THE VOICE 2 SPOTLIGHT: The Blind Auditions #4

THE VOICE 2 SPOTLIGHT: The Blind Auditions #4

Another so-so audition round on The Voice which already has me worried about its viability somewhat but lets not kid ourselves either - it is far, far too early in the show's run to be sounding the alarm. There were some standouts but other than that, I found it to be very okay. There are no horrible singers on the show which of course is nice but I did like some of the contestants a great deal anyway.

1) Ducky - 26 - Carlisle, PA - Painter
"Tighten Up" (The Black Keys)

Ducky had a pretty good voice but not strong or distinctive enough to get a chair turned around. Cee Lo was pretty blunt in his talk to Ducky about looking for the best. Christina contradicted him by saying that they all basically wish they had turned their chairs around. Blake said in his cutaway confessional that Ducky might be one of the ones he wished he had turned his chair around.

2) Jonathas - 23 -
"U Got It Bad" (Usher)
Cee Lo, Christina
Team Christina

Jonathas sounded like every R&B singer from the past 20 years but it didn't stop Cee Lo and Christina from turning their chairs around. Despite Cee Lo's facetious Usher comparison and Christina's clear allusion to the ladies liking him enough to turn her own chair around, thus completely undermining the show's entire premise that they love to beat to death in both its promos and the show itself. After some very unnecessary jewelry comparisons, and the creepy "hots for you" comment from Jonathas, he showed that he still had just that for her (with his wife and kids in the viewing room) by choosing Christina. If he got to the live rounds he could have serious appeal but I don't find him to be the least bit distinctive but I certainly admire him for the beautiful family he has. However, this is a singing competition, not Family Feud.

3) Monique Benabou - 23 - Alameda, CA
"Mr. Know It All" (Kelly Clarkson)
Christina
Team Christina

Monique's mother battled breast cancer when Monique was 12 so we were given another story of overcoming adversity. Monique chose to sing Kelly Clarkson's "Mr. Know It All" but given the original American Idol's pipes, perhaps I was a little skeptical but I just didn't find her voice to be powerful enough to be anything more than battle round fodder.

4) Naia Kete - 21 - Hollywood, CA
"The Lazy Song" (Bruno Mars)
Blake, Cee Lo

Firs toff, I felt like Naia looked like a cross between Dia Frampton and Naima Adedapo which probably explains why Blake didn't appreciate Cee Lo turning his chair around. My guess is that he heard a bit of Dia in her and immediately connected with her. Christina mentioned it more overtly. There was some really good banter, including from Naia herself, and I felt confident that Blake would ultimately seal the deal and that's exactly what he did. Naia went against her intent going into the competition of going with Cee Lo and instead went with her gut in the moment and I think it was a wise decision.

5) Charlotte Sometimes - 23 - Wall, NJ
"Apologize" (One Republic)
Adam, Blake, Christina, Cee Lo
Team Blake

Overcoming a jaw disease and corrective surgery to audition, she sang One Republic's "Apologize" and while I didn't find her voice to be particularly overpowering or even terribly distinctive, there was definitely a very appealing character to her voice. I think she got better as she progressed in the song and I really dug her song and vibe and Blake recalled Xenia from last year and openly plugged Xenia's record deal if, "you're into that kind of thing" as he humorously put it. And then Cee Lo kept telling Adam and Christina to get a room and I mentally checked out for a minute. When I came to, the Xenia reference helped and Charlotte is now on Team Blake.

6) Erick Macek - 31 - Bethlehem, PA
"Free Fallin'" (Tom Petty)

Singing a somewhat distinctive version of the song, bordering between folk and country, I think I probably enjoyed the arrangement more than the actual voice itself and apparently all the judges felt the same way about it too. I agree with Christina's assessment that it didn't really go anywhere.

7) Tony Vincent - 38 - New York, NY
"We Are The Champions" (Queen)
Cee Lo
Team Cee Lo

Tony Vincent has already worked with members of Queen and Green Day and I agreed with Cee Lo's criticism of his fellow judges. There just isn't another Freddie Mercury out there but I do think his voice has some Freddie qualities. (Please don't say I think he's as good though!) He did lose me at the end there when he claimed he kicked ass when he was asked of his own abilities and that could come back to haunt him but I think he has some interesting things going for him.

8) Anthony Evans - 33 - Dallas, TX
"What's Going On?" (Marvin Gaye)
Christina
Team Christina

The son of famous TV preacher Dr. Tony Evans, I would be curious about his voting appeal. I thought Anthony had a very nice tone to him but I also think his voice might have just been a little too soft when he first started singing. Towards the end though Christina heard enough to turn her chair around. I kind of agreed with Cee Lo's "tremble" comment about his voice but I think for me that was the holdup. Also noticeably in support of him was famed gospel singer Kirk Franklin and his wife Tammy.

9) Jamie Lono - 22 - Chicago, IL
"Folsom Prison Blues" (Johnny Cash)
Adam, Cee Lo
Team Cee Lo

Adam immediately hit his button when he heard Jamie do almost a Tracy Chapman like cover of Johnny Cash's classic. Both Cee Lo and Adam saw a lot of soul and something different in his voice and song choice and arrangement. I loved Cee Lo's comment about Jamie having his own "artistic intent" and I think he did an excellent sell job. I don't think he could have gone wrong but based on the sell job I think Jamie absolutely made the right call. Cee Lo really said all the right things and I really like this pairing.

10) Dylan Chambers - 19 - Arlington, TX
"Valerie" (Amy Winehouse)

The son of a vocal coach couldn't muster his own chair turning audition. There's a chance that he was just too young and green and that his voice hasn't reached its full potential just yet but he was probably better served by not getting picked to highlight those things. Dylan could very well end up doing things musically but it's just hard to see where he can go from here.

11) Nathan Anderson - "Walking In Memphis" (Marc Cohn) (No)

12) Luna Searles - "Come To My Window" (Melissa Etheridge) (No)

13) Adam Lasher - "How You Remind Me" (Nickelback) (No)

14) Justin Hopkins - 30 - Redondo Beach, CA
"Babylon" (David Gray)
Cee Lo
Team Cee Lo

Carson Daly's former in-house band guitarist took center stage for The Voice judges. Hopkins minced no words in wanting to work with Cee Lo and so he was pumped to get his wish. I do wonder if his voice is strong enough to advance terribly far in the competition but I really dug what Cee Lo dubbed "rugged" about his voice and I couldn't agree more. Plus, he seems to be a genuinely nice guy so I wish him success but I just don't know if it can be as a front man in the industry. If he's using the show as a platform to land in a band, I think that would be a much better arrangement; perhaps one where the singing duties are shared would be preferable.

15) Nicolle Galyon - 27 - Sterling, KS
"You Save Me" (Kenny Chesney)
Adam
Team Adam

Casey Weston's friend and occasional writing partner finally took the stage herself. Once onstage she took to the piano, which I must admit made me realize how few people have chosen to play for their blind audition. I really liked her voice and her performance quality. I was somewhat surprised Blake didn't take a chance on her but I think that Nicole is possible dark horse material and once people catch on to that connection she might garner a little more support just from that.

16) Jordan Rager - "Chicken Fried" (Team Blake)

17) Karla Davis - "If I Die Young" (Team Adam)

18) Alyx - "Just Like A Pill" (Team Blake)

19) Mathai - 18 - Dallas, TX
"Rumour Has It" (Adele)
Adam, Blake, Cee Lo
Team Adam

Adam wasted no time hitting his button while Blake and Cee Lo weren't too far behind. I really am not sure about the "doesn't sound like anyone else" line these judges are rather annoyingly becoming more reliant on in their selling jobs. I don't think she's quite the star in the making she was made out to be by Blake but I did really enjoy her voice. I think there's a ton of work to be done with her stage presence and stage command but other than that I really think that she has something nice going for her.

20) Eric Tipton - 31 - Sanger, TX
"You Make My Dreams" (Hall & Oates)

I think the 6'0, 300 pound Eric Tipton picked the perfect song to showcase his voice. I do agree that it had some soul and I think that it was definitely a strong performance. He didn't wow me though. He was just consistent and perhaps just being consistently good as opposed to really trying to bring the house down cost him a chance to land on a team.

I felt like this was one of the more underachieving audition rounds of the show's run thus far. There were a few singers of note in my opinion but other than that I really didn't feel it as much. There's just one more round to go so we're definitely on the home stretch. I still can't wait until next week. On that note, stay tuned.

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