The Voice 9: The Knockouts Part 1

As you know by now, I always skip the Battle Rounds as I don't find them interesting - for the most part - so the usual The Voice fix on this blog continues with The Knockouts. I must say, there were a couple of perceived front runners that got cut this early mostly on some questionable song choices. Somehow, I understood the coaches' decisions, but that makes for a rather underwhelming crop of talents.

On with the show!

TEAM ADAM

Blaine Mitchell
Hold Back The River
This was pretty strong. I didn't notice him before - he seemed more like a cannon fodder - but his vocals were consistent throughout the performance. There's a strange hitch to his voice that came off like a bit affected, but I digress. 7

Andi & Alex
Stupid Boy
What happened? Their harmonies during their blind audition sounded immaculate, but here, the notes all over the place. Also, their solos sounded shrill. 5

WINNER: Blaine Mitchell

---

TEAM GWEN

Braiden Sunshine
Feeling Good
He may be too green for the competition, but he somehow managed to pull this off quite nicely. His vocals was on point for the most part and while there were moments where he sounded a bit nasally, the overall performance was actually surprisingly good. 6.5

Ellie Lawrence
Cool For The Summer
Not the smartest song choice. I had high hopes for Ellie, but this was godawful. It highlighted her limitations as a vocalist, she wasn't hitting her notes right, and it just incredibly disappointing. Why didn't she pick something as laid back as her blind audition song? 3

WINNER: Braiden Sunshine

---

TEAM BLAKE

Barrett Baber
Colder Weather
He sounded pretty generic for a country male singer, but there's no denying that he's a talented guy. His vocals were good and his delivery was impassioned. Good enough for me to take a second look. 6.5

Blind Joe
Mama's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys
Whew! That was a long title.. I'm done. Haha. 4

WINNER: Barrett Barber

---

TEAM PHARRELL

Amy Vachal
A Sunday Kind Of Love
There's a delicate quality to her tone that sounded divine and her phrasing was equally impeccable. It felt like it didn't go anywhere though and that maybe her problem in the long run. There wasn't enough dynamics whatsoever to make it less monotonous. 7.5

Madi Davis
A Case of You
Gorgeous. The quite beginning was the perfect build up when her voice soared during the chorus. Her notes were precise and her unexpected little intricate runs towards the end was pretty impressive. Who knew? 8

WINNER: Madi Davis

STEAL: Amy Vachal (Team Adam)

---

TEAM BLAKE

Chance Pena
Demons
Shaky. Not sure if it was just his vibrato or nerves, but his vocals was trembling and it didn't sound good. This was quite uncomfortable to watch. Eek. 3

Ivonne Acero
Part Of Me
To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect much of Ivonne coming into this season, but she gets better and better and her cover of Katy Perry's hit Part of Me was the perfect proof. Sure, I got scared when she started hit those high notes, but she didn't falter. Her rich tone complemented the song and it was a pretty strong showing. 7.5

WINNER: Ivonne Acero

---

TEAM ADAM

Jordan Smith
Set Fire To The Rain
He's a competent singer who can hit high notes with a lot of vocal gymnastics throw into the performance. That said, I just can't get excited with this. I don't know. Maybe I've heard a lot of singers like him, but much more interesting. 7

Viktor Kiraly
If I Ain't Got You
Like this one. I've heard this song covered a million times and while Viktor didn't do anything to veer away from the original, it was still a lot more compelling than Jordan's performance. 7.5

WINNER: Jordan Smith

STEAL: Viktor Krialy (Twam Gwen)