THE VOICE 2 SPOTLIGHT: The Blind Auditions #2

THE VOICE 2 SPOTLIGHT: The Blind Auditions #2

1) The Line - Hailey & Leland - Nashville, TN
"American Girl" (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
Blake, Christina/Cee Lo, Adam
Team Christina

The guitar playing non-couple (although it didn't quite seem like they were on the same page) did a rather serviceable job of covering Tom Petty's classic anthem. Adam pleaded to be part of their energy and had a great zinger when Cee Lo asked them if they were a couple and Adam interjected, "Not yet," and there was a great bantering between the judges. Ultimately, they picked Christina over the other three. Blake peculiarly suggested that Leland picked Christina in part because of her massive cleavage.

2) Jamar Rogers - 29 - Bronx, NY
"Seven Nation Army" (The White Stripes)
Cee Lo
Team Cee Lo

Picking a rather appropriately defiant anthem of sorts for his life, which consists of HIV-status because of a crystal meth addiction he contracted six years ago, Rogers enthusiastically joined Team Cee Lo, his personal idol (pun intended because of his own American Idol past), and immediately recited his knowledge of Cee Lo's career and establishing that he had been following Cee Lo since the very beginning of his own career. I liked Rogers. It's great to see someone, previously down and out, rally his life and show that even after contracting HIV from a serious drug addiction that there is still life to be lived. I think his voice was strong enough to achieve dark horse status and I very much look forward to him in the "Sing off" round.

3) Neal Middleton - 33 - Salt Lake City, UT
"I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (Marvin Gaye)

I was really surprised to not see anyone turn his or her chair around but Middleton's voice seemed to ultimately be too much screech and feel for the judges. I couldn't disagree anymore. I felt he had some range there that while certainly not all that obscure, as he was certainly told, was certainly not nearly as generically cliche as every other Edwin McCain-Gavin DeGraw (funny how Adam invoked him during a montage of failed auditions) wannabe.

4) TJ Gibson - "Calling All Angels" (No)

5) Aly Jados - "Because The Night" (No)
Aly was on Season 10 of American Idol but did not get a ticket so to speak this time.

6) Sam James - "I Don't Want To Be" (No)

7) Gwen Sebastian - 37 - Hebron, ND
"Stay" (Sugarland)
Blake, Cee Lo, Adam
Team Blake

I thought that Gwen did a really good job towing the line between folk rock and country, of which I strongly believe that she had a lot more folk in her than people might realize (although she was definitely unmistakably country) but it still took a little bit of time for the judges to turn their chairs around. Although she said that she's actually a big Adam Levine (and conversely Maroon 5) fan, she still did the expected thing and chose Blake.

8) Kim Yarbrough - 50 - Los Angeles, CA
"Tell Me Something Good" (Chaka Khan)
Adam, Christina
Team Adam

I found her audition to be incredibly disjointed and disorienting. Her runs were really over all the map and it was hard to tell what was going on with her but her actual vocal talent certainly seemed to be there. It's funny how Adam was excited to see Yarbrough look like she did because there definitely was somewhat of a Chaka Khan element to her physical appearance.


9) Pamela Rose - 28 - Cooper City, FL
"Already Gone" (Kelly Clarkson)

Rose didn't get past Adam's "pitch issues" (due to being nervous) and Christina seemed to emphasize it even more. Blake also mentioned the same issues during a post-audition cutaway.

10) Angie Johnson - 31 - St. Louis, MO
"Heartbreaker" (Pat Benatar)
Cee Lo
Team Cee Lo

The Air Force veteran definitely had some nerves but I think the combination of her performance and the song (and subsequently) artist choice was perfect for her. I do think too much was given to her physical appearance by both Carson Daly and the judges but Angie definitely fits the mold of what Cee Lo likes and they should be a pretty good match.

11) Dez Duron - 21 - Shravenport, LA
"I Want It That Way" (Backstreet Boys)

The 21 year-old Yale University quarterback had an odd song choice and why Adam Levine seemed to think that stylistically they weren't a match. The judges seemed to be more impressed with Duron's looks than his actual voice but I just didn't seem to think that he was truly a viable voice.

12) Lindsey Pavao - 22 - Sacremento, CA
"Say Aah" (Trey Songz)
Christina, Cee Lo, Blake
Team Christina

I wasn't sure how this would play out when Lindsey said that 40 people is the biggest crowd she's ever performed in front of and she admitted to stage freight issues but I also wondered if it was just a massive head fake on her part. She reminded me of Xenia but although Xenia is actually a little bit younger, I felt that she was not nearly as visibly nervous as Xenia. I think there's something interesting there but I didn't like the fact that she tailed off an inordinate amount of times. I was certainly interested in seeing if Blake would invoke Xenia although he initially just said that her voice was just "bad ass". Blake invoked Fiona Apple (Lindsey agreed with Blake that she loves her) and I think that's a good analogy.

13) Jermaine Paul - 33 - Orange County, NY
"Complicated" (Avril Lavigne)
Cee Lo, Blake
Team Balke

The Alicia Keyes background singer got his turn to be the lead and strangely picked an Avril Lavigne song for his chance to shine on his own accord. I found it unusual but it worked as it got Cee Lo and Blake to turn their chairs around. I do think he gave the microphone a little too much static at times but the goods are definitely there and the banter after the audition was probably the best mentor-picking exchange yet hands down. I thought he did a great job but I loved him even more afterwards. He smartly used his own experience in the industry to manipulate the right conversation and Blake, in his cutaway after being picked by Paul, absolutely and positively identified Cee Lo as having oversold himself and that Paul saw right through it. Great questions (and the right questions), great answers, great meddling by Adam, and at the end of the day he made a great choice with Blake but really couldn't have gone wrong.

14) Hoja Lopez - 25 - Houston, TX
"Teenage Dream" (Katy Perry)

The 25 year-old sounded too shaky for the judges to turn their chairs around and it's too bad because I think there was definitely some potential there but Adam Levine correctly identified her nerves.

15) Angel Taylor -23 - Los Angeles, CA
"Someone Like You" (Adele)
Adam, Blake, Cee Lo
Team Adam

Choosing Mariah, Whitney, Celine, or yes - definitely Christina - is pretty risky, but Adele is also one of those untouchables and while Taylor certainly wasn't quite up there per se, she definitely do bring it and I think she has already established herself as an early favorite moving forward. There was some more great judges banter but I think that Angel ultimately wisely picked Adam because he simply articulated his own vision for her and what he'd do to move her along. I will definitely be watching the striking 23 year-old Los Angeles native with great interest.

I thought there was some more good talent this round. My personal favorites include The Line, Jamar Rogers, Angie Johnson, Lindsey Pavao, Jermaine Paul, and Angel Taylor.

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