Fans helped pick the songs The Voice Top 11 sang Monday night.
And the result was one of the better set of performances we’ve seen in Season 15.
Kennedy Holmes, DeAndre Nico, Chris Kroeze and Kymberli Joye were particuarly impressive.
Here are Voice Views song by song grades.
I’ll be adding video of every performance as soon as they’re available.
Disagree with the grades? Feel free to comment below.
Dave Fenley (Team Blake), “Use Me” by Bill Withers — Dave says this will represent his soulful side. And it sounds like we’ll hear a bit of beat boxing too. Yep, he starts the performance with the beat boxing, though you could hardly hear it over the music. Okay, the beat boxing isn’t working. It was drowned out every time Dave tried it. Energetic performance — Dave’s having trouble catching his breath — but not sure it worked. Grade: C
Chevel Shepherd (Team Kelly), “Space Cowboy” by Kacey Musgraves — I love the sassy fun performance from Chevel last week. This week, she’s try something a little more tender. Sold performance from the 16-year-old, complete with a nice glory note near the end. I would have like to have seen a bit more of an emotional connection from the word go, but Chevel finished strong. Grade: B–
Reagan Strange (Team Adam), “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne — Reagan says she’s looking forward to showing off her fun side on this song. Adam warns that it’s deceptively tough to sing. And Reagan — sorry fans — has a very rough opening. She finds her stride on the chorus, but I was expecting Regan to cut loose on stage the way she was talking. That was sorta young and fun, but Reagan seemed to be struggling with her breath control too. That said, she got great reaction from the crow. Grade: C+
Kymberli Joye (Team Kelly), “Break Every Chain” by Tasha Cobbs Leonard — Kymberli has been killing songs you wouldn’t expect a gospel background singer to perform. Now she goes gospel. Prediction: This will be excellent. Kymberli says she sings this frequently in church. Now we’re going to hear some singing, folks! Dang, and Kymberli is looking like a star. My only complaint is an arrangement that had the background singers doing the chorus most of the song, leaving Kymberli to freelance for most of the performance. But, hey, she’s pretty good at that. Right? Hooray, the coaches give Kymberli a well-deserved standing ovation. That was easily, far and away, the best performance we’ve seen tonight. Grade: A–
Kirk Jay (Team Blake), “Body Like a Back Road” by Sam Hunt — Kirk says he’s going to start at the keyboard, then get up and show he can dance. Surprise, surprise, the first viewing party we visit is Kirk Jay’s. Could this show be any more transparent when it comes to playing favorites? As for the dancing, I guess that one little spin qualifies. Solid vocal, but that wasn’t “incredible” as Blake proclaims. Incredible would mean I’d immediately want to hear that version of the song a couple more times. Nope. Sold. Not incredible. Grade: B
Chris Kroeze (Team Blake), “Long Train Runnin” by The Doobie Brothers — Dang, look at the crowd at the Chris Kroeze party. Solid performance by a guy who clearly knows who he is an artist. Nice guitar solo. Great ending. Rock solid vocals. My only complaint is that the song didn’t give Chris a chance to reinvent a song the way he did in the knockouts. Still, that was a fun performance. Grade: B+
Lynnea Moorer (Team Kelly), “Consequences” by Camila Cabello — No doubt, this young lady has a certain star power. But that opening was not on pitch. Unfortunately for Lynnea, the vocal problems didn’t end with the opening. I really didn’t sense an emotional connection to the song either. The best thing I can say about that is the white fake eyelashes are gone. Grade: C–
MaKenzie Thomas (Team Jennifer), “Emotion” by the Bee Gees — MaKenzie wants to be a gospel artist with a acoustic, R&B vibe. And it sounds like she’s going to put a bit of her spin on the song. I could have done without the background singers on that opening. MaKenzie has a really nice voice, but I’m not loving this arrangement of the song. It’s like MaKenzie wants to soar, and the background singers keep pulling her back. Grade: B–
Sarah Grace (Team Kelly), “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence and The Machine — Sarah jokes that she’s glad to sing a fun song and something from this century. Okay, The Voice is visiting Sarah’s watch party too. Sarah is still my favorite among the four young female artists on the show. Talk about power in those vocals. And there’s never a doubt that she’s connecting to the song. I was hoping for a little more energy. (Remember, Vicci Martinez’s version of that song back on Season 1. If not, wow.) Grade: B
DeAndre Nico (Team Adam), “Cry for You” by Jodeci — Adam Levine says he feels like this song will be the first time he can go full DeAndre. Okay, they’re visiting DeAndre’s watch party too. Nice to see DeAndre get better performance placement tonight. Remember, he was one of only three singers still on the show who turned four chairs in the blinds. He’s showing us why he did that with this performance. It’s a bit overbaked, but without doubt one of the night’s most vocally impressive. Grade: B+
Kennedy Holmes (Team Jennifer), “Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston — Another pageant type song for Kennedy. That last two haven’t worked out that well in my opinion. Okay, that was a very, very strong start by Kennedy, who’s getting some great staging for this performance as well. Well, tonight she pulled it off. That was dang impressive, regardless of her age, which is what I’d been waiting to see from Kennedy. That should re-establish her as a front-runner. That ending as sensational. Nice pick for a show-closing performance this week, The Voice. Grade: A
Chevel Shepherd Chris Kroeze Dave Fenley De'Andre Nico Kennedy Holmes Kirk Jay Kymberli Joye Lynnea Moorer Makenzie Thomas Reagan Strange Sarah Grace social media The Voice The Voice Season 15
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3 Comments
I think that Chris Kroeze’s performance earned at least an A. The range of talent and ability he displayed along with the emotion and passion he puts into his music is topped by no other in the competition.
How, exactly, does the fan selection process work? I assume, for licensing purposes that a small assortment are selected by fans and the show/artist chooses from there?
I wondered last week about song choices in the dedication, and not sure the artists are even listening to the words of the song (Which is less a criticism of the artists and more an indicator of the lack of lyric importance in pop music today). I’m guessing the voting audience goes more on like/Don’t like than the deep analysis I’m sweating over – ha! But ultimately, I think it says a lot about the artist in demonstrating what they can do with a left field pitch, as you’ve indicated above. I’d like to see the coaches do a little more steering on selections in terms of propriety. The young ones singing about cheatin’ and such may play to the audience, but it lacks authenticity (and yeah, if I want authenticity, I should probably look somewhere other than a singing contest on a major network).
I will say that the band is absolutely KILLING IT!!! SO, SO talented and somehow manage to make every song a major event. I want that band!
Can the show not mix the audio better? Sounds like they shove the audience feed/bleed down the center channel & compress the bejezus out of it so the result is one big chunk of noise. In well-EQ’d sporting events, we get the rah-rah of the crowd without losing the announcer. Why can’t The Voice do That? Makes my ears hurt no matter how much I change my TV settings.
You nailed it on the “pageant” performance- I’d rather see her quit trying to be perfect and spend more effort connecting. Call it confidence or arrogance, she’s walking a thin line between impressing with talent and alienating with what seems lile arrogance but is more likely a self-protective
veneer.
Grades are about what I’d give. Thanks for keeping up the site. I enjoy your reviews.
Also, when Bill Withers did “Use Me,” his performance was so immediate – you could almost feel his breath and the cloud of urgency and need around him. That’s a tall order to replace on a TV talent show.
The best singles of the last 100 years were slaved over in a studio with multiple takes and all kinds of personnel dynamics that just don’t exist on stage in a group of 11, so to their credit, any live performance that makes an impact is a big deal.