NBC’s ‘The Voice’ review: Judith Hill, Karina Iglesias, Swon Brothers rule battles
“The Voice” is back with its battle rounds … and should we be more excited? As much as we like the concept of the steal, we just can’t over the fact that there were only six vocal performances over the course of two hours, and it really felt like there could have easily been eight or ten without getting rid of any of the necessarily “character development.” There’s just so much filler here, from the coaches’ remarks to the multiple rehearsals shown. You don’t really get a sense of a lot of the work that’s being put in, anyway, so why show it?
Complaints about the format aside, we will at least admit that it was a good night of performances. There are a few people on this show with a real shot at going far, and at least Usher and Shakira have a different approach to the battle rounds than we’ve seen before.
Amber Carrington vs. Sasha Allen (Adam Levine) – This, to us, seemed obvious before the start of the battle. Sasha not only killed it during the blind audition, but if you go and listen to some of her music on YouTube, you’ll probably pass out. However, Adam made a pretty shocking choice in taking Amber … and that’s what the steal is for, right? Ultimately, both Usher and Shakira wanted her, and the latter managed to snatch her up.
Garrett Gardner vs. J’Sun (Shakira) – It’s a guy with a quirky name versus a guy who is on this show for the second straight season. While this didn’t have the same power as listening to Amber and Sasha rock out to “Try,” it was solid … and J’Sun got hosed in not getting a steal despite some praise.
Holly Tucker vs. Michelle Raitzin (Team Blake Shelton) – There’s nothing we hate more than Carson Daly’s generalized introductions to each one of these contestants, and the only thing that is a little more annoying is watching a country singer like Holly getting to stay in her lane with “Blown Away,” while Michelle had to do something that is out of her comfort zone. What was even more ridiculous? That Blake kept Holly just because he knows country music better. Michelle was left without a coach, and we feel almost like we never really got to know her.
Jess Kellner vs. Taylor Beckham (Team Usher) – First of all, we don’t know how Taylor even moved around in that Poison Ivy dress. As for the performance, we’re not sure if Usher really got as much from either one of them as he was hoping. The vocals were pretty good, but this was just listless. Jess still won, and the most compelling part of this whole ordeal may have been seeing the gamut on Taylor’s face as she went from being completely devastated to joining Blake’s team in the span of a few seconds.
Christian Porter vs. the Swon Brothers (Team Blake) – We really enjoy the battles featuring the duos, mostly because it’s such an awkward experience. Usually, groups struggle when it comes to this round since they’re not used to being in this sort of situation. The Swon Brothers were awesome this week, but Blake’s attitude is starting to get ridiculous, if we were a non-country singer, we’d just never pick him! Meanwhile, “bar singer” Christian was sent back to what will hopefully be a much better bar here on out. We would’ve picked the Swon Brothers, too, but not for the reason mentioned.
Judith Hill vs. Karina Iglesias (Team Adam) – Last season, Cee Lo Green made the terrible decision to pair up Amanda Brown and Trevin Hunte. This year, the “biggest battle blunder” award goes to Adam. These two have crazy-good voices! We don’t even know where to start here. It was obvious that Judith would be picked by Adam … but who would steal Karina? It’s Shakira! The only surprise that we have is that Usher and Blake didn’t go for this slice of brilliance as well.
Who was your favorite contestant on “The Voice” this week? If you want to check out some more news from “the Voice’ pertaining to Adam Levine, be sure to visit the link here.
Photo: NBC