Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Voice: Battle Round No. 1





The Same Page is a blog; currently dedicated to reviewing Season 4 of NBC’s The Voice. Written by friends for life Giselle Carrington and Tonia Holder, this blog puts together all their thoughts while watching episodes of The Voice. This Blog is a bit different from your average review blog between friends, mainly because Giselle is in Grenada and Tonia is in Trinidad! They converse over Whatsapp on Mondays and Tuesdays and DRAMATICALLY express their views on the happenings of the episodes. They now wish to share their comical analyses with the world at large!



The First Battle Round!

Tonz: It’s that time again, the time that we all love it’s time for The Voice *this is the voiceeeee*! I’ve been a strong Team Adam fan from the beginning with Blake close behind, but since Usher has joined the cast whooo! I find it hard to stay away from him. Don’t get me wrong I’m still loyal to Team Adam, they are always first, it’s just that Usher has come and taken a bit of a lead from Blake *I still love you Blake*

Giz: I'm in no way a professional; however, I believe I can carry a tune. I like to critique singing, but I love when I do it with Tonz. We're always on the Same Page, sometimes in different books though *side glare*.
Side note: I'm a loyal Team Adam fan, because he's awesome. I'm also Team Bladam, cause Blake and Adam's Bromance is totally cute. Seeing Usher's technique last night though, I'm opening myself to his Team as well.

Tonz: Season 4 has begun, the blind auditions are over, the teams have been formed and it’s time to battle.

Giz: Anywhore, here's my take on last night's Battle Round. I’ll take the first 3 battles as seen on TV

*Please click the battle headers to view video clips of each battle*


From the auditions, I loved both Amber and Sasha. Sasha, we saw first! Tonia and I were excited! Powerhouse! Same Page. Amber, I loved firstly because she's a Carrington and needless to say, she's awesome by nature! Tonz, being the hater that she usually is, was not impressed by my excitement. Different Book! But Amber's dirty sound made me turn my chair, which is hard to do since, it's a three seater couch and can't turn easily.

During their Battle Practice, Adam rightly told Sasha not to overthink and told Amber to be bolder. I agreed, especially since Sasha has been trained, she would tend to be more technical in the approach. Amber, not having any sort of training would tend to be more, intimidated by Sasha.
Their rendition on stage was powerful. Amber stepped up to the plate and brought the edge. Sasha, I found to be a little more uncertain. 
In my opinion, Amber won the round. Tonia did not feel the same. Different Book!...
Needless to say, we were at war when Adam chose Amber! In my opinion, a powerhouse is not always a good thing, unless with that power, comes great responsibility. No...that's Spiderman! I meant unless, with power comes control, which enables the singer to master any song type! Sasha seemed to lack the control, which is why she lost in my books! Amber is not what I call a powerhouse, but she has a strong voice and she brought it, like Gabrielle Union told Kirsten Dunst to do! Besides all that, she's a Carrington, I mean COME ON!!!
Tonz and I were at war over this, I had to tell her to CALM DOOOOOOOOOOOONG! She believes a powerhouse is great in any situation! DIFFERENT BOOK!

I was happy when Sasha got stolen by Shakira though. Now, she has the chance to use Adam's advice and be mentored by another coach. We haven't seen the last of her though!
Tonz: The chance to use Adam’s advice to stop thinking so much? Is that the advice you speak of? If that was the case then he could have kept her and nurtured that aspect himself. I do believe however Sasha should have chosen Usher as he without hesitation pushed his button before Carson even opened up the floor and i do believe she chose Shakira (aka Hips don’t Lie) because her ever so cute daughter screamed from the audience “pick Shakira mummy!” But nonetheless i am glad she is still in the running.


So, I did not see J'Son's audition, so I had no opinion on him from before. Garrett has that grime in his voice that was interesting, buuuuuuuuuuut, I didn't turn my chair for him. He didn't quite do it for me. I don't think Tonz was overly impressed either. She doesn't even know his name!!!! She calls him "The Grunt Man".
First thing I didn't like about this battle is Shakira saying this was the hardest decision to make. EVERY decision to make on The Voice is THE TOUGHEST!!! I wish coaches would stop saying that. I was ranting to Tonia about this, so much so that at this point, we decided we should do a blog!!! So, in essence, in my frustration and Tonia's initiative, Same Page was born!

J'Son caught me with his fluidity; he moved from normal range to falsetto flawlessly. Garrett, as Shax (or Hips Don't Lie as Tonz so aptly calls her) seemed to forcing more huskiness on top of his naturally dirty voice. It was clear to me immediately that in order to perform at the battle, Garrett had the most work to do.
Their rendition was really good! J'Son did his thing! He performed the HELL out of the song! Garrett stayed true to his voice, he didn't add anything and he pushed himself! I thought J'Son showed effortless range and he was my choice for the win. I have nothing against Garrett, J'Son was the one that did it for me. Tonz agreed; SAME PAGE! However, one by one, coaches seemed to favour Garrett over J'Son, which to me made no sense. Weirdly, Shakira also chose Garret and J'Son went home. Congrats to Garrett though!

J'Son wasn't stolen, but in my books, he was the winner of the battle! If he ever reads this, I hope he knows I appreciate the flawless range of his voice. I hope he keeps doing his thing.


For the life of me I can't remember seeing Michelle's audition, so I'm hoping that it was not shown. I like her voice though. Holly though, turned FIVE chairs, seven if you consider that my couch seats three! But her voice reminds me of a smooth, Hillsongs Gospel singer. I love Hillsongs btw, so I love her. She was awesome from the get go!
So, at their practice, Blake told Holly not to be so sweet and urged Michelle to work on her harmonies. I wasn't too sure if she could pull it off to be honest. HOWEVER, in their renditions onstage...WOW. It gave me goose bumps. I don't get those often. Blake's song choice was amazing. Side note: Blown away is a song that my friend Jarryd has been trying to get me to listen to for ages! Needless to say, when I showed him the video for Michelle and Holly, he was not pleased with me at all! I apologize to Jarryd in front of the 3 people who will probably read this on the internets!

Both Michelle and Holly blew the song away, pun intended. Their voices complimented each other. Holly got down and dirty and Holly killed her harmonies for the most part. This was my favorite battle of the night!!! Holly, for me, was the stronger voice even though Michelle put up a good fight. In my opinion, her harmonies were a bit breathy and coming to the end, she could not hold them out for too long. That's the only factor that I think she needed to work on. Otherwise, it seemed to me like they were singing a duet rather than battling to stay. GOOD JOB BLAKE! If ever they decide to form a duo, I WOULD BE FRONT ROW!
There's no need to say that Tonz and I were on the SAME PAGE here, Holly was our winner and the result was as it should be!

Michelle wasn't stolen, but I'm sure she'll continue to use the advice given to her by Blake to pursue her dream!

Tonz will guide you through the last 3 battles of the evening.

Up First Team Usher
These two were a very interesting pairing. I turned my chair for Jess in the blind audition because her voice was so sultry and smooth. I thought Taylor was good as well but she didn’t move me to turn my chair. When Usher paired them I was a bit shocked because their styles are different. But nonetheless I went into the battle with an open mind.
As Jess started to sing I smiled because there was the voice I fell for, Giz and I were on the same page here for sure, she loved Jess’s voice. Taylor has a strong voice but I don’t think she can do smooth slow songs. Her voice is more suited to pop sounds as she sounded a bit too upbeat here, I felt like she needed to take it down, or as Giz and I say ‘take it donnnnggg’, a little bit. Jess carried her side of the song perfectly, being able to hit the high as well as low notes effortlessly. Taylor also carried her part well and hit her high notes but kind of faltered a bit on the low ones. Usher agreed with us on this one and he chose to keep Jess *fist pump ‘yes!’* All was not lost for young Taylor though as Blake swooped in like a knight in shining armor and stole her away from Team Usher. Happy trails Taylor.

Next up Team Blake


When Christian auditioned with his rendition of Sexy and I Know it I was in love with him and immediately turned my chair because I wanted to see the person behind that master mix. The Swon Brothers on the other hand were very smooth and harmonized great but didn’t get me to turn my chair.
When Blake paired them I got a bit intimidated for Christian because these brothers were accustomed to singing together. During the battle Christian was powerful and hit his notes perfectly, which wasn’t the case initially in rehearsals when he himself got a bit intimidated by the brothers. The brothers at times overpowered him when they teamed up and harmonized but Christian held his ground and stamped his name all over this song. So Giz & I were expecting Blake to choose him definitely. But somehow Blake heard something we didn’t hear and chose to go with the Swon Brothers, I think mainly because they’re musical genre is initially country and we all know Blake has a extra special love for his country artists. Giz & I were both equally upset with the outcome and were saddened to see Christian go. Godspeed Christian.


Finally it was Adam’s turn again

Team Adam


I love both of these singers mainly because they are both powerhouses and I LOVE a powerhouse singer. To me they sing with so much passion and soul. Giz however doesn’t think that much of powerhouses she thinks they aren’t always the best choice. I turned my chair for both of these singers because their voices spoke to me so I was a bit peeved when I saw that Adam had chosen to pit them against each other. I mean ‘What was he thinking?!’ but also this battle is gonna be off the chains!!
Now I will admit I came into this battle a bit biased, I was all team Judith because I love her voice and I see the potential of her going way beyond the stars. But when the battle started and Karina started to sing I was blown away by her voice once again. I again chastised Adam for putting these great voices to sing against each other and as seen from the other coaches opinions they agree with me. Giz and I were definitely on the same page with this one, Judith took the soft and sweet approach to the song while still showing her power whilst Karina was edgy and hard and blasted us with her powerful voice. I was still on Judith’s side though and knew that Adam would have been a fool to let her go and I think he knew it too. He chose Judith and I rejoiced, Giz on the other hand was shocked, I mean I understand why cause Karina was great and she felt that Judith needed to step up a bit *gag* but really Adam was always gonna choose Judith in my books. All ended well for Karina though as she was stolen by Shakira, way to go Karina you’re still in the game.


Giz: Juuuuuuuuuust to be clear! I was unsure if the Adam would choose Judith, not because I thought she needed to step up, but because she chose the smooth sultry more reserved approach than Karina, who was great but chose the more energetic powerhousey approach. History has shown that the more hype the individual, the greater the chance of being chosen, so THAT’s why I was a bit surprised. Judith is my giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirl!
And…I appreciate powerhouses, I just think they have to be able to control their power!!!

Tonz: HELLO! I distinctly remember you saying and i quote ‘ Judy needs to step up’.


There you have it, part one of the Battlerounds! This season has some spectacular talent in our eyes and we can’t wait to see what they bring to the table. We are most excited to see the new coaches Shakira and Usher’s coaching styles continue to unfold. If this episode is any indication of what is to come i know Blake and Adam are in for a run for their money.
Giz and I though on different Caribbean Islands are always on the same page, we may be in different books at some points throughout this competition BUT we’re almost always on ‘The Same Page’
Tonz: Adam i may not always agree with your choices but i still love you and support you. We’ll win this!
We hope this first entry has wet your palate and you are anxiously awaiting another heaping of ‘The Same Page’.

Until next episode

Giz & Tonz!!!

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