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.
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The results of the first battle rounds were all surprising for me. I even had to watch them over again on my job’s site, DISHonline.com, which shows all of the episodes free after they’ve aired. I like Tony’s audition but after his obvious loss to Chris, I really think there’s a “conspiracy” because of his Xtina connection. I don’t, however, think that it will last long considering that several singers on the show right now are far more talented than Tony. If Tony wins another round where he is obviously the weaker singer, then I no longer have hope in The Voice.
ReplyDeleteI think the Battle Rounds are great in theory but definitely have their issues in actuality but Tony has a large social media following because of his Mickey Mouse Club background and it's now in the hands of the voters so we'll see. I did get behind on my postings of these blogs as you've undoubtedly noticed and I must admit that even though I was still writing them I got lazy largely in part because of how cynical I view this stuff but I clearly can't get enough of it either so there you have it! ;)
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