Patman

Okay, I'm now getting a little tired of Xenia. She didn't quite nail her falsetto bits in her performance, and that could have put her in the top 4, but as it stands, I think she goes home next week.

This show has 3 bald contestants, and 2 of them are female. Weird?

Though Casey has an almost annoying vibratto at times (a la Carmen Rasmussen), she did her her big notes.

CeeLo didn't do Vicci any favors with that song choice and big production number. Just too much focus on spectacle, and not enough on vocals.

Dia sings like she's been possessed at times. So she can sound pretty in parts, but then she also sounds odd. Plus she's got a weird personality on-stage when she's getting "critiqued" by the mentors.

Javier needs to ditch the ballcap for good, he looks like dope with it on.

Goat3001

I was a little surprised that Adam took Casey but I don't think it was a bad choice. I do like her a lot. Looks like it's the end of the road for her though as Javier, along with Vicci and Dia, are the clear favorites in this competition.

Nothing really blew me away but I don't have much negatives about anyone. I agree with Patman that I'm getting bored of Xenia. I hope she has a fine career because she seems like a sweet girl and she does have a good voice but I'm over it right now. I like Dia much better.

Vicci is another favorite I think. She's been giving good performances every time she's gone up there. She seems to be building a following. At this point she might be my favorite even though yesterday's performance wasn't as good as Jolene last week.

I still like Javier and he seems to be the crowds favorite. I think this is his to lose. I wasn't blown away by his performance but it was still enjoyable. I don't think the rock songs really work for him.

Don't care for either of Christina's singers.

Yesterday was the first time I heard a Blake Shelton song. I'm not a big country guy but I'm not opposed to it. I thought that song was pretty good. I don't know about that Maroon 5 song though. It was upbeat which I liked, might work as a bar song but not something I'd listen to on my ipod. Maybe a studio version will change my mind.

starman9000

The crowd didn't do Dia any favors by clapping at the start of Losing My Religion. Adam and C-lo picked the right people to go forward, but the song choices weren't that great. I like Xenia, but she got so quiet at times you could barely hear her.

creekdipper

Well, the four we picked to go on did just that. It wasn't so much that they were the four best overall, it's just that they beat their head-to-head competition.

I was a little surprised that the voting was so close for Dia/Xenia & that it wasn't closer between Nakia/Vicci.
Still, the right four went on IMHO.

Beverly needs to rein it in a bit...too much head shaking during her performance, and the bulging eyes thing probably puts off some people, although it just seems to be part of her personality. Makes her look like Uncle Fester when she does that.

Could be wrong about Dia's 'weird' attitude during the critiques, but she just seems terribly shy. Hope that isn't just an act. She wears extremely modest (but very tasteful) clothes, and my wife noticed right away that she wears flats rather than heels. She could easily land a career as a model for hair, teeth, or skin products, though. Incredibly beautiful, even if her voice doesn't have the 'wow' factor.

Looks like it's going to come down to Vicci, Dia, & Javier, with the competition being the latter's to lose. Agree with Patman that it's time for him to lose the cap & that it does look dopey.

starman9000

If they do this next year, they should force the judges to go at least 75/25. I think I'd actually prefer, at this stage, that they have teams competing against each other.

Superman07

I think that about sums it up, except I wasn't surprised with the Vicci/Nikia result.

I'm really glad Xenia is gone, because I couldn't take her awkward non-singing anymore. I do think her tone is unique, but you could tell that was repeatedly the only positive thing the coaches were saying. She would continue to fade out and look around for help from somebody like she was lost. Granted, I realize she's young and I appreciate what she has done, but I feel she already went further than she should in this competition. Regardless, very nice thing of Blake to say about her being on the radio in the future. Hopefully she gets a break and can mature her confidence over the next few years.

The one person I did feel a bit sad for was Casey Westin. I thought she improved so much over the weeks and had some great performances. I think had she been on a different team she could have gone through. Then again I think Adam probably helped her more than anybody else too.

Do we know how next week will work? Is the winner picked, or are we going down one by one?

Also, has anybody else noticed some of the sound on this show is done really poorly? It could be a Verizon thing, but I feel like it's the show. Very often the sound is turned down and then comes back up when judges are talking. Sometimes you can hardly hear the performances.


I agree, but I'm not sure how the team part would really work out. How do the judges unbiasedly vote from somebody on another team? I guess you could have all 4 vote and throw out the highest and lowest scores. Also, the "I want my team to win!" banter is weird. I don't much see it as a team winning rather than who picked best. Maybe if there was reward pot for charity to the winning judge, team or contestant.

creekdipper

Agree about Xenia. Seems like a nice kid but completely overwhelmed. Her tone is nice but her range seems extremely limited, and her awkwardness may be endearing to some but is just painful to others (like me). Hopefully, she can get the experience she needs & maybe take voice lessons or something to increase her high range. Otherwise, every song she sings will sound exactly the same.

RE: Casey...good point. On the plus side, she did get a 2nd chance. On the hugely negative side, just about anyone would have gone down when pitted against Javier.

mrhan

She reminds me of Dawn Wiener.

DVD Josh

These are the best four, no question. Nakia is a solid #5. I'd be curious to hear who you think is better?

Goat3001

I agree. I think the format next season should be when we get down to 4 per team they should change up the style...

Instead of 4 teams of 4, make it 4 teams of 3 so that you can have everyone perform in one night.

You vote for your favorite singers.

The TEAM with the least combined votes (or bottom two or even three teams, depending on the scheduling) go up for elimination. Then the coach cuts the weakest link.

The positive to this is that the best singers stay and won't get eclipsed because there is someone better on their team. Like what we saw happen to Casey Westin.

The negative is that it's possible that a team will be completely eliminated very quickly and you're left with a coach who has nothing to do.

starman9000

There wouldn't be much negative about Christina getting eliminated early.

creekdipper

What I meant was that the right people won their respective "heats" to use track terminology.

Someone might make a good argument that some of the losers might have beaten out other winners from different pairings. For instance, they might feel that Casey or Nikia were better than either Dia or Beverly. Not saying that I agree, but I'd wouldn't have major disagreements, either. Nikia tended to oversing, and Casey was either nervous or used too much vibrato, but Dia & Beverly had their own issues. Anyway, it's kind of like a basketball tournament...sometimes the two best teams end up playing each other in the semifinals rather than the championship. It still works out that to be the best, you have to beat the best.

Likewise, Javier probably would have beaten any other competitors he would have potentially faced if the pairings had been different. Doesn't mean that he'll win overall, but he most likely would have gone through regardless of who he had faced this week.

I thought both the Dia/Xenia & Frenchy/Beverly pairings were kinda weak. I'm still glad Dia squeaked through & I'm pulling for her next week. I just like her quiet personality as much as her voice.

lordwow

I wish the judges would be somewhat decisive. 3 of the 4 gave 50/50.

LurkerDan

It's always funny how different people perceive things like music so differently. For instance this:

Personally, I thought Casey was the weakest person left. I don't think she would have or should have advanced against any of the other contestants.

And personally, I thought Dia/Xenia was the strongest pairing in the show. And I find Dia to be the best one left, for my personal taste. I do agree with people here that Xenia was "one note", sort of, and too awkward, but I really enjoyed her sound, and find some of the others pretty run of the mill, even if they have great voices.

Not sure how they decide from here? Do they go down to 2 first, or just pick a winner out of the 4? In any case, my money is on Dia, if she can pull out another interesting rendition of a popular song. Javier coming in second.

DVD Josh

I think it's just top voter getter wins. Nothing else makes sense in the "team" sense.

creekdipper

I like Dia better after Youtubing her Meg & Dia videos. Didn't know that the sister act had such a following. Interesting to see Dia in different settings (solo in hotel room, fully electric live band, accoustic band in studio/radio station, etc.). Have read a few comments on the official Voice site saying that Dia seems fake (the 'quiet' act) but have to say that the videos all seem to show the same personality...fully invested while performing but shy before & after (she can barely look at the camera & has this endearing shy smile when she does). She also demonstrates the same tasteful, classy fashion sense that she shows on the voice, whether in casual wear or formal. She also shows good taste in the songs she chooses to cover.

In a sense, she's kind of the Anti-Gaga.

I'd love to hear her cover Richard Thompson's "Dimming of the Day", "Walking On a Wire", or "Galway To Graceland".

creekdipper

I don't get that, either. It's not like the other teammates are contributing by backing up the finalists on vocals or instruments. I guess they could offer constructive criticism during rehearsals, but the team thing escapes me. After all, they've been knocking off their fellow teammates up to this point.

LurkerDan

Dia is from St. George, UT, leading me to guess that she's mormon, which would explain the demure clothes and behavior.

creekdipper

According to an interview, Dia is agnostic & her sister Meg is atheist. Still, growing up in Utah might have influenced their fashion sense, although the band seems pretty well-traveled. Some of their live sets seem pretty lively (no pun intended) & loud...you sure don't see any Mormon influence there.

Still kind of nice to see someone focusing on the music instead of mugging for the cameras. I can enjoy a theatrical performance as much as anybody, I guess, but often 'the show' seems to overshadow the music. Also, it's one thing to be 'on' for the stage performance...it's something else when you're doing it 24-7.

I like the bands/artists who can put on a big show when they want to but can also perform with similar (if not greater) power on a bare stage. Also admire the ones who don't feel the need to posture or dress according to the genre 'formula'. They let their music do the talking for them.

coladar

WTF? I'm a bit behind on my DVR to skip commercials, but Martinez's "original" song... I'm really glad I saw the lyric sheet. The second I saw it, I recognized the song. Then listening to it, I never would have recognized it. It's quite different from the original production wise, but exactly the same lyrics/overall beat. Dido never released it on a CD, but performed it live in 2001ish. So wtf? These aren't original songs, not only that, they aren't even new songs. They are decade old songs that remained unreleased? Hardly original...

RichC2

As usually happens, song writers write a bunch of songs, and they pulled from the pool of unreleased which makes it "original".

coladar

Obviously, I figured as much, but I think in this case my problem is more with the age of the song... That and the fact Dido wrote it, has released several albums since, and never released it. There's the old "Songwriters writing a hit waiting for an artist" and a decade old song by a singer and song writer. At least in my opinion, there's a difference between that and the typical pop hit manufactured for Britney. In a way, I'm saying that while I have no idea where the other three originated from, based on what I know about Afraid to Sleep, they didn't pick a strong one for her. I thoroughly enjoyed the original Dido version, but then I'm obviously a bit of a Dido fan if I recognize a decade old song I heard performed during a live show from a lyric sheet... But for me, it's slow pacing worked. And the chorus... There's no freaking question, Dido's destroys Vicki's version. The song just doesn't work Vicki's way once you hear the way it was written. Maybe that's my whole problem with the song, it's one of my favorites of Dido's.

lordwow

Ya... whatever... I don't care who wins. They're all fine. This show got progressively worse as it when on.

FantasticVSDoom

Ugh last night was pretty terrible... Fuck I hate when they do original songs because its always the same tired shit. I would have preferred them sing songs they already performed to that garbage. I did enjoy Love is a Battlefield though. Cee-Lo looking like a Road Warrior sold me on it!

TGM

Christina looked thinner... she looked actually pretty hot... I wonder if she's heard all the complaints about her being a lard ass