The weekend has come and gone, but NBC brings reason to sit and relax! That’s right! It is The Voice night. The fifth and final installment of the season two blind auditions is finally here. Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton are all looking to complete their 12-member teams. Adam, Christina and Blake each seek two members each, while Cee Lo still needs three.
It is a big night and there will surely be tons of tension to grab those last great voices. Therefore, we can most likely look forward to seeing the four of our celebrity coaches exchanging looks of “You get him” or “No, you can take her” and “If you hit your button, I’ll hit mine.” Let the games begin!
Whitney Myer has toured with a family band and is now ready to shine all on her own. Great voices like that of Alicia Keys’ are always tough to tackle on these types of shows. Whitney has some guts, though, singing “No One.” Adam wastes no time hitting his buzzer. Cee Lo and Blake follow shortly after. I’m guessing the wavering vocals are what kept Christina on edge before turning around.
Blake Keeps it Real
“All I know is I’m glad I hit my button early because I got to watch you perform.” Matched alongside three others who fluff up their sales pitches to simply get the voice over their competitors, how can you hate on that statement?
Team Picked: Adam
David Dunn has a degree in engineering, yet working for his father’s oil company is not exactly high on his list of priorities. Not only does he resemble the lead singer of The Script, he croons out “The Man Who Will Not Be Moved.” The girls are going crazy, yet no chairs have budged. Sure, his nerves got to him, but he’s a good vocalist. I suppose he’ll be calling his dad “boss” now.
The Shields Brothers are just some farm boys with rock and roll city dreams. Anyone who brings a little 80s to this competition has my vote. Rocking out to “Dancing with Myself,” the brothers earn the some audience participation. Sure, they’re a bit all over the place on stage, but Cee Lo should enjoy working with them, seeing that he is the only one to face the stage.
How to say “You’re not my type” in a nice way with Christina Aguilera: “It was great energy. Really fun.” We’ll see how far these party rockers go in the competition.
Team Picked (for them): Cee Lo
Cheesa has endured many struggles with moving from Hawaii to Los Angeles. Hopefully, her dreams of Cee Lo picking her will come true. A low register and a powerful set of lungs belts out “If I Were a Boy.” Personally, I feel it sounds like she’s straining. An ending adlib gets Cee Lo pretty darn excited, though. With encouraging words from Adam, Cee Lo turns around.
Team Picked (for her): Cee Lo
Preston Shannon is not ashamed to say that he needs some training, but this could also be his last shot. One cannot help but think of B.B. King as Preston stands onstage with his bluesy guitar, singing “In the Midnight Hour.” The crowd enjoys the old school, Motown, gospel-like stage presence. Unfortunately, the coaches seem not to agree.
Preston tells the judges what he really thinks: Soon after turning around, Adam expresses his disappointment in himself by letting a censored expletive slip. “My sentiments exactly,” agrees Preston. These coaches are disappointing me!
Lex Land has brought her experiences of working at the Girls Rock Camp with her to her blind audition. There is a sultry club singer feel about her performance of “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” Some could blame it on nerves, but I hear some weakness in her vocals. Adam, Cee Lo and Blake don’t mind; they’ve spun around with smiles on their faces.
So do They Like it, or…?
Christina flat out explains that it wasn’t up to par for her team. Cee Lo says there were “pitch problems.” Adam wants to steer Lex away from what she just did so that she doesn’t sound like Adele. Apparently, Blake was the only one who honestly enjoyed all of the performance.
Team Picked: Blake
Carson Daly is playing delivery guy again to hand over an invitation to Orlando Napier. This is but a sneak peek, we’ll check in with Orlando later on.
Cameron Novack calls himself a “triple threat;” I call him overly confident as seen after rapping and singing opera in the holding room. He breathes out “You Oughta Know” in what I will call “Adam Lambert fashion.” Just when you migh have though that he showed all of his abilities, the guy beat boxes!
Too Bad the Coaches Can’t Break the Rules
Cameron calls himself “Novacaine,” spitting an off the cuff rap to the coaches faces. Cee Lo keeps it real, “I made a mistake.” Adam asks if they can break the rules and hits Cee Lo’s button. Of course, they can’t because it would “ruin the integrity of the show.” It’s already ruined. Look at all the great talent you’ve allowed to slip through your fingers.
Orlando Napier wrote about a lot while in jail after beating up a guy for his girlfriend. I suppose it’s good for a musician to have some fight in him. Before the guy can get through the first phrase of “Waiting on the Word to Change,” Adam hits his button. Orlando starts things off at the piano, but kicks some soul into the performance rising from the bench.
Team Picked (for him): Adam
Adam is the first coach to fill his team:
Angel Taylor
Chris Cauley
Karia Davis
Katrina Parker
Kim Yarbrough
Mathai
Nathan Parrett
Nichole Galyon
Orlando Napier
Pip
Tony Lucca
Whitney Myer
Lee Koch wants to be “a musician who bakes,” moving up from his family owned bakery. With a guitar in hand and harmonica around his neck, Lee tackles “Like a Rolling Stone.” I believe his look and style of approaching the song are more impressive than the actual vocals. Just before the last note plays out, Christina turns around.
You should like the people on your team: Christina claims that Lee’s performance “spoke” to her when in all reality she pushed her button because the guys were telling her to. Then she explains that even though she plays no instrument, she works with “the best musicians all over the world.” All of this is said as her eyes avoid her newly added team member’s. Good luck, Lee.
Team Picked (for him): Christina
Wade is inspired by the old school “feel good” era at a young age of 18 years old. That feel good mentality easily fits in with Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab.” Cee Lo likes it; he turns around and bobs his head to the performance.
Wade is in the right hands: Cee Lo shares that the performance struck a personal cord with him He was just about to work with the late Amy Winehouse before her untimely death.
Team Picked (for him): Cee Lo
Cee Lo’s team is now complete:
Angie Johnson
Cheesa
Erin Martin
Jamar Rogers
James Massone
Jamie Lono
Juliet Simms
Justin Hopkins
Sarah Golden
The Shields Brothers
Tony Vincent
Wade
Adley Stump has only been singing country for 10 months, but her mother wants the world to know that while in potty training she would sing for skittles. Thanks, mom. It should have been obvious that she would sing a Carrie Underwood song. “Last Name” sounds good coming from Adley’s mouth, possibly too much like the original. Blake and Christina finally swivel around at the same time.
Carson gets some love: At the sight of two coaches’ chairs turning around, Adley’s mother hopped up and swung both legs around Carson, yelling with excitement.
Team Picked: Blake
Team Blake is now full:
Adley Stump
ALyX
Brian Fuente
Charlotte Sometimes
Erin Willett
Jilliane Johnson
Contributing Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Photo Album’The Voice’ Season 2 Coaches and Hosts
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
