Apparently, things happen in threes for Blake Shelton on The Voice. Not only did he crown his third winning vocalist last season, but in the second night of the blind auditions, he picked up three singers in a row for his team — and no, he wasn’t the lone button-pusher for any of them.
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Jacquie Lee (“Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse)
This 16-year-old could be related to Selena Gomez. She spends her time singing for charities and children’s hospitals. She’s adorable.
Like the other teenage contestants, she sounds a little her age, even when she hits the big, powerful notes. I was getting worried for her, but both Christina and Blake hit their buttons by the song’s end. This is an intriguing match-up because she could benefit greatly from either one — Blake having won with 16-year-old Danielle Bradbery last year, and Christina being able to relate to being in the industry as a teenager herself.
Jacquie goes with Team Christina! She pitched really hard for her. Man, she’s feisty, but in a funny way. I don’t know if it has to do with the time off, but I remember starting to not like her by the end of season 3 and was just actively rooting for her people to fail (yeah, I’m horrible). But I like her (so far!) this year.
Barry Black (“What You Won’t Do for Love” by Bobby Caldwell)
From American Samoa, he’s hoping to bring some culture. I’m not paying attention to what else he says because he can do the horn with his lips. He also brings a guitar. I’m officially excited.
Instantly, the coaches are intrigued by the horn because he brings it out at the start, and Adam is curious enough to press his button almost immediately, and Blake later. The song really suits his style. In a word, it’s groovy.
Adam calls Barry weird and wonderful, and Blake says he’s desperate for this man. He’s really wanting some male singers because Monday night, he told Josh Logan he had a man crush on him. Barry goes with Team Adam!
Mike Unser (“Dirty Little Secret” by All-American Rejects)
He helps youth through Christian music and says he doesn’t want to just do Christian rock as an artist but also rock ‘n roll. So Christian rock ‘n roll?
It’s an okay performance, but he’s trying too hard to sing it the way the All-American Rejects sing it, even though he goes against the original melody at times and not in a good way.
No one turns around. Adam just tells him to keep swinging. Cee Lo says he’s a young Willem Dafoe, and now I can’t get that out of my head.
Destinee Quinn (“Cowboy Take Me Away” by the Dixie Chicks)
She’s a country singer who performs at a biker bar in Arizona. Image that in your head! She once won an Alice Cooper talent competition, whatever that means, other than getting a hilarious video message from him, who tells her to “Come join the circus.” What a funny weirdo.
Christina hits her button fairly early on. Destinee seems like someone who can sing different genres, not just country, which she mentions in her taped bit. Cee Lo eventually pushes his button as well.
She gets with Team Christina. But Blake notes how her bottom end was breathy, which prevented him from pushing his button, but he says since she’s 20, it’s understandable.
Cole Vosbury (“Movin’ On Up,” The Jeffersons Theme Song)
He has an adorable grandma who rambles on about turning Elvis down. He acknowledges that his song selection might be risky. That can be either really good or super bad.
Armed with a guitar, when he starts singing, the coaches marvel at recognizing the song. Although a good song to sing, it doesn’t really lend to what type of artist he’ll be. Out of everyone so far, I’m interested to see what he sings next because you can’t really do much with this song.
He’s on Team Cee Lo by default with the one-chair turnaround. It’s not a surprise since he’s Mr. Risk Taker and appreciates someone who would sing this. Cee Lo says he picked him because he’s a balance of country and soul.
Holly Henry (“The Scientist” by Coldplay)
She plays the guitar, ukulele, piano and the banjo. Yes, but what about all at the same time? I’m almost starving for some unique melodies. Everyone’s been singing everything the way it’s supposed to be. Holly calls herself anti-social and awkward. Hopefully, she can break out of that in her performance.
Her breathy voice gets an immediate push from Blake. She sounds like she has a lot of potential with her soft, delicate, somewhat angelic voice. It gets Adam and Cee Lo to turn around at the same time, and Christina pushes her button in the end. It’s the night’s first four-chair turnaround!
Blake pitches really hard, saying Holly makes him officially excited for The Voice. Well, I’m sure that makes his other singer Shelbie Z. feel reeeeeally good. Christina calls her voice silky, which is the perfect word to describe her. She picks Team Blake! Blake’s still got it.
Sammy C. (“Where is the Love?” by the Black Eyed Peas)
He’s a 16-year old hip-hop artist with alopecia, and therefore has to deal with teasing from kids. I can’t get past his hat with LEGIT splashed across the top. But he’s 16 so I’ll give him a pass.
He picks a smart song, one that isn’t just a rap song. His rapping is pretty good, but unfortunately the singing part isn’t the best, and eventually it sounds like he’s running out of air.
No one turns around. Blake says something that’s maddening, that he was close to pushing his button and was waiting for someone else to do it first. That’s a horrible way to judge but even more, a piss poor excuse.
Austin Jenckes (“Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd)
He’s a scooter tour guide, which he calls the greatest thing ever. It looks like the greatest thing ever. When he was 16, his father committed suicide and so Austin uses music to express his emotions. He’s bringing a guitar that used to be his dad’s.
He’s soulful and raspy, but not unlike anything I’ve heard before. But he does connect well with the song. Blake and Cee Lo turn their chairs, but not until near the end, although Cee Lo does stand up for him.
Blake points out that the reason he waited was because some raspy singers are limited in their range, but then he heard Austin’s powerful notes. Great point, and Austin goes with Team Blake.
E.G. Daily (“Breathe” by Faith Hill)
She’s a 51-year-old voiceover actor who was Dottie on Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, and also voiced Tommy from Rugrats. Man, she’s voiced a ton of things. I’m hoping she sings a song in the voice of one of her characters, but I know that’s not likely.
She’s very raspy. Almost too raspy. But she definitely has range, which Blake talked about earlier, that raspy singers tend to have limited range. Cee Lo and Blake press their buttons.
The judges practically freak out when they realize who she is. Christina is first although it takes her forever. She goes with Team Blake! And just like that, he’s nabbed three singers in a row.
Jonny Gray (“All These Things That I’ve Done” by The Killers)
As an 18-year-old, he was in the Air Force and saw a lot of bad stuff. He’s sure that he wants Adam because he had Songs of Jane when he was deployed and it helped him through. Oh man, I hope his dreams don’t get crushed.
Wow, he’s definitely cut from the same thread as The Killers’ lead singer. I think it might be my favorite performance of the night. Cee Lo pushes his button, and then Adam does too!
Shockingly, Jonny goes with Team Cee Lo, saying he’s his soul brother. Cee Lo does have a great line about saying how the lyrics are ironic because Jonny has both soul and is a soldier. Christina makes it known that if Jonny’s let go in the battle rounds, she’s going to pick him up. Well, the logical thing would’ve been to push her button for the blind audition.
Tessanne Chin (“Try” by Pink)
This reggae singer from Jamaica discovered rock when she moved to England. She’s toured with reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, who has a video of encouragement for her. She’s nervous because it’s her first performance not singing reggae.
Adam, Cee Lo and Christina almost immediately turn their chair around. There isn’t much to say other than she’s a great, rock singer. Blake realizes he doesn’t want to be the only fool and pushes his button as well.
When Adam tells you that you could win the whole competition (although by my unofficial count, this is the third person he’s told this to), you go with Team Adam.
So there goes another night of blind auditions. With two more, Team Adam is up to five singers. Christina and Cee Lo added two singers each and both have four total. Blake swept up three singers and now has four on his team.
The Voice returns Monday at 8pm on NBC for the third night of the blind auditions.
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(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
