The Voice: Team Adam Takeover

Honestly, I’ve been sitting here trying to come up with a title for this blog post, and yeah, I think this one is fitting, because Team Adam basically stole the show on The Voice last night.

Before I talk about last night’s performances, let’s talk about the Top 8 results. America saved Beverly McClellan (Team Xtina)and Dia Frampton (Team Blake). Christina Aguilera saved Frenchie Davis, and Blake Shelton chose to save Xenia.

Maybe it’s just me, but I do not understand how people are “shocked” over Blake choosing Xenia over Jared Blake and Patrick Thomas.

Jared Blake’s voice is just average, at best. There are a handful of lead singers that sound just like him on the radio. Nothing about his voice stood out to me, personally. With Patrick Thomas, I don’t think he should have gone past the battle round. Tyler Robinson completely outsang him. Plus, his performance last week was just okay.

From the begining, it’s been fairly obvious that Blake has a soft soft for Xenia’s voice. Their rehearsal footage is always charming and endearing. I figured he would pick her if America didn’t save her. I think as soon as Xenia gets over her stage fright, she will just soar.

Moving on to last night’s show. It was Team Adam (Casey Weston, Devon Barley, Jeff Jenkins, and Javier Colon) and Team Cee Lo’s (Thompson Sisters, Nakia, Curtis Grimes, and Vicci Martinez) turn to get their singin’ on.

Let’s start with Team Cee Lo, and Tori & Taylor Thompson’s performance of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” Oh man. The girls are adorable. They were adorable when they were on American Juniors back in 2004, but this competition is just not going to be their meal ticket. I never thought these two would get past the battle round of the competition.

Their vocal performance last night was kind of all over the place. The song Cee Lo gave them didn’t highlight any aspect of their voices.  I don’t see them moving on any further in the competition.

Curtis Grimes sang “Addicted to Love.” I thought this was a great song to countrify, but his performance fell flat for me. I thought he should have done more with his twang and inflection of his voice, and he should have infused way more personality into his overall performance.

Another Kings of Leon song made an appearance on The Voice this week. Nakia performed “Sex on Fire.” I think Nakia has a great personality, and that’s why so many people love him. I haven’t been sold on his voice at all during this competition, until last night.

I thought Nakia had a very controlled vocal performance. He tends to shout some when he sings, which is what I don’t like, but I really liked the notes that were drawn out during the chorus. I have a feeling if he doesn’t get America’s Save next week, that he’ll be Cee Lo’s pick to stay in the competition.

The true star of Team Cee Lo is Vicci Martinez. This girl can sang. “Jolene” wouldn’t have been my first song choice for her to sing, but I thought she did an incredible job.

If you follow me on Twitter (and if you’re not, get on that!), then you know I am supporting Team Adam. And last night was pure testament to why I think someone off Adam Levine’s team is going to win the whole competition.

Casey Weston sang “Black Horse & the Cherry Tree” last night, and it was just fabulous. Adam helped her choose a song that would highlight the unique quality of her voice, and would allow her to show growth as a performer. I think Casey has a shot of moving on to the Top 8. I think if push comes to shove, Adam will put her through as his pick, because he seems to have a soft spot for Casey’s voice.

Devon Barley sang OneRepublic’s “Stop And Stare.” It was probably the weakest link in Team Adam last night, however it was still a pretty decent vocal performance. His voice was really flat in the beginning, and that was probably due to nerves, but towards the end I thought he came into his own. As much as I like Devon’s voice, I don’t see him moving on next week.

Team Adam’s country star, Jeff Jenkins sang “Jesus, Take The Wheel.” That’s not the easiest song to sing, and oh my gosh, Jeff pulled that performance off just seamlessly. Jeff has a tremendous stage presence, and it was the one time during the show that I forgot I was watching The Voice, and not a concert special. He comes off as a seasoned entertainer, which allows him to not only emotionally connect with his songs, but also the audience. 

Javier Colon sang “Angel” last night, and brought the house down with his sincere vocal performance. I have never heard a guy sing this song before, and I just loved it. I could tell during his performance how much he wants this. There’s passion to be found in his performances that so far have gone unmatched by the other performers. My only advice would be for him to lay off the vocal runs just a tad. I’m all for showing vocal restraint. We know you can sing, so just sing.

A couple other things about the show, I kind of love how the singers are legitimately nervous and are overcoming stage fright to share their voice with the audience. This is truly the mark of finding undiscovered talent. The coaches really get to coach their team, and I love that. I feel like Adam and Blake are really helping to mold future singers, and are giving them the necessary feedback they need to hear.

I know that people have been giving the coaches crap for not critiquing more harshly, but I think constructive criticism is where it’s at, and during the rehearsal footage we see some of that. I think we as the audience have to remind ourselves that the artists are coaches and not judges. They are there to build their team up and help them succeed, not tell them what they did wrong.

Overall, I really liked last night’s show! What did y’all think? And who do y’all think is moving on next week?

I think I’ll end this with Team Adam’s performance of “With a Little Help From My Friends.” Enjoy!