Here we go with week two of The Voice.
Yeah, I’ve decided to watch again and try blogging live. Hey, the show had something like 11 million viewers last week. Not Idol-like, but certainly not bad.
If you’re just checking in, each coach/judge winds up with eight contestants. And, eventually, the field gets whittled down to one who will get a recording deal, just like on Idol.
And just like on Idol, if you like any of the performances you see tonight, you can head over to iTunes after the show and download the song.
Unlike Idol, it appears we’re going to get to meet all the contestants during the audition. Which is wonderful.
Unlike Idol, it appears this show embraces the contestants’ past. For instance, you can head to iTunes and download pre-Voice albums from Tarralyn Ramsey, one of last week’s contestants right from her The Voice page. Now you won’t ever see that happen on Idol.
First up tonight, 29-year-old Cherie Oakley of Nashville, who’s worked as a background singer for country artists like Carrie Underwood and Gretchen Wilson and who wrote a hit song (“Turn on the Radio”) for Reba McEntire. She’s going to sing “Gunpowder and Lead,” a Miranda Lambert song. And the only judge to embrace Ms. Oakley is Christina Aguilera.
Second up is med school student Devon Barley, 19, of Massachusetts, who says his parents aren’t so excited about his decision to explore a musical career. But his dad sure was rooting for someone to push his/her button as Devon got deep into “I’m Yours” without any love from the coaches. Turns out, Adam Levin and Cee Lo Green decided they wanted Devon. He picks Adam, who lands his fourth contestant. Personally, I’m surprised anyone turned around. He wasn’t nearly as impressive as most of the contestants we met on last week’s debut episode.
Joshua Scott Hand is the next contestant we meet. A 29-year-old who will sing “Paparazzi,” a Lady Gaga song that didn’t sound very good coming from him. He goes unpicked by the judges, the first of the night and only the third rejected contestant we’ve seen on the two episodes so far.
Apparently, Idol doesn’t own the market on teenage singers. Next up on The Voice is Raquel Castro, the show’s youngest contestant at age 16. She’s going to sing “Bleeding Love.” Raquel said she grew up idolizing Christina Aguilera, and it turns out that Christina is the only coach to spin her chair to invite Raquel to join her team. Anyone know if this is the same Raquel Castro who appeared in the film “Jersey Girl” in 2004? The age and residence (New York) match.
Emily Valentine is going to sing “Sober” by Pink. She’s 23 from California, and, like the judges, we’re not getting to see her. Blake Shelton is the first judge to spin around. Now he’s joined by Cee Lo Green. This gal has the best voice we’ve heard so far tonight on The Voice. And she choses to work with Cee Lo Green.
Ah, shoot, The Voice just pulled an Idol. Breezing through contestants I hoped we would actually meet.
Cee Lo Green picks up someone named Niki Dawson, who auditions with “Teenage Dream.” Blake Shelton adds Sara Oromchi to his team. Shame we didn’t get to hear them.
Tim Mahoney, 39, of Minneapolis, says he considers The Voice his last big chance. According to his website, he’s released five solo albums and has been close to signing with record labels. He sings “Bring It On Home to Me” and winds up on Adam Levine’s team, even though Adam thought Tim might be a female singer when he spun around.
Julia Eason, an 18-year-old soccer player from California, auditions with “Mercy.” She winds up having to choose between Christina and Cee Lo and decides to join Christina’s team.
Another country singer, Angela Wolff, who is also the second contestant to decide to sing a Miranda Lambert song for Blake Shelton, in this case “The House That Built Me.” And none of the judges turn around, not even Blake, whom Angela was singing to.
Tyler Robinson, 20, of Folsom, Calif., shows up on The Voice, saying his father isn’t really supportive of his music and doesn’t know he’s gay. “I guess he knows now,” Tyler says. He’s singing “Soul Sister” and says a singing career is his dream. And he’s going to wind up on Blake Shelton’s team.
New tactic from a male singer known as Nakia, 36, of Austin, Texas, who is going to sing Cee Lo’s hit, “Forget You.” He hardly looks the part of a star, but he’s ripping into this song. And Cee Lo is the first coach/judge to spin around. Cee Lo compliments him on his “great taste in music.” Blake says he felt like he “was missing out on a party” with his back toward Nakia. And Nakia picks Cee Lo to mentor him.
Three more contestants just landed on teams with us barely meeting them — Adam lands glam rocker Casey Desmonad, Christina picks her first male singer Justin Grennard if I jotted that name down correctly and Blake Shelton gets Serabee (hmm, name sounds familiar; I think one of her songs was offered as a free download on iTunes a few months back). Yep, I was right, Serabee released an EP back in 2009 and “Driving Me Stupid” was the free download.
The judges are working their way into a pickle, apparently. They’ve rejected several singers, leaving them with fewer singers than they have slots left on their team.
Dia Frampton, 23, who writes books back in Utah, launches into “Wherever You Go” and gets Blake to spin his chair around in an instant. He’s later joined by Cee Lo, so they’ll be vying for her to join their teams. And Dia decides to pick Blake as a mentor.
Curtis Grimes hits the stage hoping to join Team Blake Shelton by singing one of his most popular songs, “Hillbilly Bone.” But it’s Cee Lo, not Blake, who spins his chair around.
Now we hear from a pair of teen sisters, Tori and Taylor Thompson, who admit they’re pig farmers. But they’ve also been singing together for years. They’ll sing the Sugarland song “Stuck On You.” And for a while, it appeared the sisters wound be stuck without a mentor. But at the last minute, Cee Lo spun his chair around.
Gotta say, on night two, The Voice is seeming too long, a little more gimmicky and not filled with such special voices.
Now eight contestants get second chances. Supposedly, the mentors won’t know who’s singing. But since they picked the eight, these aren’t exactly as blind as the first round of auditions.
At the last second, 20-year-old Lily Elise winds up on team Christina.
Jared Blake, the father of six, and one of the best singers we’ve heard tonight is picked to be on Blake Shelton’s team.
That leaves everyone’s team full except for Adam Levine’s. He still needs two more contestants.
And Adam rounds out his team with a pair of female singers, Angela Wolff, the 25-year-old Georgia peach with an edge who struck out singing a Miranda song earlier tonight; and Casey Weston, an 18-year-old acoustic singer-songwriter.
Next week on The Voice, something called the Battle Rounds start on The Voice at 10 p.m.
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