The Voice (Season 6) - On to the Battlefield

Currently Listening To: Shakira - Did It Again

Well well, this marks the first time I'm blogging about The Voice! It's already been six seasons (wow, how time flies!), but to be honest I only started following it religiously last season, and I must say the talent here is so much better than the freshies from American Idol.

Unfortunately, the only interesting part of The Voice is the Blind Audition rounds, where the judges select (or will be selected by) contestants based solely on their voice and emotions since they can't actually see them perform! A great concept for sure, but once the auditions end it's back to the more or less normal singing competition style.

Then again, they do have the Battlerounds, where 2 members of each team battle each other for a spot on the live shows. And so we're here at this stage of Season 6, where the 12 members each of Team Blake, Team Adam, Team Shakira and Team Usher battle it out for the Top 12/13 live.

Anyway here are the contestants from each team, the italicized contestants are those who had caught my attention. Did I mention that all the contestants that made it through the blinds actually got to record studio versions of their audition songs? How awesome is that?

Team Blake
Alaska & Madi (interesting country duo, their studio version is awesome!)
Audra McLaughlin
Cali Tucker
Jake Worthington (I found his voice interesting...)
Kaleigh Glanton
Megan Rüger
Noah Lis
Ria Eaton (One of the most interesting auditions! It wasn't perfect but she definitely stood out to me)
Ryan Whyte Maloney
Sisaundra Lewis (Girl has amazing pipes! What a strange pick for Team Blake though...)
Biff Gore
Paula DeAnda (sound familiar to you?)

Team Adam
Austin Ellis
Caleb Elder (He came off as a joke contestants but he actually has a good voice. Should be interesting.)
Cary Laine
Christina Grimmie  (Great pop vocals, and she kinda looks like Carly Rae Jepsen)
Dawn and Hawkes (Another interesting country/folk duo)
Delvin Choice
Josh Kaufman
Josh Murley
Joshua Howard
Kat Perkins (She embodies rocker chick with a touch of country! Very promising.)
Sam Behymer
Patrick Thomson

Team Shakira
Cierra Mickens
Clarissa Serna
Dani Moz
Ddendyl (I think she's the only interesting contestant in Shakira's team...)
Deja Hall (She has potential but she seems a bit bland to me)
Music Box
Emily B. (She has a really good voice and made a smart song choice for the audition.)
Jeremy Briggs
Kristen Merlin
Lindsay Bruce
Lindsay Pagano
DeShawn Washington

Team Usher
Bria Kelly (Her voice reminds me of slightly better version of Jacquie from Season 5)
Brittnee Camelle
Brothers Walker (Something about the duos this season. Interesting pair here.)
Madilyn Paige
Melissa Jiménez
Morgan Wallen
Stevie Jo
Tanner James
Tess Boyer
T.J. Wilkins
Biff Gore  (Excellent vocals but he's a bit on the older side so...)
Jake Barker

Have a listen to some of their auditions/studio versions:

Emily B

Kat Perkins

Alaska & Madi

Ria Eaton

The Battle Rounds have already started, but I have yet to watch the episode so I'll be saving my judgment until then.

Sound of Silence

I just couldn't resist blogging about AI even though I actually have other more important stuff to do! *smacks self* 

Anyway, this week's performances are so much better than last week's. A really big improvement for most, while some frontrunners tumbled down quite badly.

Ranking from the least impressive to the best of the night:

Majesty Rose - Let It Go by Idina Menzel (At least I THINK that's her name ;) )

Very current but...I could hardly hear her voice because the low notes were just too much for her. Well the high notes were too much for her too. That was totally fail karaoke! I think even I sound better than her on a bad day! Don't know what she was thinking when she picked that song! Do excuse the exclamation marks, I was just too shocked! -10/10

Ben Briley - Bennie and the Jets by Elton John

Very, VERY brave song choice after Haley Reinhart's slamdunk from Season 10. What the heck, he was even dressed like Elton John. So...he had a fail falsetto, he didn't sound too good on the low notes, and he was out of tune most of the time. Way to go Ben. Granted, that was still better than most of last week's performances. 2/10

Sam - Come Together by The Beatles

He was very bland again. And why that song? So many contestants have covered that and Sam didn't do anything with the song. Bad choice. 4/10

Jessica - Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel

I love the song, I love the beginning but...girl has more bleat than Elliot Yamin. She sounded amazing when it was just her and the guitar. Unfortunately she lost it when the band started playing. Not a good end to the song. Very helpful and accurate feedback from Jen and Keith too. 6/10

Dexter - Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Oooh he had a haircut. Not that it's relevant but anyways he looks pretty clean and neat now. I think so far Dexter is the most consistent performer. Can't say there's much improvement from last week though... 6.5/10

MK - To Make You Feel My Love by Bob Dylan

Wow, that was surprisingly effective. Her voice sounded subtle yet lovely, by far her best vocals since Rush week. And she looked pretty amazing too. The only negative thing was that she still looked very uncomfortable on stage. Needs a lot of work in that aspect. 7/10

Caleb - Skyfall by Adele (NOT DAZEEM)

The award for the most interesting song choice of the night goes to Caleb. Kudos to Caleb for choosing an Adele song, and actually pulling it off. Ended with a lovely glory note too. 7/10

Malaya - I Am Changing by Jennifer Hudson

Still a little shaky at certain parts, but overall that was a really good performance, especially coming from Malaya. And she didn't mess up the last note! Finally a song choice that showcased her big voice. 8/10

Alex - Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová 

Another contestant who improved tremendously from last week. His version of Falling Slowly was almost on par with Kris Allen's (S8), and that is a huge compliment! 8/10

CJ - Can't You See by The Marshall Tucker Band

Vast improvement from the previous two weeks! For once he sounded focused and gritty, and most importantly, not sleepy so...good job.  9/10

Jena - Decode by Paramore

Where did that come from? Best performance of the season so far! Vocals on point, song choice perfect, great (and different) arrangement, plus she looked amazing. That should get her out of the bottom 3. If it doesn't...I have no idea what to say. 10/10

Who should be Bottom 3? Ben, Majesty and Sam

Who should go home? Ben

Damn, Harry was totally mocking Randy! Awesome.

Edit with Results:

Spot on this time - Ben has been eliminated from the competition.
Majesty and Sam were both in the bottom 3 as well. Sure looks like they're losing their frontrunner status eh?

So Uninspiring

Currently Listening To: Comeback Home - 2NE1

After this week's episode I think I've lost all interest in blogging about AI. Why, you may ask? Well, it's boring and contestants are just not bringing it. I don't even know why I'm still watching. If this continues on, I guess my blog will be dead again soon. But anyway here are my thoughts on the contestants this week, from the least impressive to the best (relatively speaking).

Alex - I Don't Want to Be by Gavin Degraw
Oh god. For a 'frontrunner' I thought that performance was horrible. It's Lee Dewyze all over again with the nasally tone and horrible song choice. 1/10

Ben - Turning Home by David Nail
Nails on a chalkboard. Screechy, whiny and out of tune. 1/10

MK - Drops of Jupiter by Train
Well that was very disappointing. Her voice was shaky, and she never quite connected with the song. Since she was in the bottom 3 last week, I think it's very likely she'll be gone soon, if not this week. Such a waste of lovely tone and voice. 1.5/10

Emily - Let's Get Loud by J.Lo herself
WTF song choice. Did her no favours. Her only saving grace was her decent sounding voice. 2/10

CJ - Waiting on the World to Change by John Mayer
In retrospective I guess that wasn't so bad. Much better than last week. However, I'm sorry but he's just too boring. And yet he had seemed so promising during the Hollywood rounds! Geez. Won't be here for long either. 2.5/10

Malaya - Take Me to the King by Tamala Mann
She ended the song with a freaking scream wth. Although a marked improvement from last week, it is still mediocre at best. Come on judges, that last note was not beautiful even though she actually hit it. I know she's just sixteen, and she improved a bit, but that praise was undeserving. I'm weeping for all the 16 year old girls who didn't even make it to Hollywood rounds, really. 3/10

Jessica - White Flag by Dido
Unlike other reviewers I actually kinda liked this performance. Most probably because she was the only one who tried something different. I really don't get the hate for this. Maybe it was the bleating that turned people off? Oh well. She wasn't that bad, but it was nowhere near good either. 4.5/10

Sam - Just One by Blind Pilot
Another contestant with a bland song choice. Mix it up a little kiddo. Vocally okay. 5/10

Jena - Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall
I didn't think that was a good song choice, but her voice sounded pretty good. Still a lot of room for improvement. 5/10

Majesty - Fix You by Coldplay
Normally I hate this song, but Majesty made me like it. A bit screechy at moments, and she lost herself in those high notes. That's why she's in third place for me this week. 6/10

Dexter - Lucky Man by Montgomery Gentry
Like I said, he's the best country dude. It's no Scotty McCreery, but he's still better than the rest. 6/10

Caleb - Working Man by Rush
Surprisingly he gave the best performance of the week, and it still wasn't very good. 7/10


If you put all the lower half of the Top 12 contestants from the past 6 seasons together, they'll still be more consistent than this bunch. Yes, even Lazaro!

Conclusion - everyone sucked! Based on this week and last week's performance, nobody deserves to win this.

Who should be in the bottom 3: MK, Ben, CJ

Who will go home: MK

Peace out.

Results Edit: -
Emily is gone. No surprises there again. Too bad, she had -some- potential.

Beautiful Disaster

Currently Listening To: Breakers - Local Native

When I turned on the TV to watch American Idol tonight, I was not expecting disaster. Unfortunately, by the time I heard the first three contestants I was ready to run and hide. Thankfully it picked up the pace about halfway through because they definitely saved the best for last. Let's start with the reviews shall we? 

From the best to the worst:

Jessica Meuse
I thought Jessica was the best of the night. Hers was the only performance that kinda sorta lived up to the previous seasons, everyone else was rather subpar in my opinion. Her song choice was interesting as well - Shinedown's The Crow and the Butterfly. Imagine, Shinedown in American Idol! That's a first. I've never heard that song before but Jessica made me want to listen to it again. 9/10

Alex Preston
Jason Mraz's A Beautiful Mess was a good song choice for Alex. Again, I wasn't even aware of this song's existence so I have no idea what to compare his performance to. Anyhow he sounded a bit like Lee Dewyze to me, but with better vocals of course. Which is not a bad thing for this season. In fact that's pretty good because the other contestants are so mediocre I could cry. 8.5/10

Sam Woolf
You know what I really liked his version of Matchbox 20's Unwell. He may have sang it straight but at least he sounded good. Plus he's cute and adorable. What's not to love? Kid could go far in this, with his major competitor being Alex Preston, they're pretty much on the same level. 8.5/10

Caleb Johnson
Hell yeah Jack Black! Finally some rock and roll with Rival Son's Pressure and Time. There's something charismatic about this floppy haired rocker, I liked it. His performance breathed life into the otherwise mundane show. Perfect for closing the night. 8/10

Emily Piriz
So Emily chose to sing Glitter in the Air by Pink. Vocally I thought Emily sounded pretty, but something about her delivery felt empty. And she gave off this pageantry air. I think she needs to learn to work the crowd better. If she's in some other season I would have ranked her lower but since it's 2014...she's actually one of the better ones. Yikes. 7/10

Majesty Rose
I loved that she chose to sing Janelle Monay's Tightrope. It's just so...Majesty. That song fitted her like a glove, so she couldn't really go wrong with that. However she was pitchy intermittently, and that kind of ruined it for me. Then again that song is pretty difficult to sing so she gets a free pass.
7/10

Jena Irene
Shaky start, nice end. Jena's got a lovely, unique voice and an interesting singing style. She managed to make Coldplay's The Scientist her own, so that's a really good plus point. One of the more unusual performances of the night. 6.5/10

MK Nobilette
She sounded amazing and I love the tone of her voice, but MK's rendition of Allan Stone's Satisfaction was timid. Let's face it, timid is just not going to work out for American Idol. She needs spark.  I just can't imagine casual voters flocking to vote for her. 6/10

Dexter Roberts
Weird song choice. Out of all the country boys he was the best. His rendition of Aw Naw by Chris Young was neither good nor bad, so that puts him somewhere in the middle of the pack. 6/10

Ben Briley
Oh god. That was so country. I couldn't even recognize his song as Folsom Prison Blues. The pacing of the song was just crazy, I could barely keep up with it. As a result of that, he sounded rushed and breathless. I don't know if any hardcore country fans will be voting for that seeing as the voting bloc is more likely to vote for pop-country as oppose to...country. I'm actually wishing for some Scotty right now geez. 4/10

CJ Harris
Man he was disappointing. I was expecting something better from him. It sounded sleepy and lifeless. Once again I do not know the song, which was Darius Rucker's (who?) Radio. Just, bleh. Very not memorable. 2/10

Kristen O'Connor
For some reason I found her performance of Kelly Clarkson's Beautiful Disaster cheesy. Cheese. There's some good vocals in there somewhere, but was totally drowned by that blank, empty look on her face 0.5/10

Malaya Watson
What the heck was that? I can't believe I actually had hopes for this girl. She made a mess out of Bruno Mars' Runaway Baby, that's all. I can't even think of anything else to say about her. 0/10

And with that we have the Top 13 contestants of American Idol Season 13.

Who should be bottom 3? Malaya, Kristen and CJ

Who will go home? Malaya

All in all it was not a good start to the competition. I've been watching Idol since Season 4, and personally I think this was one of the weakest opening nights.

Thankfully the judges (Jen, Keith and Harry Connick Jr.) were actually pretty honest and helpful this time around. There was no over the top sugar coating, only mild praises to, you know, soften the blow of the barely concealed criticism. Compared to last year, this was like heaven to me! The judging last year was such a mess it hurts to even think about it now (damn you Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey). And it is even better with Randy Jackson gone. Here's hoping that they will maintain their honesty.

(By the way, Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry are the in-house coaches this year. So far they've been doing a good job. Randy the useless is one of the advisors too but as usual he has not been helpful to the contestants at all.)

Edit with Results:

Kristen is gone. Can't say that was unexpected.

American Idol Returns! (And my blog too!)

Currently Listening To: Don't Find Another Love - Tegan and Sara

I actually feel compelled enough to blog about American Idol this year after giving last year's a miss. Why? Well, I'm not sure. Maybe it's because I haven't been blogging for a looong, long time and this kind of gives me a very good reason to start blogging again. In hindsight, I should have blogged last year since Candice and Kree are both totally awesome singers and deserves more credit than they got last year and are getting right now!

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the Top 13 girls and boys of 2014:

(In no particular order)

CJ Harris

When I first heard him sing, I was charmed by the fact that he actually sounded good singing country. And do remember that I'm not exactly a big fan of country music so that's a very big compliment coming from me. Does he have the chance to win AI though? Errrrr let me get back to you on that once the live shows start since there are about a bazillion and one country singers or something on this season.

Kristen O'Connor

I'll admit that she sounds pretty okay, and she is visually appealing. However something about this girl feels bland. I don't know, maybe I'm just biased cause she's too pretty. Hah! At any rate she is a wildcard contestant so America did NOT choose her to be in the Top 13. The judges did. And we'll see how that goes.

Ben Briley

And we have our second country candidate! He's a good country singer, I'll give him that but I do prefer CJ. America seems to like him though. 

MK Nobillette

First openly gay contestant! That's what I've been reading about her all week long. Does that really matter? Perhaps the LGBT community will be voting for her? I actually like MK, thanks to her understated but heartfelt performances. I have no doubt that'll she will be in this competition for quite a while. 

Dexter Roberts

Good ole fashioned country singer. Lacking in the looks department though. With CJ and Ben, and maybe some of the other male contestants who might end up doing country, I really don't know how the vote splitting will help him. 

Malaya Watson

I think Malaya is the only vocal powerhouse this season? In terms of song choices I mean. Some of the other girls have pretty good vocal ranges but none of them seem inclined towards Malaya's genre. Could be a good thing, could be not. (I highly doubt a repeat of Candice Glover from her though. It is America after all.)

Alex Preston

For the time being he is more of a indie-folk rocker but I suspect country inclinations in the near future. A potential dark horse I think. He sounds decent, and he picks good songs (he sang Volcano though. Volcano aka Phillip x 2 sacred territory!). Maybe an Alex Lambert (Season 9)

Jena Irene

I've actually forgotten about Jena. Now thinking back, her audition was quite interesting. The judges had some comments about her singing style, but still liked it. Another dark horse maybe!

Caleb Johnson

Rock dude! He looks like Jack Black to me lol. I don't know what to think about him. Hmmm. Summary. He sounds okay. He sings alright. He is not memorable though. Yeah. Somewhere in the middle. Won't get far I think.

Majesty Rose

Reviewers seem to love this girl. Not sure why. She does sound rather promising I guess? If she chooses interesting songs she might get votes. Otherwise she'll be a Caroline Pennell. Talented frontrunner who gets lost among dark horses.

Sam Woolf

WGWG again! But this time I actually like this WGWG. Better vocals than say, Phillip x 2 but slightly less good looking. Maybe he'll be the next American Idol! He certainly has the potential. The potential to be a teenage girl's voting fantasy that is.

Jessica Meuse

Well, she was given a lot of exposure during Hollywood rounds, don't know how that'll work in her favour. Usually over-exposure is not a good sign. Strong vocally but lacking in likeability. Think Carly Smithson.

Emily Piriz

She has the pipes but I think she lacks vocal control. That and horrible song choices which makes her sound pageantry. Another pretty face to go along with Kristen. Remember Haley Scarnato from Season 6? Emily kind of reminds me of her. Not a good thing.

(Yes I am name dropping former contestants from American Idol and also The Voice! *proud to be an obsessive singing competition fanatic who remembers previous contestants relatively well*)

So here we are, Season 13 of American Idol.

Now how about some Fleet Foxes for theme nights! An indie-folk theme perhaps? Think about it producers!

On another note, The Voice starts this week! If I have the time I'll probably blog about it too.

Until then, rest well and good night!

Introspection

Currently Listening To: I'm Sorry - 2PM

It's been a really, really long time since I've blogged about just - anything. Almost a year?

Time really flies...

Sometimes I really lose track of what I'm doing...

Most of the time I'm just wondering if I'm doing the right thing?

I don't know what to think, or do lately.

Perhaps I need some changes in my life...

Damn I can't even be bothered to fix the expired images for the widget titles.

Time to get off my lazy butt and start living again.

The 2nd Law

Currently Listening To: Muse - Animals

Hello all, it's been a while since I last posted anything here.
What better way to revive my blog than by reviewing a new Muse album?


The 2nd law
Odd name for an album. The 2nd Law. And so...what is the 1st Law?
Anyway, Muse is out with their 6th studio album and as usual, they sound like they're trying to be Queen. Not that far off the mark, I think. The problem with trying to sound like another band is that you'll always sound like a wannabe. So, the end effect is a strange mixture of Radiohead + Queen and really, I don't know what else to say about it. If I just heard any of the songs on the radio or something, I would have thought that it was Radiohead instead of, well, Muse. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I guess?

Tracklist

1. Supremacy
2. Madness
3. Panic Station
4. Prelude
5. Survival
6. Follow Me
7. Animals
8. Explorers
9. Big Freeze
10. Save Me
11. Liquid State
12. The 2nd Law: Unsustainable
13. The 2nd Law: Isolated System


Overall: 7.5/10
Recommendations: Supremacy, Madness  Explorers, Liquid State.

Better than The Resistance. The previous album was like one very long, boring song so it's good that they're trying out different styles and thus there is less...similarity among the tracks. There's a touch of U2 in there somewhere, and the last two songs remind me of Linkin Park too. It's like...amalgamation. Interesting album. Don't know if it's something I'd listen to repeatedly though.

A to Z Reading Challenge (3)

Currently Listening To:

(UPDATED)

Saw this in another blog:

A to Z Reading Challenge

How does this reading challenge work? Choose the option that works best for you...

Authors -- Read alphabetically by author. Commit to 26 books.

Titles -- Read alphabetically by title. Commit to 26 books.

Authors & Titles -- Commit to reading 52 books

Challenge Accepted!

A: Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud - Perfect, I just finished reading that a few days ago. (Completed Oct-15-11)

B: The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern (Completed Jan-25-13)

C: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games trilogy) by Suzanne Collins (Completed Mar-20-12)

D: Drowned Ammet by Diana Wynne Jones (Completed Jan-30-12)

E: The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan (Completed May-17-12)

F: The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin (Completed Jun-16-13)

G: Golem's Eye (Bartimaeus trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud (Completed Dec-17)

H: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Completed Mar-19-12)

I: I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella (Completed Jun-1-12)

J:

K:

L: The Lady of the Rivers by Phillipa Gregory (Completed May-25-13)

M: Mockingjay (The Hunger Games Trilogy) by Suzanne Collins (Completed Apr-2-12)

N:

O:

P: Ptolemy's Gate (Bartimaeus trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud

Q:

R: The Ragwitch by Garth Nix (Completed Apr-17-12)

S: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Completed Apr-13-13)

T: Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella (Completed Dec-7-11)

U:

V: Virgin Earth by Phillipa Gregory

W: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Completed Feb-23-12)

X:

Y:

Z: