NBC’s ‘The Voice’ review: Meet Warren Stone, Taylor Beckham, the Swon Brothers

Does “The Voice” follow a formula? Sure. You have great contestants, a duo, some young people, a few sad stories, and in this case, a singer that has been on the show before.

Even if it may be a tad predictable, what “The Voice” does it does very well: give us an extremely compelling television that is unpredictable, funny, and a good showcase of who the artists are and the sort of music that they want to make. While perhaps not as memorable as last week’s premiere, the show this week did still have a good bit of talent, and some hilarious moments between the coaches to boot.

The performances

The Swon Brothers – Wouldn’t it be hilarious if one of these two was named Bella? Kidding! The biggest issue that we had with this performance was simply that they needed to adjust the sound slightly to focus on their voices. When they did that, these two rockers really got the attention of every coach other than Adam Levine. However, they have a history in Oklahoma … which is great for Blake Shelton.

Taylor Beckham – She’s a gymnast from Dallas! Surprised? You shouldn’t be, considering that Nastia Liukin and Carly Patterson also resided in the area at the time of their competitive careers. However, Taylor retired before the Olympics, and is now trying to just show off her jazzy tone. We personally find her a little nasally for our liking, but Baby Emma Stone (which may become her new nickname here) has potential to go far, and Usher is right in her R&B lane.

Sam Alves – Probably the biggest mistake of the entire episode. His story about being left on someone’s doorstop was a little bit confusing with all the parents being men, but we actually thought he has a better voice than about half of the people who have been put through this far. However, these coaches do make mistakes sometimes, and this is just an example of that.

Karina Iglesias – We were almost hoping that this teacher would pick Adam Levine, if for no other reason than that Blake Shelton could be put somewhat in his place for his ridiculous “I don’t understand Spanish” shtick. Your wife is from Texas, dude! Learn the language! In going back to her voice, though, Karina is pure rocker, and she and Adam should work well together.

Garrett Gardner – Is black the only color that this guy owns? Garrett came back after failing last season to get a chair, and it was a close call this time before Shakira turned around. The biggest thing he still needs to work on is getting more of an identity on stage, and really pushing that self-worth to another level so he doesn’t feel the need to prove anything to himself or others.

J’Sun, Duncan Kamakana, and Chelsea M. – We barely know these three, which suggests to us that they will probably not go very far since Judith Hill had more screen time in the introduction for this episode.

Holly Tucker – It’s a country singer from Texas. Who do you think she is going to choose? As a former marching band member, she has a history of performing even without singing … and she has the potential to be great, even if choosing Blake at this point is a little predictable.

Landon Medvec – He’s got a tough job in moving stuff, and hopefully someone out there will take notice of him so he doesn’t have to do that anymore.

Michelle Chamuel – This self-proclaimed nerd had probably our favorite voice of the night: it was powerful, funky, and completely different than anyone else this season. Plus, for an introvert she really knew how to work the stage like nobody’s business. The show made it seem like the Usher choice came out of left field, but we actually understood it based on the way that the two communicated.

Julie Roberts – Strangely, there’s a part of us that remembers Julie, and not just because her name is pretty much the equivalent of another famous person. This had to be pretty embarrassing on her part: she had a pretty emotional story, she knew Blake Shelton, and she even performed one of his songs; but still, she didn’t get a coach to turn around.

Monique Abbadie – Just like a country singer almost always picks Blake, we thought that Monique would choose Shakira simply for no reason other than the fact that she was a personal idol and they’re both Latin pop singers.

Warren Stone – All night long, we were hearing about Adam’s desperation to take a country artist from Blake, and this was his chance to do so with a guy who really has a knack for telling stories with songs. Luckily for the Maroon 5 frontman, his perseverance paid off! Adam has himself a genuine country artist, and someone who could actually outlast some of the ones currently on Blake’s team.

Who was your favorite from this episode of “The Voice”? If you want to see a pretty hilarious video from last week featuring Blake, you can do so over here.

Photo: NBC