The Voice Season 2: Battle Round #4 Recap

The battle rounds kept getting worse with the exception of the grand finale between host Carson Daly's former in house band guitarist Justin Hopkins and Broadway veteran Tony Vincent. What these final battle rounds proved was the sheer absurdity of the battle round format and how the judges just use it (well, most of the time with some boneheaded exceptions here and there) to get rid of their weaker contestants going into the live rounds. Other than that, there are really just a handful of artists in the competition worth mentioning as realistic contenders for the crown. Having said that, it probably comes as no shock that my waning attention span (and otherwise abundant patience) was on notice this time around so hopefully I hid it passably in the follow breakdowns of the live rounds.

James Massone v.s. WADE
"True Colors" (Cyndi Lauper)
Team Cee Lo
Winner: James Massone

This battle bored me to tears the second Cee Lo announced the match-up. It didn't disappoint. There was absolutely no emotion, no connecting to the song, and the winner of this round was never going to get far in the live round. Do I even have to go into how terrible this round was?

Nicolle Gaylon v.s. Mathai
"Love Song" (Sara Bareilles)
Team Adam
Winner: Mathai

Nicolle seemed to be physically incapable of singing without her piano but Adam finally got fed up enough to take it away from her which I couldn't have agreed with more. Then again, I couldn't disagree more with Adam about the song choice. I found this performance and song choice in general to be incredibly boring and uninspired. It completely limited both singers' range of emotions and they both seemed uneasy about bringing anything to the table themselves and Mathai's "winning" will undoubtedly be going home early in the live rounds.

Moses v.s. The Line
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (The Rolling Stones)
Team Christina
Winner: Moses

I did not get this one at all. The turning point for me with Christina Aguilera was when I saw her with The Rolling Stones. It was at that time I began to seriously rethink her and I have thought of her a million times more favorably as an artist since then but I just did not understand her pairing these two together. I will say something in Moses' defense however. For an MC he held his ground vocally speaking as best he could have hoped to. Vocally I'd go with The Line but performance wise I'd have to go with Moses so I felt like Christina got it right in terms of who would be more viable moving forward.

Karla Davis v.s. Orlando Napier
"Easy" (The Commodores)
Team Adam
Winner: Karla Davis

When Adam Levine initially chose Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl", Orlando didn't even know the song! What is wrong with this generation?!! So they flipped it to a Commodores song (probably since Lionel Ritchie is one of the guest mentors this season) and so guest mentor Robin Thicke helped out the music history challenged Napier and I must say that he has been an outstanding mentor in my opinion. He has given very clear and specific feedback and his command of music theory is evident. Karla's motivation for coming on the show was apparently to be more independent in the creative direction of her music. I do think that Adam might have just slightly gotten it right but truthfully it wasn't a great performance overall like Christina alluded to.

Jordan Rager v.s. Naia Kete
"I'm Yours" (Jason Mraz)
Team Blake
Winner:

Boy. Where to even start with this one? So Blake starts off by saying they were doing "a song called 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz" as if it's some obscure pop song from yesteryear instead of the much more recently and ridiculously overexposed songs in existence. And then Jordan said he didn't even know he knew it. Seriously?!!! And on top of that he comes out and calls Blake's wife "hot" to the TV which is ridiculously creepy. There's no doubt that this match-up favored Naia going into it and perhaps Blake, despite being a country singer, felt like he already filled that quota with Rae Lynn (I'll leave the Rae Lynn-Adley Stump debate aside for the moment) and was afraid of Rae Lynn and Jordan splitting any possible country vote. I think that Naia is on a good day more interesting and would have a better chance of advancing on the live shows and I think that's what Blake ultimately factored in despite his saying that Naia had some issues and then saying all thing were basically even.

Tony Vincent v.s. Justin Hopkins
"Faithfully" (Journey)
Team Cee Lo
Winner: Tony Vincent

It seemed like a clear cut advantage for Tony Vincent but I have to say that I think that Justin Hopkins did a lot better against Tony than I would have anticipated but at the end of the day Tony was still my pick because of both the performance and his overall upside. I came away with newfound respect for the "dirtiness" in Justin's voice that Adam referenced. While Cee Lo was referencing his own "personal package" (whatever the hell that means) I still felt that Cee Lo would ultimately still give Tony the nod.

They truly did save the best battle for last but then again that wasn't all that hard to do. The last one was the only one worth talking about, really. Of all the singers tonight, Tony Vincent is the only one who probably has a realistic chance of winning it all and next week we find out how the singers stack up on the live stage.

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American Idol Season 11: The Top 10 Results Show Recap

American Idol Season 11: The Top 10 Results Show Recap

Hollie

Skylar

Elise

Hollie Cavanagh - Jimmy said that Hollie's foundation is her technique and that it's important for Hollie to not stray from that otherwise she'll get into trouble and mentioned that there aren't two more different singres than Hollie and Billy Joel. Calling it her worst performance by far but complimenting her and worried that she "looked like a sweet diva trapped in the headlights" but thought she looked great and would still be safe.

Skylar Laine - Jimmy was absolutely correct in his analysis of Skylar and while he was right to laud Skylar for her consistency and that it wasn't her best performance. Jimmy wants her to move around and she needs to get creative to win and warned Skylar to move forward and do it now. 

Elise Testone - Jimmy applauded Elise for a confidence he hadn't seen out of her so far and that he felt "goosies" which explained why Jennifer was in the mini-box at the bottom of the screen. He felt a transformation out of her, loved her clothing, and said that Elise would "go right to the top of the heap" this week.

Hollie - SAFE

Skylar - SAFE

Elise - SAFE

DeAndre Brackensick - Jimmy took Randy's comments about not jumping up and down and turned them on DeAndre. He felt like he was bopping up and down. Jimmy had told him to go out there and have a good time with it but not frolic and that he ended up looking for the bouncing ball. Jimmy predicted that DeAndre would be in trouble.

Joshua Ledet - Jimmy said that Joshua didn't understand the song, oversang the bridge like Darth Vader (and then quickly name-dropped James Earl Jones) and wasn't feeling it at all with him and said that Joshua will really have to grow now to win it all.

Jessica Sanchez - Jimmy said Jessica did a great job by taking a simple song and expanding it and seemingly having a great time with it, and gave her "A's across the board." 

Jessica - SAFE

Joshua - SAFE

DeAndre - BOTTOM 3

Erika 

Heejun

Phillip

Colton

Colton Dixon - Billy Joel emailed Jimmy to tell him that Colton did a great job and Jimmy agreed with him and said he killed it. Jimm called Colton's clothes right, the song choice right, his tone right, and said that he might be the third horse in the competition. 

Phillip Phillips - Jimmy had some surprising words for Phillip collaboration and said while it's great to be who you are in the real world that when you're on the show to take all the advice you can get and invoked The Beatles and their legendary producer George Martin to illustrate his point. 

Erika Van Pelt - Jimmy praised Tommy Hilfilger for getting Erika to change her entire look the night before singing before 20 million people, calling him bold and Erika brave. He cited Erika's singing as being at the top of the class for the week but criticized Randy for his confusing remarks about those who can and can't. 

Heejun Han - Jimmy cited Steven's harsh critique of Heejun's performance and attitude and agreed with him, saying that Heejun basically disrespected the whole process. He compared it to four minutes of a straight-to-DVD Adam Sandler movie and called it "a stunt gone wrong." Jimmy added that he was out of breath and was running around too much and gave that alone a "D". Jimmy concluded his rant by saying that Interscope spends a lot of money on someone who wins the show and that his performance indicated that "that's not it." 

Colton - SAFE

Erika - BOTTOM 3

Heejun - BOTTOM 3

Phillip - SAFE

DeAndre - SAFE

Heejun - BOTTOM 2

Erika - BOTTOM 2

Erika - ELIMINATED

I'm surprised but not shocked by this development. I just thought that DeAndre might be in deeper trouble than Erika because he went first and really didn't have a great performance while Erika did a decent job but her makeover probably had something to do with her elimination. I personally don't think it should make a difference but it wasn't a great idea and Erika, quite frankly, looks much better with longer, blonde hair and she was thrown under the bus by fashion icon Tommy Hilfilger. Heejun, DeAndre, Joshua, and possibly Elise are next to watch their backs and then we truly get down to the nitty gritty. Stay tuned.

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American Idol Season 11: The Top 10 Perform Recap

American Idol Season 11: The Top 10 Perform

1) DeAndre Brackensick - "Only The Good Die Young"

I'm not quite sure what would have been a good fit for DeAndre from Billy Joel's music catalog but I was just not buying this at all. One thing I did enjoy with this performance however was the noticeable lack of falsetto overkill from DeAndre so it still managed to be a perfectly enjoyable rendition. I just don't think it really stood out in either vocal or performance quality. Only Randy was really on point about DeAndre's performance. It really was just okay and DeAndre will almost certainly be in the Bottom 3 this week.

2) Erika Van Pelt - "New York State of Mind"

Erika opted for the "anthem" route according to her.  And then she proceeded to get a whole new hair cut and hair color. Love Erika but hate the makeover and I found her performance to be decent but not mind-blowing. I still think she's in trouble here on out but she could steal a few places with incredibly strong performances and I'm just not sure if this was one of them. I agreed with Jimmy; the judges are in the heads of both the singers and the audience and I've always felt like Erika's voice has been held back, not over done and I think this was a classic example of that. Now, I do not recall Pat Benetar being a comparable analogy with Erika so on top of that misguided comparison and Randy's contradicting his own previous advice about over-singing, this can only be categorized as a giant question mark and I think this will cost her a spot in the bottom three as a result.

3) Joshua Ledet - "She's Got A Way"

I've had very mixed feelings about Joshua all season long but I must say I enjoyed his contorl much better this week and he didn't overdo anything. I felt he showed proper restraint and vocal charm and when he sings like this it isn't nearly as off-putting. So naturally this was the perforamnce that J. Lo decided to nitpick over it. Then again, everyone else seemed to hate it probably because he wasn't going crazy with it. 

4) Skylar Laine - "Shameless"

This was a perfectly predictable but perfectly suited song choice for any country singer because this song is so easily adaptable to a country rendition. Still, I found this to be Skylar's most susceptible performance so far. It had some rough and understated patches to it. I don't think she's in trouble anytime soon so I seriously doubt we'll see her in the bottom three.

5) Elise Testone - "Vienna"

I shared Jimmy's concern over Elise doing a deeper cut from Billy Joel's catalog. Having said that, she was by far the bst of the night up to this point and if she's in the bottom three again then America needs to have a giant bucket of hot coffee poured over its face. Ryan invited two of her voice students up onstage next. Elise definitely killed it and given the overall lackluster performances up to this point, Elise's chances of remaining on the show another week look much better right now. The judges gave her a standing ovation and I think she could be quickly establishing herself as this year's Haley Reinhart so we'll see over the course of the next few weeks if this holds true.

6) Phillip Phillips - "Movin' Out"

After feeling Phillip was just so-so the past couple weeks, I really, really dug his version of this song and he proved once again why he's the one to beat in this competition. The crowd went nuts and J. Lo's comment about taking out aggression on his mentors was spot on. Randy gave him the Scotty McCreery treatment about sticking to his guns and staying true to himself and Phillip made it clear he's all about the actual music which was great.

7) Hollie Cavanagh - "Honesty"

Hollie is such a personal favorite of mine so I am once again disappointed she elected to go with yet another ballad. I really want to see her go up tempo and rock out and now I fear that she's too locked into ballads that she could end up getting "Pia'd" if she chose to mix it up. I also think it would have added another dimension to her performance. It was another solid vocal performance for her but I also am not so sure it was her best. She's too strong a singer to be in any true danger this week in all likelihood but I do fear it could be her undoing. I agreed with Steven about Hollie being unusually pitchy tonight. Randy's criticism was the most accurate of all. I definitely think Hollie was over-thinking it too much. It also proved that this has been a particularly tough week for the singers and it's tough to decipher how much of that is Billy Joel and how much of it is just the singers being at the Top 10 phase of the competition, perhaps feeling a little faitgue for the first time, and perhaps even feeling a little too overconfident having secured a spot on the Top 10 summer tour.

8) Heejun Han - "My Life"

I must say that this was my favorite Heejun performance to date. The attitude, the not so subtle jab at the judges and critics in the song choice. We've all been trying to figure out who the Haley Reinhart (who was in the audience tonight with her parents since she's performing her debut single "Free" tomorrow night on the results show) of this year is, if at all, and it might actually turn out to be a guy and that could be Heejun. Steven's advice about taking the industry more seriously might be in order though because he's right - the industry will kick him in the ass.

9) Jessica Sanchez - "Everybody Has A Dream"

Jessica proved why she's one of the four or five realistic contenders with a chance of not just winning the competition but to be a truly viable star once done with the show. Randy talked about the necessary consistency to win it all and despite a misstep with last week's performance, it was definitely the standing ovation worthy performance that it ended up being and her runs at the end were especially amazing. That was superstar quality.

10) Colton Dixon - "Piano Man"

Colton's vocals and piano were really good but I must confess I found the rest of the musical arrangement to be severely lacking and the judges, who often will give the loudest applause to whoever is in the pimp spot, didn't get up to give a standing ovation. J. Lo accidentally said Puff instead of Diddy about her ex-boyfriend. I still think Colton did a fantastic job but the band kind of failed him in my mind. 

Elise, Phillip, Jessica, and Colton were the best performances of the night. DeAndre, Erika, and Joshua are probably the bottom three this week. Hollie had an off week but she's not in any real danger barring some shocking development. 

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The Voice Season 2: Battle Round #3 Recap

The Voice Season 2: Battle Round #3 Recap

1) Pip v.s. Nathan Parrett

Team Adam

"You Know I'm No Good" (Amy Winehouse)

Winner: Pip

Pip had a really good start to the battle round but Nathan sounded a tad bit shaky to me. Despite newfound confidence displayed by Nathan I still thought Pip was slightly sharper. Blake agreed with me but Christina did note that Nathan was still somewhat nervous. Cee Lo disagreed and thought he possessed confidence and gave him the edge but in the end Adam still chose Pip over Nathan. 

2) Erin Martin v.s. The Shields Brothers

Team Cee Lo

"What's Love Got To Do With It?" (Tina Turner)

Winner: Erin Martin

I had some difficulty early on hearing Erin really dive into thet song. Her voice sounded surprisingly off kilter while The Shileds Brothers also boasted some imperfections in their performance. I thought this was a real mess. Erin's yelps were just wildly misplaced while The Shields Brothers were almost too much in unison. Blake would have picked Erin but after the way he openly perved her, his opinion couldn't be taken too seriously. This match-up should have overwhelmingly been to Erin's advantage and I thought that Cee Lo was setting up The Shields Brothers to fail but I think he genuinely might have had to think this one over more closely. He really picked Erin's voice over The Shields Brother and not the performance because I actually felt like The Shields Brothers were better but Erin Martin is certainly the quirkier act between the two and I think that Cee Lo probably still made the better choice for the show moving forward.

3) Ashley De La Rosa v.s. Jonathas

Team Christina

"No Air" (Jordin Sparks)

Winner:Ashley De La Rosa

I thought Ashley had some pitch issues during her performance but I still found her overall performance to be far more commanding and interesting than Jonathas. I did find it interesting however that they used another song from an "American Idol" winner. Cee Lo commented on the choreography instead of focusing on the actual vocals. The other judges all picked Ashley over Jonathas and eventually Christina did too. I'm not sure about her live show viability.

4) AlyX v.s. Jermaine Paul

Team Blake

"Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Car" (Billy Ocean)

Winner: Jermaine Paul

I found this song choice to be astonishingly baffling. Presenting Alyx as a loose cannon and a wild card was an interesting choice of phrasing because Alyx was a bit of an oddity for me. I thought this was one of the closer bouts but only because I felt like Jermaine did a good job but based on his audition I actaully felt like he didn't even hit his maximum level of potential. Christina said that Jermaine made the song his own while Cee Lo gave Jermaine the nod. Adam felt Jermaine took the song and kicked it's ass and gave the bout to him. Blake felt that both singers did everything he asked of them but declared Jermaine the winner. I felt it was a closer call than I expected because I went into it expecting Jermaine to control it start to finish but Alyx held her own.

5) Angel Taylor v.s. Katrina Parker

Team Adam

"Bleeding Love" (Leona Lewis)

Winner: Katrina Parker

I went into this battle round expecting to hear Angel Taylor overpower Katrina's perfectly competent voice but instead I was surprised to discover how understated Angel's voice remained. Angel still exhibited rather potent control, tone, and pitch but I think Katrina showed up realizing who she was up against. I still fully expected Adam to pick Angel over Katrina because of her overall talent and live show viability. Christina was absolutely right about the song benefiitng Katrina much more so but her comparison of Katrina to Adele was ridiculous. This is one of the problems with The Voice though. A singer clearly wins the battle round but the other singer simply didn't get to shine to his or her fullest extent. Angel Taylor was one of the three or four best voices by far and Katrina's performance obviously forced his hand. Katrina simply made it impossible for Adam to pick Angel, which is who he would have preferred to keep. 

6) Gwen Sebastian v.s. Erin Willett

Team Blake

"We Belong" (Pat Benetar)

Winner: Erin Willett

This was a tough one because of Erin's dying father. Unless I heard her wrong, her father had maybe 24 hours to live at the time of the taping of the battle round. It was an unenvious position for everyone involved. I thought they both sang it pretty well but Erin's voice was geniunely more overpowering but how much of that was just sheeer volume was tougher for me to decipher. Christina picked Erin based on style but Cee Lo chose Gwen. Adam gave Erin a slight edge over Gwen before Blake agonized over his decision. He ultimately chose Erin over Gwen and it will always be a source of contention for those watching whether Blake was persuaded by Erin's powerful family situation. I do think that Erin's performance might have been.

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American Idol Season 11: The Top 12 (Top 11) Results Show Recap

The Top 12 (Er, Top 11) Results Show Recap

Phillip Phillips

Skylar Laine

Elise Testone

Joshua Ledet

Phillip Phillips

Jimmy complimented Phillip on singing sick but that was really about it.

Skylar Laine

Jimmy was right about her being better than she was last night and the song not being right.

Elise Testone

Jimmy felt Elise killed the song and believed it. Jimmy felt that Elise would fit in with the resurgence of the blue eyed soul and that Elise would be sticking around for the long haul. Jimmy liked the low part, mid part, growl, and the subtlety.

Joshua Ledet

Jimmy recommended all his artists on Interscope to eat crawfish before singing and that Percy Sledge called up to say he loved it and was very pleased with the performance.

Joshua - Safe

Phillip - Safe

Elise - Bottom 3

Skylar - Safe

DeAndre Brackensick

Jimmy was defensive about the song choices but also defended DeAndre's performance during rehearsal.

Colton Dixon

Jimmy went to town on Randy about his being inconsistent about whether or not the song choice matters or not. He actually did agree with the surprisingly tougher Steven Tyler (albeit for obvious rock legend reasons) about it being the wrong song but also felt that Colton would end up in the middle of the pack tonight and escape with a pass week. The insert of Randy watching Jimmy question his feedback to Colton and for asking "What kind of show is this?" was priceless, even if it was clearly staged.

Shannon Magrane

Jimmy thinks she's at her best when she doesn't try too hard but that she tried too hard, effectively agreeing with Steven.

Jessica Phillips

Jimmy was once again on top of his game in critiquing Jessica. He had her back on her wanting to do an up tempo song and not getting labeled as an opera singer from a talent show which he fully supports. Jimmy keenly pointed to Jessica screaming at one point and being out of breath as a result and losing her timing because of it which the judges nailed her for. Jimmy also cited that he agreed with the criticism but that she wouldn't be going anywhere because of who she is and that if she goes home then "we should all go home." I couldn't agree more.

Colton - Safe

DeAndre - Safe

Jessica - Safe

Shannon - Bottom 3

Hollie Cavanagh 

Jimmy gave Hollie straight A's last night and marveled at her poise and enormous confidence. He's still upset about her wardrobe being so old when she's only 18. Jimmy feels she will go far in the competition.

Heejun Han

Jimmy feels there will be an Asian pop star explosion soon but isn't sure if Heejun will lead it or not. He worries about Heejun being boxed in with the kind of songs he's choosing and that he needs to change up the tempo of the songs he's picking or he'll be voted off shortly.

Erika Van Pelt

Jimmy talked about the trap of American Idol called over-singing and said Erika fell into it. He focused on the "catchy, jerky arrangements" phrasing used by Randy in his criticism of Erika. and defended the song choices and singingg renditions in that vein. Randy in the insert box was shown again.

Hollie - Safe

Erika - Bottom 3

Heejun - Safe

Elise - Safe

Erika - Safe

Shannon - Eliminated

This was not a very difficult one to understand but Erika's days definitely appear to be numbered right now and Elise's future is equally clouded. Stay tuned.

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American Idol Season 11: The Top 12 (Er, Top 11) Perform

The Top 12 (Er, Top 11) Perform 

1) Phillip Phillps - "Hard To Handle" (The Black Crowes)

Battling kidney stones (and prompting the great Jimmy Iovine line, "Phillip's changed what it means to have a sick day at American Idol"), Phillip came out and gave a strong performance. It was also the first time he didn't have his guitar with him and he had just had surgery for his kidney stones on Thursday. Steven was right about Phillip picking songs that match his character although he did warn him about the melody. Even singing in the spot of death, there is absolutely zero chance of him going home this week.

2) Jessica Sanchez - "Turn The Beat Around" (Gloria Estefan) (Originally Vicki Sue Robinson)

Jessica has probably been my favorite in this competition from a strictly vocal standpoint (she's light years ahead of everyone else) but I just don't think this song really did her any justice. The pace of the song is so scattered and I think that really worked against her voice. From a performance standpoint she did some good things and she clearly has a masterful command of the stage unlike anyone else from this season. 

3) Heejun Han - "Right Here Waiting" (Richard Marx)

I must confess myself disappointed with his song choice this week. Heejun has proven he can sing the ballads well but he did the opposite of Jessica this week. He stayed in the ballad realm and I'm not so sure it was his strongest performance. His voice seemed to trail off on certain notes and he didn't expand his voice enough throughout the song in my opinion. I think this is a performance he will look back on and wish he could tweek some things. Randy was absolutely right about the pitch issues and I agree that he sounded out of breath for the whole song which Steven echoed as well.

4) Elise Testone - "Let's Stay Together" (Al Green)

While it wasn't her best performance, it was definitely light years ahead of her disatrous performance from last week. Elise is one of my favorites so I hope she gets the chance to stick around a little bit longer this time. She was also quite savoy in her intro tonight and made a concerted effort to show how receptive she was to feedback. I personally didn't find her disrespectful to the judges last week but many came away with that impression and the judges all felt she did a good job this week.

5) DeAndre Brackensick - "Endless Love" (Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey)

DeAndre has come on stronger over the past two weeks vocally and his command and greatly reduced reliance on his falsetto has certainly won me over much more so. The judges disagreed with the song choice and I actually still kind of agree with that but I liked it because it wasn't necessarily the best choice for him. While it might very well have been boring, I think it's been good for him to stay clear of the over the top theatrics that really haven't endured him as much to the voters as they have to the judges and studio audiences.

6) Shannon Magrane - "One Sweet Day" (Mariah Carey & Boys II Men)

Hmm....I actually had problems just hearing her. Her mic seemed to be getting drowned out by the band but I do remember a nice little run towards the end of the song. That's probably just me though. What I just don't get is why she'd dare to go anywhere near Mariah Carey and Boys II Men. I think Jennifer Lopez was out of her mind. Shannon did a decent job but it wasn't great. I do agree with Steven about Shannon singing her best when she doesn't try too hard. 

7) Colton Dixon - "Broken Heart" (White Lion)

In arguabaly my favorite performance of the night, Colton Dixon killed it with the obscure White Lion song. Steven was the critic tonight and perhaps it was the rocker in him not feeling it as much. I felt he did a good job with it and I think that it was actually a decent song choice for him. 

8) Erika Van Pelt - "Heaven" (Bryan Adams)

I really felt this was a great song choice for her so I was happy that Jimmy immediately followed up my own enthusiastic outburst at home. There were a few timing issues bookmarking the performance and I'm still waiting to hear her otherwise powerful voice hit the next range in it. I still thoroughly enjoyed the performance but I just worry that it wasn't enough for her to stay out of trouble this week.

9) Skylar Laine - "Love Sneaking Up On You" (Bonnie Raitt)

Skylar's one of my favorites this year but I just was not feeling this performance. It's not like it was horrible. It's just that there was nothing terribly distinctive or exciting about it. I think it was the wrong song choice by an otherwise great (and proper choice of) artist. I don't think I really felt this performance as much as the judges professed to. Luckily she's not in any known real danger of going home this week so I'm ready to see what she does next week.

10) Joshua Ledet - "When A Man Loves A Woman" (Michael Bolton) (Originally Percy Sledge)

I thought Joshua gave one of the better performances tonight but the vocals were really just too over the top. He gets himself into trouble time and time again by doing this and the shame is that he's actually got a really great voice. The studio audience and the judges loved it and he probably secured himself a spot in the Top 10. Jennifer Lopez called it the best thing she's seen on "American Idol" which of course was utterly ridiculous on multiple levels. He was definitely overpraised but despite the screamy nature of his vocals it still wasn't terrible either.

11) Hollie Cavanagh - "The Power of Love" (Celine Dion)

Hollie is really one of just a handful of the singers this year with any kind of range in which to dare to take on one of the real bigwigs but I was still surprised she chose one of the few titans of the industry. Despite that and a few pitch issues, Hollie delivered the best performance of the night. I still worry about her reliance on ballads but Hollie is still one of the strongest contenders this season and I would be surprised if she doesn't at least make the Top 5. 

Follow Jamie Cole of Himay Co. on Twitter. To hire him for PR write-ups and other marketing and creative services, send a tweet on Twitter for further contact info.

The Voice 2: Battle Rounds #2 Recap

The Voice Season 2: Battle Rounds #2 Recap

Geoff McBride v.s. Sera Hill

"Chain of Fools" (Aretha Franklin)

Team Christina

Winner: Sera Hill

Lionel thought Geoff's delivery was strong but I felt he was just way too loud. When Lionel told him about there being no microphone, I was surprised that he meant it as a compliment. Sera sounded somewhat more polished and controlled although she too was also fairly loud. Jewel was spot on about "volume only goes so far" which I couldn't agree more about. Sera did seem to be exceedingly confident about her chances going inot the battle round and she was certainly my pick beforehand as well. As the song began nothing warranted a change of mind at all for me although Geoff did pick it up considerably as the song progressed but Geoff did have the most killer runs as the song was ending and you could hear Sera try to add on some notes after the music had stopped in recognition of Geoff's increasing power.

Charlotte Sometimes v.s. Lex Land

"Pumped Up Kids" (Foster The People)

Team Blake

Winner: Charlotte Sometimes

When Charlotte told Lex that she was both more talented than her and had bigger boobs, I knew right away I was going to love this battle. Full disclosure: Like Charlotte, I too am from New Jersey so perhaps there's something going on there. I agreed with Christina's entire assessment. Lex's voice was sexy and Charlotte's confidence was very evident and Adam was right about both having good tones. This one was a tough one for me because they both had some good moments and even a couple rough spots but I think that all things being equal, Blake went with the one who might do better on the live shows. Charlotte's personality might just prove to be too abrasive for some voters though and I think that Charlotte did herself a huge disservice with some of her outbursts. We'll see in a few weeks if America find its as charming as I did or if it's just too much for most.

Sarah Golden v.s. Juliet Simms

"Stay With Me" (Rod Stewart)

Team Cee Lo

Winner:Juliet Simms

It definitely seemed like a set up job in favor of Sarah and both of the women seemed to intimate as much.  Having said that, Ne Yo warned Juliette about being too explosive too soon and leaving no place to go if she hit the big notes prematurely. This was another tough one for me. I don't know if either sing sang her best in this performance. Sarah was probably more technically sound in this performance whereas Juliet's voice sounded far more customized for the song. In the end I just feel like it was ultimately a matter of Cee Lo throwing Sarah under the bus. I am a huge Juliet fan and I love her personality too.

Whitney Myer v.s. Kim Yarbrough

"No More Drama" (Mary J. Blige)

Team Adam

Winner: Kim Yarbrough

I felt this match up was so in the bag before they even sang that I barely kept my focus on the mentoring sessions and Whitney's obvious confidence issues weren't helping the matter. Both Adam Levine and Alanis Morisette were taken aback by her lack of confidence. However, they both sang very well and Whitney wasn't the chopped liver that she herself had made herself out to be. Perhaps that was gamesmenship on her part but I still felt that Kim was a clear winner and Whitney's self doubt was on hand once more as she exited the competition.

Lee Koch v.s. Lindsay Pavao

"Heart Shaped Box" (Nirvana)

Team Christina

Winner: Lindsay Pavao

I normally love this kind of arrangement but I think it did a huge disservice to both Lee and Lindsay. It just took too long to kick in and even after it did it just felt far too subtle and I think it really hurt the overall performance of each of their singers. Adam's "delightfully creepy" remark seemed to hit it just right. Blake's ignorance of the song aside (and Cee Lo's hilarious comment to him about needing to get out of Oklahoma more often), I do think the song was ever so slightly tilted in favor of Lindsay and I do think while it was very close in my mind that Christina went with the more potent threat in the competition going forward but I left this performance a much bigger fan of Lee's than in his audition. I appreciated his folksy, even Bob Dylan tailored styled sound more. (Going anywhere near Bob Dylan usually disqualifies someone for me for the obvious high standard reasons.) I look forward to watching Lindsay perform live. She is one of the major contenders this year and Christina's best chance to be candid about it.

Jamar Rogers v.s. Jamie Lono

"I Want To Know What Love Is" (Foreigner)

Team Cee Lo

Winner: Jamar Rogers

This was probably the least exciting battle for me. Jamie always seemed so out of the place with the song from the beginning and Jamar either hit everything just right or well enough. I never felt like Jamie was anything but fodder for Cee Lo to more easily advance one of his strongest voices and one of the real contenders. The judges seemed to concur with me as well and Cee Lo really nailed it with his assessment of Jamie being too nervous.

This was not my favorite battle round episode of the show and I must confess myself already growing tired of this format. It's clear as daylight to any semi-intelligent viewer that the judges are just trying to jettison their weaker members so that those with the best chance of competing and winning can soldier on. This episode was so boringly predictable and except perhaps for the Charlotte Sometimes-Lex Land battle I went ahead and penciled in the winner's name before I even got through the performance. Still, I can't deny I'm rather excited about some of the singers hitting the live shows and I might even dare say that there might be more interesting personalities and artists overall than last year's group moving forward with the exception of perhaps a few notable exceptions like Dia Frampton and Xenia.  My other complaint is that with the field expanded this year, this means that the battle rounds are going on longer now and the fatigue from this portion of the show is starting to sink in. Hopefully we have some good battles coming up again soon and then we can get down to the nitty gritty and watch the top 8-12 singers with a real chance of winning (and more importantly from where I sit, the more interseting artists) duke it out.

Follow Jamie Cole of Himay Co. on Twitter. To hire him for PR write-ups and other marketing and creative services, send a tweet on Twitter for further contact info.

American Idol Season 11: The Top 13 Results Show Recap

The Top 13 Results Show

I enjoyed the opening number. It wasn't the greatest performance per se but it was just well done and proportionally choreographed. The shameless Ford product placement ad was Peter Gabriel's "Big Time" appropriately led off with Shannon Magrane. Jimmy had an opening message about the level of difficulty regarding Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder.

Elise Testone

Jimmy said she got hit with the Whitney Houston stick and said she was in trouble.

Hollie Cavanagh

Hollie was at an advantage but fantastic.

Jessica Sanchez

Jessica's performance is probably the best performance Jimmy's ever seen on American Idol and only worries about her getting too overconfident.

Jessica - SAFE

Elise - BOTTOM THREE GIRLS

Hollie - SAFE

Heejun Han

If Jimmy made a record with him he wouldn't do it with Stevie Wonder because it shows off all his flaws. He likes his voice and tone and that there's a lot of work to be done and they need to keep him in his own element.

Colton Dixon

Colton took great direction and deconstructed the song but he wonders what he's doing and whether he's being true to himself or not and if he's a pop singer or a rock singer.

Jermaine Jones

Jermaine had an internal battle between tuning and feel and lost the battle twice. 

Colton - SAFE

Heejun - SAFE

Jermaine - BOTTOM THREE GUYS

Lauren Alaina then performed "Georgia Peaches" in her return to American Idol. I really felt like her stage presence and confidence vastly improved since she was last year's runner-up.

Erika - BOTTOM THREE GIRLS

Shannon - BOTTOM THREE GIRLS

Skylar - SAFE

Erika Van Pelt

Jimmy felt Erika did a very believable job despite not being tailored made for it but needs to work on her presentation.

Shannon Magrane

Nerves got the best of her and it tightened up her vocals and she has a lot of talent but needs a lot more experience.

Skylar Laine

Jimmy said he likes Skylar's "nasal" voice and vehemently disagreed with Jennifer.

Phillip - SAFE

Jeremy - BOTTOM THREE

DeAndre - SAFE

Joshua - BOTTOM THREE

Joshua Ledet

Jimmy's concern is that you can get bored with his voice after awhile and that he needs to mix it up with his song choices and their tempo.

DeAndre Brackensick

DeAndre was a pleasant surprise for Jimmy. He didn't overdo it and didn't try to hard. He relaxed and did what he needed to do.

Phillip Phillips

Jimmy said he came to the show knowing who he is but is worried about the girls, given the fireworks that could outshine him in the weeks to come.

Jeremy Rosado

Jeremy's where he differs the most with Jennifer and Steven last night. He said his voice is custom made for Stevie Wonder songs and that all the girls outperformed him and that'ed be the one to go. 

Erika - SAFE

Joshua - SAFE

This week's mentor Mary J. Blige came out to perform "Why" and she showed off her veteran stewardship of the mic and stage. Upon watching the results show and her performnce specifically again, I couldn't help but wonder if the current Idols ever pay attention to the established stars and their onstage habits or not or if they pay attention to how the guest artist sings and uses the stage or not.

Elise -BOTTOM TWO

Jermaine - SAFE

Shannon - SAFE

Jeremy - BOTTOM TWO

Elise - SAFE

Jeremy - ELIMINATED

Jennifer gave the news to Jeremy set to last year's champion Scotty McCreery's "Please Remember Me" which I found to be a rather respectable song. The right decision was made here but it also put Elise, Jermaine, Joshua, Shannon, and Erika on notice as well. The good news for Elise and Shannon in particular is that they have strong fan bases when they do well. 

Follow Jamie Cole of Himay Co. on Twitter. To hire him for PR write-ups and other marketing and creative services, send a tweet on Twitter for further contact info.

American Idol Season 11: The Top 13 Perform Recap

American Idol Season 11: The Top 13 Perform

1) Joshua Ledet - "I Wish"

I was not as enarmored with Joshua's as the judges were. I didn't think he sung his song terribly but I just felt like there was too much scratch and screaming in his voice. Last week he kept it check until the very end of his very impressive cover of fellow American Idol Jennifer Hudson's song "You Pulled Me Through" although I still felt like the very end was still a little too much. Mary J. Blige brought in music producer Eric Hudson to help him with his performance. I actually thought that Mary J. Blige was really the star of the evening. Her ciritiques and suggestions for the singers were spot on and she really encouraged Joshua to use a church like mentality for his performance. I thought Randy's Freudian slip of it being "flavorless" instead of "flawless" initially was much more acurrately descriptive of his singing tonight. Steven was useless as usual.

Singing in the dreaded lead off spot, Joshua sang "I Wish" and was immediately lavished with excessive praise. 

2) Elise Testone - "I'm Your Baby Tonight"

Elise's struggles started in her meeting with Jimmy Iovine and Mary J. Blige. She was originally going to sing "The Greatest Love of All" but then it was changed by her guest mentor and Jimmy to "I'm Your Baby Tonight" instead. It really didn't matter. This was a trainwreck of a week for one of the best voices of the season. Mary said it would be unfair if she "crashed her voice" since her voice was "so dope" and unfortunately that's exactly what happened. It was pretty clear before, during, and after her performance that she'd be in trouble this week. Her pacing was probably the only salvagable thing in her performance but when a song goes so far off the rails, it's hard to notice those things as much. The judges were pretty candid about her performance. Jennifer conceeded that "Whitney's a beast" which was her way of saying that Elise's vocal style is almost too unique for her own good. Even Steven was critical and suggested that she needed the right voice and that she needed a chorus that she could nail. Randy said she was boxing with the song and that every note is not meant to show off her voice. Elise admitted that she didn't know the song terribly well, even growing up, and it's pretty clear that she was uncomfortable in it and that she needed much more time with the song before saying that there was no excuse for it.

3) Jermaine Jones - "Knocks Me Off My Feet"

Mary warned Jermaine about stretching his words out too much and was impressed by his quickly timed adaptations and the fact that he is only twenty-five years old. Jermaine did a decent job in my opinion but it didn't standout enough to be considered one of the best performances of the night. Still, I don't think Jermaine will be going home. Randy had some criticisms of the choruses but overall it was a good enough performance to not be in the hot seat with the lowest scoring girl.

4) Erika Van Pelt - "I Believe In You and Me"

Jimmy felt she was struggling to find herself in the first part of the song. Mary was right to invoke "crashing and burning" and again if she tried to sing like Whitney Houston. Jimmy also stated that she'd be fine if she just tried to make the song her own. Erika is one of my favorites but I do think she gets in trouble sometimes by not expanding her vocals to go higher and more powerful at times but it's pretty clear that Jimmy and Mary wanted her to not overdue it. And I liked the soft electric guitar at the beginning of the song. I felt that was a nice touch by the band. J. Lo's "goosies" nonsense during her conference with Jimmy and Mary was predictably ridiculous. Randy wants her to not think too much about it and said that it was amazing at the end. Jennifer complimented her ability interpret songs combined with the tone and fullness of her song. She also, and I agree with this part, that Erika is playing it too safe and called her performance the tip of the iceberg. Steven agreed of course and enjoyed the way she sat on the first verses and pre-chorus before (essentially climaxing, if you will) finishing it off well. (This is Steven of course so we all know what he really meant by it.)

5) Colton Dixon - "Lately"

Stefano Langone did a good job with this last season but since Jimmy and Mary weren't initially "feeling it" according to Colton, was enough for Jimmy to ask him to play a bit of his own song (it's called "Let Go") first so they slowed down the song quite drammatically. There was just a mostly piano-flavored performance and Colton was actually not even the one tickling the ivories. I actually enjoyed the performance better the second time around and I even enjoyed the gradually increased tempo more too. Steven called it beautiful, Jennifer said he was probably one of the more challenged singers this week because of Stevie which made her like it more. Randy said it wasn't "picture perfect" and reassured the booing crowd that this was great constructive criticism designed to help Colton. He felt it started shaky for him but it turned out great. He compared it to "I Don't want To Miss a Thing" and Coldplay, which I felt were really good analogies. 

6) Shannon Magrane - "I Have Nothing"

Mary said she could see her thinking which was not a good thing and told her to stop running so to speak. It's probably a case of someone struggling with a song and momentarily getting it back before losing it again in the interim. Her voice was too soft and timid in the beginning and it just set the tone for a very weak performance. When she tried to elevate her song it came out too growly and she didn't hit enough of the right notes. Jennifer confirmed that she thought her thinking got the best of her and told Shannon to just tell the story. Steven chimed in the same thing about her nerves and that she crashed and burned on the turn around. Randy wondered about the melody going wrong in the beginning of the song, whether it was Shannon or the band. Shannon said she was listening to and focusing more on herself and how she should be singing the show. Shannon is definitely in trouble.

7) DeAndre Brackensick - "Master Blaster"

Once again I thought that Mary gave great instruction and it paid off handsomely for DeAndre. I haven't been his biggest fan but this song, which he volunteered is one of his favorite [Steve Wonder] songs was a great fit for him. It really helped him tone down the falsetto runs and only giving a glimpse of the strongest parts of his range really worked to his benefit. Steve called him a "male Naimi [Adedapo]" and Jennifer told him he has rhythmn and soul and suggested that perhaps she didn't want it to end. Randy said he was in perfect rhythmn and, like Joshua, showed a different side to his abilities tonight and I couldn't agree more.

8) Skylar Laine - "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?"

This was the first time Skylar ever sang Whitney Houston. Mary successfully told Skylar to go softer with her voice and I thought it was a brilliant stroke of criticism. The front part for Jennifer had some nasally and imperfect portions but she kept it together and up to that point gave the performance of the night. Steven loved the escalation of her performance in the way she raised her game with each successive segment of the song and Randy noticed that Skylar too showed another dimension to her vocal asrsenal. Definitely one of my favorite performances of the night.

9) Heejun Han - "All In Love Is Fair"

Mary said he was softer than Stevie's "in your face" tone. Jimmy asked the band to just have the piano play during his rehearsal. The highlight of the mentoring session was when Heejun gave both of them photos of himself and he wrote "I love you more than Jimmy" on Mary's. It was the very same kind of humor that Jimmy criticized him for last week that won him over this week. His performance was solid; it was neither great or terrible but my problem with him is he is too ballad centric. Randy put it best. "It wasn't perfect - but it was really good." 

10) Hollie Cavanagh - "All The Man I Need"

"The little girl with the big voice" got good advice from Mary J. Blige about being comfortable with what she sings and told her that her voice "is sick" and if she followed their advice that she'd steal the show. Randy said, "Dude, you nailed it." J. Lo said there might be a sing off between two girls in the final. 

11) Jeremy Rosado - "?? In The Sky"

Jimmy seemed more intent on stating the stakes for Jeremy and that definitely proved to be for good reason. The nerves Jimmy worried about were not necessarily the issue. His performance was just neither great or terrible and that was exactly the problem. It just felt too safe with the possible exception of the last few notes at the end. Randy as usual was the voice of reason on the judges panel. He felt it lacked swag and I agree. Really, the most interesting part of the segment was when they came back from commercial and Randy and Ryan pretended to be each other. Come to think of it, despite the intentionally sarcastic nature of it, I think they both did a better job than Jeremy. Jeremy goes home this week.

12) Jessica Sanchez - "I Will Always Love You"

There was only one singer on this show who could pull this song off. Jimmy and Mary told her at first she had too much vibrato and Blige told her to take her time. Jessica simply proceeded to give the best performance of the season by far. Randy said, "Jessica Sanchez is legit." And then he just said she's merely one of the best singers in the competition? Um...ONE of the best? Really? She earned her standing ovation and the way she started to smile at the end while squeezing out the last few notes was just materfully skilled. Steven for once put it best. "Jessica...you...maybe...the one. You just made 40 million people cry." Barring catastrophe, she is finals bound.

13) Phillip Phillips - "Superstitious"

Jimmy said he comes "batteries included" but thought ending on a lick was anti-climatic. Mary loved Phillip because he does get lost in the music and that there's no ending for him. Phillip's arrangement was definitely the best of the night. I still put Jessica's vocal far ahead tonight but I really enjoyed Phillip's rendition. Randy laughingly said he "waiting to see every time how you're going to reinterpret somebody's song because that's what you do. You drive your own car in your own lane and I love it." The truth of the matter though is that he put it perfectly. 

My prediction is that Jeremy goes home tonight, edgiing out Elise and Shannon.

Follow Jamie Cole of Himay Co. on Twitter. To hire him for PR write-ups and other marketing and creative services, send a tweet on Twitter for further contact info.

The Voice 2 Season 2: Battle Rounds #1 Recap

The Voice Season 2: Battle Rounds #1 Recap

1) Tony Lucca vs. Chris Cauley

"Beautiful Day" (U2)

Team Adam

Winner: Tony Lucca

I thought Chris Cauley sounded a little more in his element than Tony Lucca. Then again, I actually felt the song itself was suited somewhat more for Chris than the folksy Tony Lucca. I agreed with Blake on Chris' pitch and consistency. Chris had the unfortunate luck of going head to head against a former Disney castmate of Christina Aguilera's and it will always be tough to tell just how influenced Adam was always going to be by that connection because I did feel, although very, very close that Chris might have had a slight edge in the duel. Conspiracy theorists unite.

2) Adley Stump vs. Rae Lynn

"Free Fallin'" (Tom Petty)

Team Blake

Winner: Rae Lynn

I was really surprised by this pairing. Rae Lynn was the first auditioner shown for Season 2 and I loved this girl right from the start but I also really dug Adley Stump too. During the rehearsal I felt like Adley had a bit of a huge advantage going into the performance and Rae Lynn seemed to be a little nervous at first during the voice over. I agreed with Blake's pre-battle round of each having to do some adjusting. Still, I felt like this was a very pro-Rae Lynn setup job by Blake. Miranda Lambert was her coach - gee, who does she know?  - and Rae Lynn auditioned with a song of hers as well. I still can't get over Kelly Clarkson being a guest mentor on the 10th anniversary season of the show that she helped launched but that aside, I am still a little dumbfounded by Blake's pairing choice. I also can't help notice Blake Shelton's Tom Petty fetish. (Dia Frampton, anyone?) Again, I felt like the singer I was a little more partisan towards was at least somewhat outshined by the other singer. When Rae Lynn tried to elevate her voice with stronger emotion it sounded a little off but really the arrangement was ultra sleepy and I think that hurt the overall performance. Again, I think the conspiracy theorists will have a field day with this choice. Rae Lynn is one of my absolute favorites of this season but I do think that Adley was a decisive winner because of her overpowering vocals. 

3) Chris Mann vs. Monique Benabou

"The Power of Love" (Celine Dion)

Team Christina

Winner: Chris Mann

Another interesting song choice but I don't necessarily mean that in a derisive way. Christina had the difficult task of choosing something in-between but by the end of the performance, as much as I loved Monique's performance, felt that Chris was just in the zone and in a very comfortable place and deserved to win the round. 

4) Cheesa vs. Angie Johnson

"Total Eclipse of the Heart" (Bonnie Tyler)

Team Cee Lo

Winner: Chessa

There seemed to be some genuine tension between the two but with reality television, it's always a good bet that there is some editing trickery at play. I did not Cheesa sounded great during the rehearsal. She sounded ultra loud at first and then she was very soft for Babyface. I am torn on this one because I am not sure if either one really sang the hell out of it but I still preferred Angie just because I think she was singing somewhat more within herself than Cheesa but truth be told I found this to be somewhat of a wash. No consipracy theory here.

5) Jordis Unga vs. Brian Fuente

"Ironic" (Alanis Moirisette)

Team Blake

Winner: Jordis

Another match-up I really don't like but I felt this was Jordis' to win or lose, hands down. Again, Blake really puzzled me with his pairings again. Against almost anyone else Brian would probably be a shoe-in for advancing but this one was truly a no-brainer for Blake. Jordis Unga will probably be at least in the final four. It was definitely a hot mess of a performance but Jordis has competition winning potential but she'll have to really piece it together moving forward if she wishes to advance any further because the voting audience might not care.

6) Anthony Evans vs. Jessie Campbell

"If I Ain't Got You" (Alicia Keys)

Team Christina

Winner: Jessie

I was only so-so on both of them during their blind auditions but I do believe they both sang much, much better this time around. Was it enough though? It was also quite loud but they each had some really good runs. In the end Christina picked Jesse but I'm still kind of undecided on this one. It was really, really close.

Follow Jamie Cole of Himay Co. on Twitter. To hire him for PR write-ups and other marketing and creative services, send a tweet on Twitter for further contact info.