The Voice: Top Four Battle Down To Three

I didn’t write about the results last week because I was completely outraged that “America” sent both Amanda Brown and Melanie Martinez home. Not only based on my personal opinion, but also based on the iTunes charts, I thought for sure Amanda was safe over Trevin Hunte and I anticipated a battle for the last spot with Melanie & Nicholas David for the coveted fourth position. But that’s the way these things go, right? “America” voted and decided that Trevin deserved another week instead of Amanda or Melanie. But I’m sure by now you are wondering why I keep placing “America” in quotes. Because my friends, my cynicism is reeling its ugly head and I believe there was some meddling behind the scenes. I can’t prove anything of course, but I do believe that this is the season that The Voice has sold its soul.

I originally loved the premise of the show: Regardless of image or appearance, these superstar coaches were out to find the best VOICES. Even if you don’t like some of their music, as the first two seasons progressed you could tell that all four of them had a great ear for music and knew talent when they heard it. So, what happened this season?

The Talent Was Top Notch: It’s hard to pick who is better when almost all of the contestants are amazingly talented and sound amazing. So, from there, in order to whittle down the field, you have to start looking for the little flaws possible pitch issues in a verse, maybe a flat note here or there, maybe just a poor song choice. But it’s still very difficult to parse those things out when you have standout performances like: Stars (Amanda Brown), More Than A Feeling (Terry McDermott), Who Knew (De’Borah), Blow Me One Last Kiss (Michaela Paige), Cough Syrup (Melanie Martinez) One More Try (Cody Belew). Almost anyone could take the crown in the end. Or so it seemed.

The NBC/Cassadee Pope Project: It was easy to tell from the beginning that Cassadee was going to be the basket that NBC put all of their eggs in. As I have previously mentioned, she is already the lead singer of a pop/rock band, Hey Monday. I can understand that she wants to strike out on her own, and that’s great. But she also freely admits that the band is only on “hiatus”. She came into the competition with a huge fan base (on September 25, before her debut audition on the show she already had 171,000 Twitter followers). She also was featured as the last performer of the night a few times, leaving her fresh in everyone’s minds when voting. Despite pitch problems, bad song choices, and many times straining her voice to hit high or powerful notes, she continues to rank in the top on iTunes and seems untouchable.

She claims that the other contestants are supportive and she doesn’t think she has an unfair advantage, but name recognition can mean everything in the business today. Her social media following alone should be enough to call shenanigans.  She is now at 301,966 Twitter followers & counting. Let’s look at her fellow final six in comparison:

• Melanie=87,416
• Terry = 58,230
• Amanda=44,745
• Trevin =42,676
• Nicholas=32,837

She has FIVE TIMES the followers as her next closest competitor left in the Final Four. And that is just HER account and Twitter! There is a “Team Cassadee Pope” Twitter that has 33,738 followers alone (more than Nicholas David on his lonesome!).

Now, again, I’m not saying that Cassadee is not talented. She is. And I even like some of the songs she has done on the show and purchased them. However, she is NOT the one who deserves to win this competition. If it is TRULY about the “Voice” and not about how well you know the business already, then one of the other three finalists should prevail. All three are stronger than her, with MAYBE the exception of Trevin. But that performance of And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going was above almost anything she has done.

To watch the recap of the performances from our Top Four last night, they are below. And at this point? I’m calling it for Terry McDermott to be the deserving winner next week.

• Terry McDermott: Let It Be
• Cassadee Pope: Stupid Boy
• Nicholas David: You Are So Beautiful To Me
• Trevin Hunte: Wind Beneath My Wings

That’s it for this week. Join me on Twitter to chat during the show and look for my update next time as to who survives.

UPDATE Tuesday December 11, 2012 3:10 PM

Based on iTunes Performance, the Top 4 look like this:

1. Cassadee Pope (#1)
2. Terry McDermott (#2)
3. Nicholas David (#4)
4. Trevin Hunte (#34)

Looks like a goodbye to Trevin tonight … but stay tuned!

The Voice: Top Six Leave It All On Stage

What a crazy awesome night for The Voice last night! These Top Six performers came to win it and their performances (well, most of them) were the best I have seen on any competition singing show to date. This is going to be tough to call as all of them are outrageously talented and I can see almost any one of them grabbing the top prize in the end based on at least one of their songs tonight. Let’s jump right into it.

Here is a breakdown of the performances in the order in which I rank them, from BEST (#1) of the night (which is only by shreds of an inch).

1. Terry McDermott: I Wanna Know What Love Is
2. Terry McDermott: Stay With Me
3. Melanie Martinez: Crazy
4. Amanda Brown: Here I Go Again
5. Nicholas David: Somewhere Over The Rainbow
6. Trevin Hunte: And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going
7. Amanda Brown: Natural Woman
8. Melanie Martinez: The Show
9. Cassadee Pope: I’m With You
10. Nicholas David: September
11. Cassadee Pope: Stand
12. Trevin Hunte: Walking On Sunshine

You can see now why this is so difficult, right? Here are the major points I think came out tonight to help us decide.

1. Cassadee Pope should NOT win this thing. I know that I am still going to get flack for placing Cassadee so low, but I’m not sorry. She does not have the depth of the others. She also lacks tone and power, especially when she reaches into the upper registers. I know I’m not the only one who is noticing her sometimes screeching (am I right, Beans 8?). She is also the only one who has had a somewhat very successful and popular career already. She was the lead singer for Hey Monday who appeared on the Warped Tour. She walked away from that to go solo, and I think it was a big mistake. Let’s not reward her for this. She does not deserve to win this over the others.

2. Each contestant that survives needs to stick to their instincts. The best performances tonight, in my opinion, were the songs that they chose to perform, not their coaches. I don’t think this means that the coaches are wrong by any means. I think it speaks to something that Blake alluded to during the show. When you feel a lyric and can connect with a song, it comes through in your performance. CeeLo saw Terry thinking about his wife and mother during his Foreigner interpretation. Melanie connected with people thinking she is “crazy” as an original. Trevin showed me for the ONLY time this season that he can belt it out finally. Adam’s choice for Amanda was better than her pick, but I think it is because he really sees the rocker in her that she has forgotten about the past few weeks.  Listen Final Four – Do Your Thing and You Will Win!

3. Christina Aguilera plays favorites and is NOT paying attention to talent anymore. Honestly, I think that since all of her artists were eliminated, she shouldn’t be allowed to comment anymore. She lost a lot of my respect last week with her antics trying to save her only contestant Dez (who probably should have stayed over Cassadee, but I digress), but this week she hit an all time low. First, she was dismissive in many of her critiques. She told Terry he better listen to her because she takes a long time with her notes, she didn’t think Amanda is being true to her rocker self, and she gushed for Cassadee & Trevin (almost taking credit for his success – CeeLo should really smack her for that one). Her worst offense, though? Basically bullying the multi-talented 17-year old Melanie. I was outraged and so was most of Twitter from what I could tell of the favorites & re-tweets of my comment.

She chided sweet Mel for not looking at her, sang her OWN little ditty during the review, and constantly only giving credit to the set designer who she named by name like 5 times (is she sleeping with him?). Thank you to the WONDERFUL Adam Levine for stepping into the big brother role and standing up for his girl and correcting Miss C, telling her that he and Melanie were the geniuses she should have been praising as they were the ones with the set concept. That’s right – she got served!

I could make predictions, but I really am not sure who all four will be. I think Terry is safely in the Top Four, as well as Cassadee (I don’t know why though). The other two will be a toss-up and we all know America is a strange beast.

That’s it for this week. Join me on Twitter to chat during the show and look for my update tomorrow as to who survives.

UPDATE Tuesday December 4, 2012 2:30 PM

Based on iTunes Performance, the Top 6 look like this:

2.  Terry McDermott: I Wanna Know What Love Is

3.  Cassadee Pope: Stand

4.  Nicholas David: Somewhere Over The Rainbow

7.  Cassadee Pope: I’m With You

8.  Trevin Hunte: And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going

13.  Melanie Martinez: Crazy

17.  Melanie Martinez: The Show

22.  Amanda Brown: Natural Woman

30.  Terry McDermott: Stay With Me

31.  Amanda Brown: Here I Go Again

40.  Nicholas David: September

56.  Trevin Hunte: Walking On Sunshine

Reason #796 To Love My Sister

So, my sister and I haven’t always gotten along. And there are plenty of times that we still disagree. But growing up in a crazy family, you have to stick together. One of the best ways to make it through it all was to make fun of things; lots of things. People say I am funny, but my sister beats me on that front hands down. Here is a perfect example of one of the many reasons I love her to death!

I log onto Facebook and see her status:

 

 

I was a bit perplexed cause I wasn’t entirely sure what she is referring to, but I let it pass. We are chatting together about another topic, until she brings the conversation around to her status.

Sis: Do you know what my FB status is about?

Me: I’m not sure

Sis: You were my only hope obileilan kanobi

Me: George Herbert Walker Bush??

Sis: LOL, yes, George Herbert Walker Bush looks like death, quite literally

Me: He is getting old, that’s all

Sis: IDK They showed him on the news tonight and I was like Whoa

Me: LOL … He is 88 and in the hospital with Bronchitis lol

Sis: Well I don’t know when the pic was taken but he looked like crap

Me: You are so silly

Sis: I’m just saying, he’s probably gonna die soon

Me: Actually, this article says he is recovering well and will be released soon

Sis: Well of course they are going to say that – they can’t ruin Christmas!

Me: LOL

Sis: He’s looking a little Weekend at Bernie’s here in June

But they fattened him up just a few months later

She never ceases to amaze me and always knows how to make me smile. I’m lucky to have her in my life. Get well soon, G.H.W. Bush! You are a sweet man, just not the best politician

The Voice: Your Top 8 – Soon To Be 6

Another week, but performances for this Top 8 on the The Voice weren’t as strong as the Top 10. Maybe it is because the Coaches did not read my post about What the Top 8 Should Sing in time to prepare & practice for this week. That’s forgivable, but I hope they take some of my suggestions to heart with the six who survive. Since the talent level is so high, song choice and style are going to be critical to make it to the finals. Here is a break down of the performances in the order in which I rank them, from BEST (#1) of the night all the way down to the two I believe should be in jeopardy.

And Here Are the Top Eight!

1. Melanie Martinez: Too Close

First, we find out she chose this song because she is going through a break-up. I do feel for her, but she is 17 and I’m sure she’ll bounce back. I love that Adam Levine told her he would beat the guy up for her. That’s a team! She interpreted this song just beautifully. You could feel her pain and passion. I hope America is smart and keeps her! She could take this whole thing.

2. Amanda Brown: Someone Like You

I warned Terry & Melanie last week to watch out for her fire and she has moved up a spot in my book this week. Not only due to Terry’s mis-step in song choice, but also for taking on Adele. Adele is iconic already with her power and her style. People feel for her break-up. But Amanda owned this song and the arrangement was rocking! I really liked it and she may be on her way back to the top.

3. Terry McDermott: Over

I’ll say it again: Terry is a true rock star already in my mind. So WHY did he choose a country song? Even though it was a good rocking country song, it just didn’t suit him and he almost looked like he felt it too. However, his amazing voice powered through it and he only slips one spot on my chart. Next week, Terry & Blake: I WANNA ROCK!

4. Cody Belew: Somebody To Love

After his glam stint last week, I expected Cody was coming out of his shell. And taking on the role of Freddy Mercury by singing a Queen song? What has more guts and more flash than that? He definitely had some moments where he was overpowered by the back-up singers. But he definitely can be sure that he did Freddy proud, so he moves up the list this week.

5. Cassadee Pope: Are You Happy Now?

Even though I moved her ranking up, I KNOW that this is still going to be an unpopular ranking. I’m glad that she chose a song that is more suited to her Pop-Rock chick image that she constantly talks about. But I still want more! Go there! don’t play it safe! This is purely my opinion and judging from the way NBC showcases her and her still teeny-bopper popularity from Hey Monday, she will probably make final four if not take it all.

6. Nicholas David: What’s Going On?

I liked the more soulful song choice. I loved that Bill Withers himself came into the studio to give him tips. But I STILL want him to stretch a little bit. Show me more soul like tonight, without just a safe, classic choice.

7. Dez Duran: U Smile

Christina decided she doesn’t want to go out like that and tried to play a little dirty tonight. She had Dez sing Justin Bieber, which I’m sure was a ploy to try to get some of those teeny-boppers who are mass dialing for Cassadee to throw some love to her little hunky football Yale man. But alas, I think she might have hurt him. He tried to keep the crooner swag like last week with Feeling Good, but a Bieber song doesn’t have the melodies and changes that a song like that has. It wound up falling pretty flat. And although this was the only person Christina gave a good review to (translate that to she was GUSHING — thanks Beans8!), I don’t know if that is enough to save him again.

8. Trevin Hunte: The Greatest Love Of All

This ranking is probably purely for his performance this time. When thinking of possible songs for him for my post last week, I thought about this one a lot. I nixed it feeling like it was too predictable. But I thought her could handle it, regardless. Unfortunately, I may have underestimated him. If you are going to sing Whitney you belt that out! You do not just make it nice and sweet. Again – This is not who you are Trevin! And I think this was your downfall.

That’s my list for this week. Join me on Twitter to chat during the show and look for my update tomorrow as to who survives.

UPDATE Tuesday November 27, 2012 530 PM

Based on iTunes Performance, the Top 8 look like this:

1. Cassadee Pope
2. Melanie Martinez
3. Nicholas David
4. Amanda Brown
5. Terry McDermott
6. Cody Belew
7. Trevin Hunte
8. Dez Duron

The Voice: What I Want the Top 8 To Sing

The top 8 are all amazing talents. This is an amazing season of The Voice. We finally got rid of pitchy Sylvia Yacoub (YES I AM STILL BITTER ABOUT LOSING De’borah – Deal with it). Although it was a weaker performance for Brian Keith last week, I didn’t want to see him go yet. But that just proves how critical song choice is going to be from now on.

I know that I don’t work for NBC and that I’m not a “coach” on the show. But I do have a pretty good ear for music and after watching the show this season, I think I have a decent sense of each of these contestant’s styles. I know that this is too late for these suggestions to come to fruition for this week, but take note Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Cee-Lo Green, and Christina Aguilera – you can make them happen next time. And – You’re Welcome

The Voice: Top Ten Perform to Survive

Well, tonight was the performance round for the Top Ten on The Voice. I’m still a little bitter about losing De’borah and Michaela Paige, but I will refrain from bad mouthing America (and Christina) for now, and let’s get to the good stuff. Here is a break down of the performances in the order in which I rank them, from BEST (#1) of the night all the way down to the two I believe should be in jeopardy.

And Here Are the Top Ten!

Storm Coming

I went out and got my supplies. I hope Sandy won’t be too bad, but everyone keeps talking like it is going to be one nasty storm. I’m not much into meme’s but I saw this photo and could not stop laughing.

“I’ve got chills – they’re multiplying!”

Everyone stay safe!