Spoiler Alert! Recap and Review: THE VOICE Live Playoffs Night One, 11/10; Full Review!

By: Nov. 10, 2014
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Great googly moogly, after three and a half years of THE VOICE taped shows, we are finally going to have a live episode of NBC's singing competition show. Now that we are through the Blind Auditions, the Battle Round, and the Knockout Round, the show is now live and America has a chance to vote on its favorite artists.

How it will work is that over the next two nights, coaches Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams, and Blake Shelton will prep each of their five artists to perform for America's votes during the Live Playoffs (do we really need a new nickname for every round on this show?). Then on Wednesday, the results of the votes will be revealed. The top two vote getters from each team will advance to the next phase of the competition, while each coach will have opportunity to save one more.

Here are the teams as they stand coming into "The Live Playoffs". I have picked my two favorites from each team, but given how different performing on live TV is, I completely reserve the right to change this after these episodes air:

Team Adam

Matt McAndrew
Chris Jamison
Taylor Phelan
Mia Pfirrman
Damien

My Team Adam Favorites:
Chris Jamison
Damien

Team Gwen

Anita Antoinette
Taylor John Williams
Ricky Manning
Ryan Sill
Bryana Sala

My Team Gwen Favorites:
Anita Antoinette
Bryana Sala

Team Pharrell

Elyjuh René
DaNica Shirey
Luke Wade
Sugar Joans
Jean Kelley

My Team Pharrell Favorites:
Sugar Joans
Jean Kelley

Team Blake

James David Carter
Jessie Pitts
Craig Wayne Boyd
Taylor Brashears
Reagan James

My Team Blake Favorites:
James David Carter
Craig Wayne Boyd

I will be here, live recapping all three episodes this week, so add your comments below, or hit me up on Twitter @BWWMatt. I will provide immediate reactions to each performance, and other such nonsense, and then after the episode concludes, I will add full performance reviews, and photos when NBC makes them available overnight.

Terrible Decision Alert: Early on, Carson Daly announces that at the end of the night they will announce the results of the votes that come in during the show on the official VOICE app. Just as I said when AMERICAN IDOL tried a similarly stupid move, not only are these results disingenuous as some contestants will have a lot more time to amass the votes, but they also have the potential to impact how people vote moving forward. I really don't like where this trending is heading.

Superfluous Performance Alert: Adam and the rest of Maroon 5 (yea, there are other members of Maroon 5 opened the show with their song "Animals," and it was completely adequate. Whether it is coaching, singing, dancing, or sparring with Blake, Adam always gives me the impression that he is trying just a little too hard. The earnest eye closing (which he always coaches against) just comes off as fake and pretentious. Then again, I'm probably not Adam Levine and Maroon 5's key demo.

Team Blake
Taylor Brashears
Song: "Long Time Gone" by The Dixie Chicks
Three-Word Review: Not Much There

Listen, despite whatever you think of her politics, Natalie Maines is a once in a generation vocalist. She not only has an incredible sincerity in everything she sings, but she mixes a remarkable tone and range with an authentic grittiness and reckless abandon that is always appropriate to whatever she is singing. Unfortunately, Taylor's version sounded clean and measured, and, in a rendition that stayed true to the original, lacked the Dixie Chick vibe.

Team Adam
Chris Jamison
Song: "Don't" by Ed Sheeran
Three-Word Review: He's a Natural

I am going to defer to the fact that Adam Levine knows how to get people to vote on this show, but I just don't understand how a song that is primarily rapped is supposed to help someone in a singing competition. Despite the lack of vocal opportunities, Chris showed a remarkable stage presence and strutted the stage like a superstar. Even if this song didn't show how talented of a singer he is, it did show what a charismatic performer he has the potential to be.

Team Blake
Jessie Pitts
Song: "Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler
Three-Word Review: Who is She?

What is interesting about Jessie is that she mostly sings in her signature breathy, folky tone, but when she goes into her more powerful, chest voice, she has a really pretty crystal-clear belt. This makes me both intrigued, and confused. On the one hand, it shows that Jessie has a ridiculously deep arsenal of weapons that she can pull out of her bag. However, it makes me wonder

Certain things about Jessie remind me of Jewel; the SING-OFF judge has a similar breathy-vibe, but when she opens up and belts, she maintains that vocal quality. However, Jessie's voice is completely different when she is and isn't belting. So, is the breathiness an affectation? If so, I don't know how I feel about it.

Team Blake
James David Carter
Song: "Two of a Kind Working on a Full House" by Garth Brooks
Three-Word Review: "James, you're safe!"

If I were Blake, this would not have been the Garth song that I would have chosen, but JDC (is it ok if I call you JDC?) completely made the most of it. He showed why he is one of the early favorites to bring Blake another VOICE win, by proving that country singers really are the best live singers. Gwen hit it square on the head when she said that he sings as if he was already on a recording; he has such a confident, professional tone that I truly think that he could become THE VOICE's first superstar.

Team Adam
Matt McAndrew
Song: "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys
Three-Word Review: Huh? Sorry, what?

Ummmmm, yea, I love The Beach Boys as much as the next guy, but that was awful. I'm sorry, I know that the coaches tried to sugar-coat it, but that was just not good. I don't know if it was more Matt's fault, or Adam's song choice, but this is a performance that just couldn't end fast enough.

What makes the Beach Boys so timeless is the fact that when they sing, their five voices create such intricate and inventive harmonies that it gives the illusion of being one voice. Having one person, who doesn't have Brian Wilson's falsetto, sing this song robbed it of its iconic vocal orchestrations, and made it sound like a really drunk karaoke performance. No mas, please no mas.

Team Blake
Reagan James
Song: "Try" by Colbie Caillat
Three-Word Review: Really Cool Chick

I really liked Reagan in the Blinds and Knockouts, but was really underwhelmed by her Knockout performance, and while this performance didn't restore all of the confidence I had in her early on, but it did remind me that she has the potential to be a truly special artist. There doesn't seem to be anything that this soon-to-be 16-year-old can't do. She sounded great when she was singing soft and sweet, and was equally as impressive when she opened up and belted, however, what was most impressive was her understanding of how to construct the dynamics of her performance. The way she maneuvered in and out of each musical moment was impressive even for someone way beyond her years.

Team Adam
Taylor Phelan
Song: "Cool Kids" by Echosmith
Three-Word Review: Over Produced Averageness

I've often written about why I tend to favor AMERICAN IDOL over THE VOICE, despite the fact that the latter tends to have much better talent. While I generally harp on the fact that the former usually does a much better job of helping you connect to the contestants, but another reason is that THE VOICE has a tendency to over-produce each and every move the singers make. Nothing about Taylor's performance seemed authentic at all, and while his vocals were fine, the song felt completely flat and without heart.

Team Adam
Mia Pfirrman
Song: "Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey
Three-Word Review: That was dark?

For all of the pre-performance talk about that song being dark, I didn't see it. To me, the performance was given more like a lullaby than a haunting, dramatic ballad. Yes, her "Miafied" moment was impressive, but there didn't seem to be any kind of connection to the song's central message.

For me, this performance was a microcosm of the whole night; tons of talent, but thoroughly underwhelming.

Team Adam
Damien
Song: "I'm Not the Only One" by Sam Smith
Three-Word Review: Fully Realized Performance

While I still didn't get as much from this song as I had hoped for, this was the night's first fully-realized performance. The commitment that he had to the emotional message of the song was palpable not only in his vocals, but also in his eyes. His eyes showed that for those 90 seconds, he was living that song, and that is what made his performance stand out from the rest.

As Pharrell said, Damien's ability to traverse and up down his range, from chest to head, and back again is really impressive. There was one moment when they didn't really mix well, but for the most part it reminded me a bit of Babyface. This was the best performance of the night (so far).

Team Blake
Craig Wayne Boyd
Song: "Some Kind of Wonderful" by Grand Funk Railroad
Three-Word Review: Blues Brothers Boyd?4

This was a strange arrangement for a guy that they were trying to pump up as a Southern Rocker, it sounded like the arrangement from the Blues Brothers impersonators show at Universal Studios. Don't get me wrong, Craig killed it, and proved that he is an incredible performer, but it was a little too GLEE for me. That being typed, the vocals were solid, especially on a song that didn't have a whole lot of opportunities shine.

There were times when I thought Craig was laying it on a little thick, but he was fun and charismatic, and Blake is probably right, this was likely the best performance of the night (sorry Damien). Unfortunately though, there wasn't a moment that stuck out as truly special.

My Rankings of Tonight's Performances:

Team Adam Order
1) Damien
2) Chris Jamison
3) Mia Pfirrman
4) Taylor Phelan
5) Matt McAndrew

Team Blake Order
1) Craig Wayne Boyd
2) James David Carter
3) Reagan James
4) Jessie Pitts
5) Taylor Brashears

So, what did you think? Do you agree on my rankings? Who was I wrong about? Please share your thoughts in the comments below, or on Twitter @BWWMatt. Also, don't forget to follow @BWWTVWorld on Twitter and Like us on Facebook for all of the latest TV news, reviews, and recaps.

Photo Credit: Trae Patton | NBC



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