NBC’s ‘The Voice’ review: Chris Jamison, Taylor John Williams, Craig Wayne Boyd rock top 10
The top ten contestants on “The Voice” came out tonight with one fairly simple goal, and that is improving on last week. Four performances in, we were worried since Matt McAndrew was the only one we’d consider to be very good.
Luckily, after that point the show came alive with two excellent numbers, and then some other great stuff near the end of the show. We’re of course going to give you our quick-take on everyone, but be sure to check out the poll at the end of the night to pick your own favorite from the show.
Matt McAndrew, “Fix You” (Team Adam) – It’s a good thing that Matt performed first on the show, since this gets this part of the competition over with for now. (Nobody wants to perform on the show first, since it is hard to get votes.) Nobody has to go first typically more than once a season.
Anita Antoinette, “Let Her Go” (Team Gwen) – Like Anita, but this arrangement didn’t quite work for us. The beat of it almost turned it into a happy tune, and we feel like there is so much more longing that needs to be felt here.
Damien, “You and I” (Team Adam) – Too sad, and it didn’t feel like the emotion was really there in the way it needed to be. The audience may have loved it, but at home, it felt rather unwieldy.
Reagan James, “Fancy” (Team Blake) – Not so fancy. More like messy. We had no clue what she was saying most of the time, and she seemed constantly out of breath.
Luke Wade, “Try a Little Tenderness” (Team Pharrell) – This is what we call a comeback! After messing up bad on last week’s episode, Luke really came out and delivered here with an excellent vocal and killer stage presence. This is why Pharrell kept him on his team!
Craig Wayne Boyd, “I Walk the Line” – Powerful, emotional stuff. He was a little flat to us at first, but this performance was just so in touch with who he is. You could tell that he meant every note, and dictated every moment of the show.
Ryan Sill, “Starlight” (Team Gwen) – This is one of the best songs out there to us, and with that, this paled in comparison so much. There just wasn’t that same power in it. It did get better as it went along, so we’ll give him some credit for that.
DaNica Shirey, “I Have Nothing” (Team Pharrell) – We don’t like the song. Let’s start with that. She did rock with it, but will it be enough? That is still very much to be seen.
Taylor John Williams, “Come Together” (Team Gwen) – Interesting song choice. It just didn’t have the swagger that we really wanted it. It was almost like “Come Together” lite.
Chris Jamison, “Uptown Funk” (Team Adam) – This is super-current. Jamison definitely brought the stage presence that we wanted, but we do have to say that the vocals really did not require a lot of work until the very end of the show. That’s where he really knocked this out of the park.
If you missed how we ranked the remaining contestants on “The Voice” before this show aired, our suggestion is to check that out now by going over to this link! Also, sign up to get some further TV updates worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC)