NBC’s ‘The Voice’ review: Did Amanda Brown, Cassadee Pope make top 4?
America has voted; and yet again on “The Voice,” we somewhat question their motives. Remember when we saw Jamar Rogers leave the show last year? At that point in time, we called for the show to change their voting so that there could be multiple artists from the same team in the top four. Well, as it turns out that did not make much of a difference this year in getting the right people into the top 4.
Honestly, we knew that Adam Levine was going to be losing both Melanie Martinez and Amanda Brown the moment that Carson Daly asked him if he was happy with his song choices for this week. They were ranked the lowest on iTunes, which was probably why our intrepid host chose to withhold some of the results from the sales chart when he introduced it a little earlier on in the show.
While it would be easy to blame Adam for these exits, we’re not quite sure that he could have done anything different. While we do think that “(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman” is an overdone song, America hasn’t really shown much of a problem with that as a whole. As for Melanie’s performance with fake dolphins, it was a risk worth taking since she was not going to make it into the top four doing the same thing she had done so far in the competition. Nicholas David has the crazy groove (and he looked like he almost had a heart attack during the final results), Trevin Hunte the hype, and Blake Shelton’s team has … well, Blake Shelton. The country vote is strong, and these are the same people who gave Jermaine Paul the win last year. (A Cassadee Pope win is something we can get behind, though.)
If you were asking us who we would have sent home, it would have probably been Trevin and Terry, if for no other reason than that their music is probably the least current to the modern music landscape. However, you have to remember that many voters are older, and are voting more based on the music rather they like versus what is necessarily “hip.”
What do you think about these eliminations, and are you as angry as we are over Amanda going home for some inexplicable reason? Be sure to share your thoughts on this below, and you can take a look at some of the performances from Monday night here.
Photo: NBC
Bo
January 7, 2013 @ 5:34 pm
Amanda Brown’s “Stars” was an incredible performance, but some of her song choices had much to be desired. Cassadee, on the other hand, had a heartfelt connection to many of the lyrics of her songs, and her live performances were clearly better then her recordings. Her song choices with Blake’s influence were brilliant. I think the two best artists were Amanda and Cassadee, and I also think it’s a mistake to think that Cassadee will only have a 2-year career. I think she’s going to be around for a long long time.
Pete
December 18, 2012 @ 12:24 am
It is a joke that Amanda was voted off she was the best “voice” on the show period and she looks the part too. Cassadee is a ripoff of Avril Lavigne yes she can sing other people’s music pretty well but she has no staying power and apparently could not make it before. I wish these shows were really about music but it seems to be about something else. The best music is stuff you don’t even hear on the radio!!!!
JC
December 11, 2012 @ 4:01 pm
Amanda is very good and should have been in the top 4 over Nicholas or Terry but no way has she been better or more consistent than Cassadee.
When the show is over Cassadee will have a much better career going forward than the rest.
Keema
December 10, 2012 @ 1:15 pm
Amanda should not have been sent home last week. As far as performances go, and just by rating last monday’s performances, I think Melanie and Terry should have went home. I mean Melanie sang a comercial jingle for goodness sakes and Terry missed a lot of notes. I love Terry but I think Amanda is more versatile has a wider range and offers an element of surprise. She is simply amazing and is a singer, a performer, an entertainer…Amandda is the whole package. I adore Ceelo’s nickname for her; My favorite mistake… poetic justice at it’s best. I know he was as shocked as the audience to see Amanda go and just as upset.
Alex
December 6, 2012 @ 6:51 pm
Totaly agree with the amada lovers. It doesnt matter lets vote for the guys, dont let cassidy when. Terri, also i feel that we should drop there rating really low because of what they did. This is horrible that she is gone, she like another beyonce. So lets try an drop the rating never watching this show ever again just voting for Terri
Kate
December 6, 2012 @ 1:53 pm
I agree with Jonathon – I think the real problem here wasn’t the voting – it’s the itunes multiplier. It’s going to cause an issue where people will now have to pick songs that will sell well on itunes vs just great performances.
Because honestly Amanda was by far my favorite (and let’s be real I don’t think she sang off key once all season) BUT do I really want Natural Woman or Here I Go Again on my iPod? Not so much. I bought Here I Go Again b/c I liked her take on it but in general it’s not what I’d download. (Stars, Dream On, and Someone Like You – different story). (Also unrelatedly the studio recording of Melanie’s Seven Nation Army is SICK). SO yes let it count as a vote if you download it but it certainly shouldn’t be multiplied by 10 because it hit top 10.
Also – Christina must just be jealous because Amanda Brown is seriously talented and picked Adam over her. Not to mention Christina’s career is tanking and Amanda’s is about to take off.
Lastly, Amanda’s probably better off not making the finals – she’ll probably get a better record deal this way.
Jonathan
December 6, 2012 @ 12:16 pm
The vote multiplier is rediculous. I don’t want to spend money on covers. 10x the vote is way too much. 25% increase is much more reasonable. Now to win you have to choose a song that people will want to buy more than show off vocal talent.
Victor
December 6, 2012 @ 12:06 pm
The last two left should have been Trevin and Amanda Brown. Week after week they’ve blown the competition away. I can’t believe more people voted for Nicholas David than Amanda Brown. My jaw dropped when they let her go.
Tony
December 6, 2012 @ 4:52 am
One word folks “FIXED”
Carol
December 5, 2012 @ 8:26 pm
Amanda Brown was and is the all around entertainer. Not just the superb vocals but the whole package. Why on earth she was voted off is beyond me.
Like Aien said “Were the votes counted properly?” Christina going on and on about Cassadee Pope was too much for this viewer. Anyone watching the show knows that Christina constantly came out with negative comments regarding Amanda. Maybe the Christina fans just followed what Christina thought were good vocals. She sure does like Cassadee Pope. Just another pop singer to me. One of hundreds.
So sad Amanda is gone
aien
December 5, 2012 @ 11:55 am
I have no reason to watch The Voice now. Were the votes counted properly? I find it hard to believe that Amanda didn`t even rank 4th when she is so much better than some of the remaining contestants.
Luciano
December 5, 2012 @ 9:49 am
I can’t stand Travin… Amanda so deserved to be in this Top 4. But most of the singing competitions are not fair. Who remember what happened to Pia Toscano 2 years ago?!! I do!
Aqua
December 5, 2012 @ 7:38 am
And Christina just has no INTEREST for Amanda so that proves there is something wrong with her.. She’s always saying something bad towards team Adam
Aqua
December 5, 2012 @ 7:37 am
HOnestly Amanda should’ve won, but they let America vote :/
nette
December 5, 2012 @ 7:28 am
Commenting Joe Amanda Brown was the best singer Cassadee was okay but she have nothing on Amanda get real .
Commenting Joe
December 5, 2012 @ 4:36 am
I didn’t like Amanda. Yes she could sing, but she just didn’t pop out to me, she was good all season, but she never had that stand out wow moment. Its not about being bad anymore. Melanie was obviously gone, she was a round or 2 past her exit. This is the top, the cream and unlike some seasons or on some other shows there is a really strong final 4 where I honestly don’t know who will win.
Cassadee is wonderful, her rise on this show is phenomenal. She had the 4 chair turn around and then fell in with the group until she did Blake’s song. That woke me and America up and since then we have noticed how good she is, she doesn’t seem to have that divaness that Amanda has and her song choices have been much better, that is due to Blake.
Nicholas is wonderful, he has that niche, I don’t know how far that will go though. It reminds me of the Singoff 2 seasons ago with Jerry Lawson’s group. You didn’t want to see him go home because he was good, but you knew he wasn’t going to win.
Trevin is a great ballad singer, but thats it. He can do that better than anyone else and blows the roof off, but if you give him any song where he as to sing in a lower register or softly, he is mediocre at best. He really is a one trick pony, but his trick is amazing. I think that he will sing another Whitney song, maybe I will always love you or something where he can have that powerful moment they play at the end for you to call. I think that Amanda being gone is the best thing for him, he has a high voice and sounds like a woman at times. They were fighting for the power ballad singers role, although I think Amanda was better overall.
Terry is a throwback and he is great at those rock songs. He turns whatever song he sings into an old rock ballad and his voice is so clear. He is fairly versatile and now that we are down to 4 vastly different singers it will be solely up to his song choice. He must choose wisely.
Its all about song choice from here on out. Americans don’t want to call or text as much as they do buy a song they really like. I voted every week but I bought only a handful of songs that really stuck out and were unique. Amanda picking that overdone tampon commercial song is what killed her. The final four need to look at that and learn. They all need to pick songs that are in their wheelhouse and that people will want to buy, not something that sounds like the original or is overplayed or so obscure that no one likes it or cares about it. I would say the best choices would be Terry:Yesterday by the Beatles or Imagine(something with john lennon and poignant) Cassadee:Killing me softly(I know its a bit odd, but it has those breakout moments and she would definitely put a new spin on a great old tune) Trevin: I will always love you(no brainer) and Nicholas:Virtual Insanity(its new enough to sound current and yet old and niche enough to sound great with his voice and I don’t want him to end up being a 1970s karaoke machine)
Elton
December 4, 2012 @ 11:48 pm
Absolutely unbelievable that Amanda Brown was eliminated. My wife and I (in our 50’s) saw the final 2 as Amanda Brown & Cassadee Pope with everyone else 2 beneath. They were the only two that could go out and sing any song with pitch, passion, and power. We loved Melanie and her unique voice and character and Nicholas with his story and soul. Trevin’s performance yesterday was amazing. But he had not been anywhere close to that with songs he didn’t pick. I thought he sounded weak singing with Terry tonight. I grew playing the guitar music of The Who and was blown away with Terry’s audition song of Baba O’Riley. We thought Terry, Nicholas, and Melanie each had a compelling special sound that would take them places.
After tonight, my wife and I both agreed that we wouldn’t be watching the show anymore. We really thought it was about the best voice. Without Amanda it really takes away from what I would assume would be Cassadee’s winning because Amanda was the only one that could battle with Cassadee. I would be curious to know why the voting audience didn’t like Amanda.
david
December 4, 2012 @ 11:36 pm
My lack of faith in these shows has been restored. This was the first one that I’ve watched and I thought that America was going to get it right by voting for a rematch between Amanda and Trevin, who clearly have the brightest careers ahead of them. Cassadee Pope has had a career so apparently dull that she couldn’t get signed to another record deal without resorting to gaming reality TV. Christina, still wounded weeks later by Amanda’s choice of Adam as her coach, damned Amanda with faint praise, and yawning or coughing when other coaches praised the rising star. Judging by comments that I’ve seen on facebook, twitter, and various blogs and papers, Christina might have inflicted some damage on her career. I’m not sure that I have the heart to watch the three male vocalists that I’ve liked since the beginning get pushed out one-by-one by the vapid, unoriginal and consistently off-pitch Cassadee Pope. She’ll have a brilliant two-year career in country music before that machine leaves her behind.