Ok. Let me say the positive things first. I thought the song choices were fantastic and most of them were actually very current. It's quite refreshing to hear songs that aren't 40 years old. I also liked the fact that the mentors performed with their contestants. That was very interesting. Oh, and I admit, Christina and her team rocked Lady Marmalade.
As for the not so positive things to say about the show? Umm, Christina Aguilera forgot her pants, Cee-Lo Green's extremely short arms, the Queen medley was a mess - except for Blake Shelton - and, say what you want, but the contestants weren't as good as I expected them all to be. I don't know. Lily Elise wouldn't even be good enough for a Las Vegas spot on American Idol.
But whatever, I enjoyed the show and I found it extremely entertaining - trainwrecks notwithstanding. I have to wonder though whether the show can break a “star” with the focus so squarely on the judges and with the judges performing every week.
Blow
Who said a Ke$ha song can't be performed on a singing competition? Haha. While this wasn't the best vocal performance EVER, I really enjoyed this. For the record, I never really liked Raquel - there's just something annoying with her - but I really thought she pulled this off really well. I mean, to sing a pretty recognizable, over produced dance/pop track complete with choreography LIVE was already tough, and then she decided to take on some more vocal liberties with the song to make it more "challenging" than the original. Sure, the execution was rough around the edges, but I doubt Ke$ha could pull this one just as good. I don't know. I just sincerely found this whole performance kind of refreshing for a singing competition. Sue me. 7.5/10
Jared Blake
Team Blake
Use SomebodyI just don’t care for this dude. Maybe because all I got from his performance was a wannabe rockstar vibe? Yes, his tone worked well with the song, but everything just came off as a pale imitation of the original. He didn't do anything to make it less karaoke. Mediocre at best. Oh, and that sparkly headband didn't help him in any way! Haha. 6/10
Beverly McClellan
Team Christina
I'm The Only OneThere's something about Beverly that scares the freakin' bejesus out of me. Ok. I thought she sounded really good, her notes were almost always on point and her voice suited the song quite nicely. I also liked the fact that she eased up a bit on the screaming. That said, could her song choice be anymore predictable? I mean, this Melissa Etheridge song was an extremely obvious choice for her and totally in her wheelhouse. But whatever. 7.5/10
Dia Frampton
Team Blake
HeartlessSo, the judges/mentors acted like this was the first time someone changed this song into something stripped down? And did Cee-Lo really say that this was the greatest rendition of Heartless? Umm, no! Dear judges, look up for Kris Allen's rendition HERE. I admit, her tone and phrasing were awesome and I did like some of her inflections, but her version of the song was just decent at best. I think what made Kris Allen's version so good was the fact that even if it was acoustic, his voice commanded the song with conviction. Dia, on the other hand, sounded weak on some parts. In general, I do like Dia. I just don't think her performance was THAT good. 7.5/10
Xenia
Team Blake
Price TagXenia's about as thrilling as a pond water! Haha. To be honest, I really love her tone and her phrasing, but this performance was absolutely boring! She seemed incredibly uncomfortable on stage that somehow took away from her singing and she sounded weak and hesitant, which, to me, just didn't work with this song. I mean, it needed a great deal of sass and I didn't get it from her. Such a shame. Sorry. 6.5/10
Lily Elise
Team Christina
Big Girls Don't CryI was told before that if I couldn't think of ANYTHING nice to say, I wasn’t allowed to say the bad stuff. Therefore, my critique of this song is over. Haha. 3.5/10
Patrick Thomas
Team Blake
I Hope You DanceTrue, Patrick's voice sounded very generic, but I thought he did a serviceable version of this song. He looked surprisingly comfortable on stage and although he struggled a little after the key change, he managed to pull it off quite nicely. But that's all I'm going to say about the performance. 7/10
Frenchie David
Team Christina
When Love Takes OverPossibly one of the strongest performances in this episode. Of course, it wasn't vocally flawless - she missed a couple of notes and some of her higher register went a little shrill - but to nail a dance anthem like this with great vocal control was actually pretty impressive. I also liked that even if she didn't move alot on stage, her presence was still there. 7.5/10
PREDICTION
TEAM CHRISTINA
Frenchie Davis and Raquel Castro
TEAM BLAKE
Patrick Thomas and Dia Frampton
