NBC’s ‘The Voice’ review: India Carney, Travis Ewing, Michael Leier shine in new auditions
The second week of the “Voice” blind auditions came to us starting on Monday night, and it proved to once again be a crazy night (and also a mixed bag). We didn’t necessarily love any singer until we got to the very end, but most of the contestants were pleasant enough. We’ve come to learn over the past year or two that it’s hard to really judge a competition based on one single performance. We could have never told you at this point last year that Craig Wayne Boyd would be the eventual winner.
Below, see our take on some of the advancing artists, or at least the ones with more than a second of air time. (Boo to the return of the montaged contestants!)
Kelsie May – We love how the show continues to try to craft narratives that suggest that country singers could choose someone other than Blake Shelton. The moment he turned, her whole family started to cry! This was clear from the very beginning what she was going to do.
Kimberly Nicole – A very good performance; while she wasn’t the best singer in the competition, she can totally perform. Picking Pharrell for her is in some ways a dream.
Michael Leier – Very cool singer with a nice rock tone, but we have to say that if you’re wanting drama with coach selection, you didn’t get it here. We knew that he’d chose Adam Levine over Blake the moment he turned around, and he did.
Travis Ewing – A very cool, sort-of-smoky rendition of “Say My Name.” We have not heard anything exactly like this on the season so far. This also proved to be the biggest surprise of the night so far. With his delivery, we really thought he would choose Christina; however, he ended up going with Pharrell.
Sonic – She’s not a hedgehog! She’s also not a really cool fast-food joint with burgers and tots! She is a singer with a good choice of a Sam Smith song … and not one of the predictable ones. Finally, Christina gets her artist!
Jacob Rummell – A very sweet tone. It wasn’t even remotely perfect, but we still think that he could go far. He’ll get a fan following in the blink of an eye. Wait … he chose Blake? Who saw this coming? Clearly, it was one of the biggest surprises of the night.
Barry Minnifield – He got it! At the last second, he managed to get a chair from Adam Levine. We don’t think he’ll make it too deep in the competition, but good on him for getting a turn from Adam.
India Carney – She closed the night off, and she did so with a stirring, soulful “Empire State of Mind” that proved that great singing is not always about theatrics. Sometimes, keeping it simple is also a very good and smart idea. She got all four chairs to turn, but ended up choosing Christina.
Who was your favorite on this episode of “The Voice”? Share with a comment now, and click here to get some other TV news worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)