The Voice: began last night
And, indeed, the show was very uneven. There were some amazing highs, courtesy of the always dependable Elyjuh Rene, the natural performer Sugar Joans and this show's comeback kid Ricky Manning. But, the show also started off weaker than ever, with back-to-back awkward snoozefests courtesy of Ryan Sill and Jean Kelley.
As always, let's examine the best, worst and plain ol' mediocre performances from The Voice's second live show.
The Good:
Elyjuh Rene, "Latch": Thank goodness for Elyjuh Rene, whom all four coaches deemed "the one to beat." After two floppy opening performances from Jean Kelley and Ryan Sill, Elyjuh injected some much needed talent and originality into the competition. Tackling Disclosure and Sam Smith's "Latch," Elyjuh smartly started things off slow and acoustic, allowing his voice to shine through. About two-thirds of the way into the song, the full band kicked in, thus showing off his performance capabilities. And Elyjuh nailed it on all accounts, giving just the right amount of decoration and finesse on each note, while still maintaining control. Even better than his unique tone and performance capabilities, Elyjuh is a well-rounded performer. The coaches weren't hyperbolic... he is the one to beat.
Luke Wade, "Let's Get It On": Woo, baby. That was a steamy one. Mixing together a tried and true vocalist like Luke Wade with a Marvin Gaye song and some Pharrell coaching was bound to produce hyper sexy results, and it definitely did. Instead of trying to do his best Gaye karaoke, Luke took his own spin on "Let's Get It On," mixing up the phrasing and some of the vocal patterns to make this standard his very own. It was a smart choice; instead of sounding purely like a cover artist, Luke was able to do his own thing. He didn't try and strain the vocals like Gaye did. Instead, he went for a more straightforward approach, and it helped to distinguish Wade both as a The Voice frontrunner and his own singer.
Taylor John Williams, "Stuck in the Middle with You": Oh man, this was one saucy performance. Though he teases himself as an indie pop artist Team Gwen's Taylor John Williams is a pretty dark performer, so of course he took the peppy classic rock hit "Stuck in the Middle with You" and slowed it down to half-time. The resulting performance could have very easily been middle of the road, but Taylor emerged above that thanks to his bluesy intonations, easy way of sliding up into the notes and making the melody his own. A true artist can make a classic track their own, and that's exactly how Taylor successfully closed out The Voice's first live show.
Sugar Joans, "I Say A Little Prayer": Until this week, it really felt like Sugar Joans was an overrated singer, but not anymore. Very few people can live up to Aretha Franklin, so Sugar didn't really even try, instead giving this staple song her own spin, full of plenty power runs. Dressed in a long white lace knit dress, Sugar both owned the stage and her runs throughout her performance, soaring easily above the loud instrumentation and background singers. She proved that she can tackle an old school soul song with ease; despite a power-packed performance nothing seemed to faze Sugar. So, that modern soul and R&B effort she wants to make is easily within reach. As Adam Levine said Sugar took us to church.
The Bad:
Ryan Sill, "I Lived": When Gwen Stefani was coaching Ryan Sill, she thought about picking a boy band song for him... but instead she optioned for OneRepublic, which could have really been what hurt him, Little Ryan is clearly just so sweet, and that's reflected in his vocals, which are stringy and a touch winey. While he would pull off the high notes of "I Lived," he missed any sort of grit that Gwen teased for him. And in the second verse, his voice cracked more than anything heard on season seven so far. A big fault of The Voice's team-centric setup is that people like Ryan Sill reach this point in the competition, when others like Blessing Offor have to go home early.
Jean Kelley, "Piano in the Dark": Yes, Jean Kelley, it is cool when Pharrell Williams custom creates a melody for you, but that doesn't mean you can go wherever the heck you want with it. This '80s Brenda Russell song was dramatic enough on its own, but Jean took it to a whole new level. She threw in runs that weren't there, notes that shouldn't have existed and weird intonations that should never have been heard. The Voice coaches are notoriously far too kind, but when even Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani and Pharrell say you overdid it and didn't do your best showing, you know you're in deep doo-doo.
Bryana Salaz, "Amnesia": I wish I could get a little bit of "Amnesia" to forget this performance. All terrible jokes aside, Bryana Salaz could not quite bring it out for this 5 Seconds of Summer cover, even though all the judges celebrated her for it. Her tone is far too nasally and whiney and youthful. Simply put, Bryana sounds immature. And yes, Reagan James is younger than her, but the R&B singer from Team Blake still has a cool sense about her and confidence -- which is truly key. Bryana's emotion was on point; she really sold her performance, put her all into it and even had some nice tears at the end for her father. However, her vocals just couldn't live up to her passion.
The So-So:
Anita Antoinette, "All About That Bass": First, Anita Antoinette took on the 2014 massive No. 1 hit "Rude" by MAGIC! and now she's back with Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass." Though this song was not the best to show off Anita's unique Jamaican accent or her range, it did work well to establish her as a performer - and the keyword for Anita's take on "Bass" was that she is a natural. While some performers tonight (cough, cough, Bryana Salaz) were frozen, Anita worked the stage like an old pro, dropping it low and doing plenty of shimmies. It was nice to see her work the stage and work with the material she had, even if "All About That Bass" wasn't the best base fabric.
DaNica Shirey, "Help Me": DaNica Shirey may have never performed Joni Mitchell's "Help Me," but you would have never guessed it from her natural take on this hit. DaNica has finally found some comfort on stage, and it showed as she ran through this track with volume and ease. Despite all of that, there was nothing particularly fresh here. Sugar Joans did Arethea Franklin, Luke Wade did Marvin Gaye, and yet, this is the song that felt the most dated. Maybe it's DaNica itself... but there was just nothing truly engaging or interesting about "Help me," despite the technical proficiency. In a night that had some major ups (mostly courtesy of Team Pharrell) and some major downs (we're looking at you, Team Gwen), DaNica fell totally in the middle and was thus forgettable.
Ricky Manning, "Lay Me Down": Chalk this kid up to most improved. After some really weak performances in the blind audition and the battle rounds, Ricky Manning won everyone over with his stunning take on Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" in the knockout round. This week, he continued his comeback kid story with a really strong take on Sam Smith's "Lay me Down." Excuse that this is the third Smith song we've heard thus far on The Voice's live shows... but he *is* the male Adele of 2014. Ricky hit each note right on the nose with such precision that even the coldest hearts would be warmed and impressed... including this reviewer.
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