Monday, February 9, 2015

The Voice Philippines 2: Top 16 Live Show Part 1

Since Season 1, I have been bitching about this dumb format of The Voice Philippines. The potential of the contestants this season have been pretty good, but they weren't showcased properly because some of them were in the SAME TEAM! Look, Jason Fernandez performed relatively well and yet he was eliminated because he's in the same team with Monique, Jason Dy, and Kokoi. I didn't care much about any of Team Apl - other than Daryl - and yet we're stuck with most of them for another week.

Also, the coaches just had TOO MUCH control on who goes home! Can't the voting public already have FULL CONTROL of these results? Argh.

Anyway, rant over! Here we go!

TEAM APL

04. Suy Galvez
Bridge Over Troubled Water
What was that? Her version of Bridge Over Troubled Water was full of so many unnecessary vocal acrobatics, I felt dizzy by the end of the whole mess. Yikes. Technically, she wasn't in bad shape - maybe it's a personal preference - but the quality of her voice makes me want to scratch a chalkboard until my nails bleed. 3

03. Mackie Cao
Maghintay Ka Lamang
While the song accentuated her high register problems especially when she sounded screechy, she was mostly on point. That said, I'm not sure I see an iota of creativity in her. The whole style and sound is a little too old school for me. Ten years ago? Sure, she'd be a contender, but I'm just not seeing it this year. 5

02. Alisah Bonaobra
Laserlight
This was better than last week, but it was still a mixed bag for me. Her voice was non-existent during the verses - she sounded like she was mumbling for the most part - but when she hit the chorus, her vocals soared. That's my one big issue with Alisah. Her lower register is incredibly mediocre that there's absolutely nothing special about it at all. It's like a dead zone. Then, she hits her sweet spot and it's really good. 5.5

01. Daryl Ong
Smile
Was this particularly thrilling? No, but Daryl's Smile was a stellar vocal performance paired with some intricate phrasing and simplistic staging. This was packed with so much subtlety and nuance and the song just rose and fell perfectly.  In short, it was about as strong a performance on The Voice Philippines as you can get. 8

PUBLIC VOTE
Daryl Ong
Alisah Bonaobra

APL'S CHOICE
Mackie Cao

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TEAM SARAH

04. Kokoi Baldo
Could You Be Loved
Look, Kokoi wasn't bad. He was, simply, the only contestant on Team Sarah to not take a step forward. He didn't take a step back, but he sure as hell didn't advance in any discernible way. He performed another reggae tune as a karaoke track and it felt like a typical Kokoi performance. He's solid, sure, but this lacked substance. Yes, a one trick pony. 4

03. Jason Dy
OMG
This was a rough performance from Jason and while a lot more inferior vocally than Kokoi, I really do have to applaud him for doing something out of the box. It wasn't the right song, but I'd rather listen to something that will excite me than bored me from utter predictability. There were very few places his voice could take the song, and so, it just sort of laid there until he finished doing his thing. This added nothing, but it wasn't particularly abhorrent. 5

02. Monique Lualhati
Bang Bang
Monique owned the stage. Her lower register at the beginning of the song was weak, but when she settled into the pocket of her upper register, it was pure bliss. My favorite moment was when she did the rap verse and I completely bought it.  Usually, I find those moments incredibly cheesy, but it worked in this performance. She brought a great dimension to Team Sarah with this performance. 7

01. Jason Fernandez
Moves Like Jagger
Tough one. With a team as solid as Sarah's, it wasn't a complete surprise that Jason got eliminated this early. Of course, it wasn't right. Personally, I thought it was one of the better performances of the night. True, it was safe and a little too structured and stylized to allow him to travel much with the melody, but he still delivered. It had it's own grove, and while he didn't add anyting new or special to the song, he at least showed us that he's capable of singing other tunes and being believable doing so. That's a win in my book. 7.5 

PUBLIC VOTE
Monique Lualhati
Kokoi Baldo

SARAH'S CHOICE
Jason Dy

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