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
The Voice – Knockout Rounds – Part 2 (Team Blake and Team Usher)
Tonz: So we’re back and its part 2, the
continuation of the knock out rounds. Can you say excited! This time its Team
Blake’s and Team Usher’s turn. I wonder if it’s going to be as exciting as part
1. I must add here that Giselle did not stay up and watch the episode with me.
NOT COOL. Different page and different book all together tonight, I was not
pleased at all. I will be reviewing the first 4 battles tonight. But before I
do let me give you my choices for the artists that I believe can take Blake all
the way: Savannah, Holly, Luke,
Danielle. My choices for Usher are: Jess,
Michelle,Vedo,Ray.
Giz: My Choices for Team Blake are: Savannah,
Holly, Luke and Danielle! For Team Usher I choose: Jess, Michelle, Vedo and Ray
*Please click the battle headers to view video clips of each battle*
*Please click the battle headers to view video clips of each battle*
Tonia:
Let’s get
started – Team Blake: Savannah – As long as you love me vs Justin – The Climb
Savannah,
first off she chose a song from Justin Beiber (aka the beibs) who I love and I
love this song so this was a plus for her. She actually did a good twist to it.
It wasn’t as pop or high tempo as the original and it really worked for me. I
enjoyed her laid back take of it and how it was almost acoustic.
Justin –
he chose to sing a Miley Cyrus song and the first thing that came to my mind
was how these artists’ choice songs from persons of different genders, and how
weird that was. He came out soft and made his mark with the high note, but fell
a bit short at one point and it was a tad bit pitchy. He showed his strong
voice at the end.
Ummm I
kind of leaned towards Savannah but the other coaches were leaning towards
Justin. But who will Blake choose? He chose Justin and I think it’s because of
the high note that he excelled on at the end.
Giz: I loved the country version of As Long As
You Love Me. Wowzer. However, Justin was great with his rendition in my eyes! I
was for Justin.
Josiah
started off breathy and low, I had a bit of trouble hearing him. By the chorus
he got into his groove. Side note, he is so cute though. If singing doesn’t
work out he can definitely fall back on his modeling career. His repetition of
‘black’ was gritty and growly and very sexy. Very good performance though.
As Jess
started to sing, her low notes were flat. But I was drawn to her voice all the
same. Even her high notes were a bit flat as well. What was really going on
with Jess tonight, it was like she wasn’t even being herself. Oh and Adam,
really, really is that the best that you have heard from her thus far? Really?
Even
though I came into this battle all on Jess’s team and routing for her to win,
from this battle I had turned my attention to Josiah. Usher agreed with me and
chose Josiah.
Team Blake: Holly – Live like you’redying vs Luke – Teenage Dream
Holly is
very country and I knew this from the get go but I mean could she have chosen a
more country song? She started off very sweet and on pitch, she has a strong
voice and clearly knows how to control it. But at a point she faltered, got a
bit pitchy but she came back strong on the last high note because I think she
realized she had to pull out all of the stops to win this.
Luke did
a very nice slow remix to Katy’s song, wow people are really revamping artists’
songs this rounds. It no longer sounded pop-ish, it actually sounded a bit R&B.
It allowed him to showcase the range of his vocals even in a relaxed setting. I
really liked it.
Adam
rightly said the Holly did exactly what she’s known for, the high notes and
Luke showed a lot of promise in his ability to change genres.
During
his deliberations Blake sounded like he was going to choose Holly and low and
behold he did. I knew he was going to though because he is so set in his genre
this season, I feel like he’s relying on it a lot.
Now when
I heard that Audrey was going to do ‘How to love’, I immediately thought of
Demi Lovato’s rendition of it and got all excited, because I loved Demi’s
version. However Audrey sounded off and maybe it was nerves. She started to go
ok, but then went out all over the place again. This was not the song for her
at all; she could not make those notes at all. Very sorry for Audrey she should
have really considered choosing a different song.
Michelle
came out like a champion though. She had a great vibe about her and she kept
her pitch on point and remembered to breathe at all the right times so as not
to lose her breath. She put her own Michelle twist on the song and it was
refreshing. She was relatively safe for her entire performance but it totally
worked for her and I enjoyed it.
For me
Michelle won this round and Usher totally agreed with me here (same page usher,
love it). I think all the other judges felt the same way, but chose to be kind
and say it was a tough battle in order to not dishearten Aubrey.
Giselle:
So now
it’s my turn. I’ll start off by apologizing to Tonia for not accompanying her
for last night’s round. However, I was able to watch the entire episode today
and make a proper analysis so that the blog itself wouldn’t be compromised. The
friendly banter between us though, obviously won’t be too present and for that
I am truly sorry. *sad music in the background*
I’ll be
reviewing the final 4 battles of the night. So, without further adieu, here I
go:
Danielle
is the young natural singer coming into this competition. Tonz and I liked her
from the beginning so I thought she’d definitely do well in these rounds. Taylor
was a bit too hype for me in the last battle she had, but she was stolen by
Blake and given a second chance. Pairing these young ones up was a good idea to
me, to see who actually steps up.
Danielle’s
rendition of Jesus Take the Wheel was gentle, angelic and all round a good
performance for me. I heard a few “technical difficulties”, but I was never
given the chance to dwell on them because she recovered instantaneously. This
led me to wonder, did I even hear anything wrong at all???
Taylor
chose Rihanna’s Russian Roulette and even though I am not much of a Rihanna
listener, I do like this song, but I wasn’t too sure that it was the best song
for a Knock Out Round. Taylor started off shaky with the low registers of the
song, but gradually maintained her stance with the higher notes. But the
mishaps with the low keys stuck with me through the entire performance. As
Usher rightly said, the song didn’t give her the freedom to show herself,
especially with those low notes. The attempt though, I commended.
At crunch
time, Blake chose Danielle, which was not a surprise. She was just more, on
point, than Taylor came. I wish Taylor all the best on her journey after the
competition. Can’t wait to hear Danielle at those Live Shows!
C. is for
Craig, who knew?! I’ll call him Craig. I liked Craig after he blew me away with
his battle rendition with Kris Thomas. Even though it wasn’t a wining
performance, he improved significantly from the practices and for that he
gained my respect. Vedo is someone who, I can’t remember if I turned my chair
for in the blind auditions, but I definitely chaired for him in his battle
round. (See what I did there?! LOL!) His voice is R&B goodness! And, while
I don’t like sad stories, Vedo’s story touched my heart. I went into this
battle with Vedo as my favorite.
Craig (I
act like I’ve been calling him that for years) did his rendition of Chris
Brown’s She Ain’t You. SMH. Craig literally put more emphasis on his stage
presence than he did on his vocals. At first I thought it was an audio/mic
problem, but then I realized that he was just soft. With all the actions, I
believe that made it worst. After being saved, I thought maybe he would have
performed at a better level. Admittedly, he did attempt the Amber Streeter notes from Chris’ version, but
overall I thought he could have focused on the title feature, which was The
Voice.
Vedo came up to do his
rendition of Bryan Adams’ (Everything I do) I do it for you. Firstly, I’m going
to say that I’d been feeling to cry for the entire episode up to that point,
but I was not sure why. But when Vedo began to sing, the water works came. The
song choice, his tone, his presence, everything showed to whom he was singing
this song. It was sooooooo awesome. Personally, I thought maybe his dynamics
would have been greater, but that’s just me. I love Bryan Adams and I know when
he belts, he gives it 150%. Vedo stayed on the more controlled side of the
spectrum, as per Usher’s instructions.
In the end, Vedo was
the winner, which was obvious to us all. I am genuinely happy for him and hope
he does amazingly well in the Live Shows. To Craig, I say best of luck, don’t
stop doing you!
Team Blake: Grace Askew – I can’t stand the rain vs The SwonBros – Drift Away
As I always say, I
think I missed a few weeks. I could not remember Grace’s audition. In any case,
if she’s a country artiste on Blake’s team, she’s bound to be awesome! The Swon
Bros…*crickets*. I was not happy with them after the battle round with Chris
Porter. Going into this round, I wasn’t sure.
Grace came out, guns
a-blazing with her rendition of Tina Turner’s I Can’t Stand the Rain. Somehow
though, it did not sit well with me at all. I don’t know for sure if it was the
dynamic she was doing with her voice, but she sounded to me like she was
cracking at times. That aside, it was an okay performance. I wasn’t feeling it
to be honest, but I loved the country flavour she put in it.
The Swon Bros started
their rendition of Drift Away. Man was it good. They definitely are a duo, the
compliment each other’s voices so well. I loved it. #thatisall
Well, not only did I
love it,, but so did Blake because he chose them to advance. Usher was a bit
disappointed because Grace was so good previously and maybe just faltered this
once. At the end of the day, the decision is already made. I wish the best to
Grace though, I’m sure she will make waves wherever her career takes her. I
definitely can’t wait to see The Swon Bros mix it up in the Live Shows! Woohoo!
Team Usher: Cathia – Mr. Know It All vs Ray Ines – I Don’t
Wanna Be
I’ll be honest, since
her battle with Mary Miranda, Cathia has not been my favorite in the
competition. I’m glad she was given another chance because she was stolen by
Usher, but she’s not a fav of mine. Ray on the other hand, is my boy!!!!!!!!!!
I love his soul and his passion.
Cathia’s rendition of
Kelly Clarkson’s Mr. Know It All was vocally flawless to me. I was not
surprised but I softened toward her slightly. Her high registers were
amazing!!!! My only concern was that her phrasing of the song made it sound
somewhat like a Spanish song and if I were not paying attention to her words
properly, I would have thought, at some points, she was singing a Spanish song.
Ray came up to do
Gavin DeGraw’s I Don’t Wanna Be. Let me just say that I loved One Tree Hill for
many seasons and I loved the song. I am a fan of Gavin and I am also in love
with his song Not Over You. I was very pleased when I saw that Ray was going to
do that song. One stage, I realized that it maybe wasn’t the best song to sing
at this Knock Out since it didn’t give him much chance to Knock her Out Killer
Instinct Style (Waddup Video Game Reference. Thanks iiSuperwomanii for that!
Check her out on youtube and follow her on twitter and instagram
@iisuperwomanii. She’s HILARIOUS). Although I know Ray is full of talent, I
knew that this rendition did not do him justice.
With no surprise to
me, Usher chose Cathia as his winner. A job WELL DONE Cathia. Live Shows, YAY!
Ray, I hope you continue pursuing your singing dream! I’m a fan already!
So, at the end of the night, here are the remaining members:
Team Blake: Justin, Holly, Danielle and The Swon Brothers
Team Usher: Josiah, Michelle, Vedo and Cathia
Giz: I got 2 out of
4 on both Teams!!! *shame*
Tonz: I got the
same, damn we weren’t on point for teams Blake and Usher boy. But it only goes
to prove the loyalists we are to Team Adam baby! (going for gold if there was
gold to be had).
Well, as we let go of
those of our favs that left, we look forward to some EPIC Live Shows! We can’t
wait! How excited are you?!? Continue to read of reviews and comment if you so
desire, we would love to hear your thoughts. Comment and Share with friends and
follow us on twitter: @shiversniffles and @tonzmarie. J
Until Next Time
Giz & Tonz
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