’s “Wish You Were Gay” – not exactly a fight song or a Save Me song, but one that effectively showcased her artistry, jazziness, and slinky sophistication. She has my vote, but it remains to be seen whether America will appreciate her artistry, jazz, and understated sophistication. “I call all the country fans, I encourage them to vote. Vote for Julia! John said, half jokingly.

Larriah Jackson of Team Gwen – at 15, the youngest contestant in the Knockout Foursome – held on with another ambitious song choice, Adele’s “One and Only”, surprisingly succeeding with her massive vocal range, even if she was a little too smiley and cute at times. I would generally advise applicants to sing = show to avoid Adele’s songbook, but Larriah rose to the challenge.

But the likely winner here will be the only four-man contender, Team Kelly’s Groban-esque opera singer Ryan Gallagher, girding Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman “Time to Say Goodbye” in the pimp spot. While Ryan lacked the originality of some of the night’s other contestants, it was the kind of classic performance that will resonate with older, conservative viewers (i.e. people who still watch the show). television on the regular network). So, unfortunately, it will probably be time to say goodbye to Taryn, Julia, and Larriah next Monday. See you later.

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