jork

I think anytime you get a native Hawaiian to sing "All Of Me", most tend to do well because they exude an aura of thankfulness, gratitude, ohana, spirit animal. Hawaii loves their go-to songs, and "All Of Me" is almost in every playlist. For that, it was somewhat predictable for Kamalei to choose that song, and he gave a predictable performance. Good, but just isolating the vocals, I feel I've heard this many times over all over the Big Island in my trips there. But we all get enraptured by the connection of man to the song, and so he's a good bet to get through (as a steal, likely). He needs to show a little more Iam Tongi songwriter and dig deeper than just surface level, though, but not sure he has that capability, or whether the Voice will even allow that to happen. As it is, he's just there for the vibe of his people. Maddi's here to bring the ingenuity for this show. Yeah, we cast pop songs and starlets as a dime a dozen, but in this show, people who perform like her and choose songs like this are literally endangered species. Nearly extinct, and certainly as the voting rounds go they eventually will be. One of the last vestiges of the youtube era, she'll harken back to the days of Grimmie, but she has more performer swag. Maddi can put 120% into crafting the song and building up for the high notes and look comfortable doing this, but even Kamalei coasting through a meaningful song likely will garner more votes. It's how the votes typically play out. Maddi's here to mobilize her fanbase from the early days, but have they grown up past this and have limited care factor now? For this round, Chance likes crafting pop starlets (see Sorelle), and Maddi's too unique in this show, so she's likely to be kept.

Other notes from yesterday's show - Josh Sanders sure is showcasing himself as that next anonymous country singer who will have a #1 on country radio. Kudos for actually singing super modern songs, between Nate Smith, Bailey Zimmerman and Corey Kent. Doubt the audience even knows what these songs even are. While we're here, what's up with the love for "Wild as Her?" Granted, Corey Kent was an alum and he's cashin on royalties, but there seems to be a special place for Wi-wi-wiiii-iiii-iii-iii-i-i on this show. It's almost like that daring bad-boy bro-country thing TPTB wants to break away from the old school monotony. Almost expected TPTB to give Sanders special contact lenses that allowed him to shoot red-eyed laser beams like in the MV. With song choices like that, I can't see Sanders even making the top 5, even if 1974 Dixieland might be the switcheroo. Bet dude's gonna do Warren Zeiders' "Pretty Little Poison" at some point, and the audience will pull a collective shrug emoji. Almost expected Ashley Bryant to do the Cole Swindell remix of that song, but he did prop back up that '90s gem into gen Z relevance. Reba came into prominence in the '90s so not surprising she'd draw from that well for Ashley. Olivia has a piercing voice - her style is kinda this '70s pop voice on '70s songs. Ronstadt, bluejeanbaby-L.A.lady, I'm sure she's gonna keep drawing from that well. I actually liked Anya's song choice. She kinda had that Billie Eilish glom-emo voice and is embodying that whole dark pop stuff of the late 2010s. TikTok is great at bringing back songs that never hit it big (AURORA's 2014 release was met with zero reception, but in 2021 it got into the charts). Again, audience says "what is this" but this fits Anya's vibe well.

The Voice sure has a boomer exec who loves the obscure songs in the late 70s/early 80s. Going from D-Smooth's Bobby Caldwell, to Mac Royal's sweaty-as-all-hell Teddy Pendergrass, and now Nathan Chester doing one-hit wonder Elvin Bishop? One could presume exec loved his Guardians of the Galaxy, but that's a stretch. That song fits Chester's personality perfectly. He rocks the mic stand, always bends the knee and proposes at the end of each of his songs, and he's very animated and memorable. All those years perfecting his craft to those trips to Alaska/Mexico have clearly done wonders. Sure, dude has a retro feel, but every R&B dude who makes it far does on this show. He's certainly better than Val, who came off as predictable and a dime a dozen on the show. Dani has a really cool vibe and image, and it's unfortunate she's let go. Perhaps she's a bit too low key for the judges, but you can tell she's very musical. Unfortunate. Her songs were more decent, but where was Marcy Playground x Aaliyah? Needed to go hipster mode. Serenity went pure pop and did a meh job of Rihanna's "Disturbia" era in the late aughts, so Chance clearly chose based on potential. But going from Sam Fischer to Rihanna/Selena means she's going pop princess.

The show's positioning Asher (along with Val) to bring the old school vibes on the show. He's got the effortless ad-libbing, runs and ability to scale high and low on songs about jilted love. He's the sort of performer the show loves. Tae's pre-Voice work all screams black Keith Urban. Seriously, if you listen to some of his work, play the track, and ask your buddies who this is, they might say Keith Urban. Dude seems super influenced by him, from the voice, the lilt, down to the subject matter. It made complete sense he auditioned with Urban. Dude's a former New Yorker, summer night, red cup, backwards ball-cap loving hipster. With the vacuum left by Jimmie Allen, he might be able to enter that space, especially if gen Z decides they need a gen Z person to represent Keith Urban sounds for them. Dude's sincere and will do everything in his power to hide his bro-country influences on the show, but he's played the game well by choosing sentimental songs, showing range and parlaying his unique aesthetic to make it farther and farther. Props to that.

Putting some pieces together on knockout results based on what's been said - 1) John must really have a hankering for Taylor Swift, or the Sound of Music. I like Zoe's work on socials and her jamming to "The Bones" was cute, but not really votebait. Jackie was stolen by Reba on this performance. Didn't Nathan Chester get a lot of hype in pre-show promos? Not surprised he made it far. Dude kinda reminds me of a singing Preacher Lawson, and seems to have a cool hip factor which will be completely masked on this show. John predictably will choose Val here with "Sweet Love" over Preacher, but good on Val for overcoming fake spoilers and making it to this point. Sounds like Zoe, Gene, and Val are the advancers, Asher Havon is stolen from Reba, and Bryan VOTA obviously with the playoff pass. 3) If Team Chance is looking like Dani Stacy, RLETTO, and Selena-er Serenity, Arce, and a stolen Kyle Schuesler, and playoff pass Nadège, that's interesting. RLETTO 's portraying the sensitive side on the show, but off show seems like he can ride the atmospheric beat like Bryson Tiller (then again, Ray Uriel's pre-show stuff had some of that, and he completely became uninteresting in the show). I'm guessing the Voice doesn't prioritize singers who proactively "want to make it big on pop", a switcheroo from 10 years ago - hence the Maddi elimination. But pairing Maddi against Dani is basically begging for that. Serenity takes the younger Maddi pop spot. Voice loves their pop more innocent. 4) D+S's stolen Olivia Rubini does "Tiny Dancer". Karen Waldrup seems like a lock, either Frank or Anya?, Madison got the playoff pass. D+S steals Nathan Chester from John seemingly. 5) Reba's Tae Lewis sings "Nothin' On You" by Dan+, er... I mean Cody Johnson, in the knockouts? Reba advances Justin and Jeremy, Tae Lewis?, Josh Sanders? here, Jackie Romeo with the steal, and L Rodgers already got the playoff pass. Knowing what we know now, from the Hollywood Press Junket - I'm guessing they were there for the playoffs? 1) Kyle Schuesler, a team Chance steal , plays harmonica, seems to be eliminated?. Chance's playoff pass, Nadège, flips a Coldplay song after doing some Daniel Caesar x Lauryn Hill. Chance's 16 year old Serenity Arce goes heartthrob on the universe by promising the world and making everyone fall for it. Huge standing ovation for Serenity, on a song the Voice loves, but everyone gets eliminated on. Kudos to going from loving outlaws, to Sam Fischer, to Capaldi, to Selena. 2) Reba's L Rodgers sings P!nk. And good job on Megan Thee Stallion for recommending Coldplay and Selena to this crew. Reba's Justin and Jeremy had harmonies on point. Can't find this 1974 "Dixieland" song - it's a male country artist. It's hard to see it being Josh Sanders given that he's sang disposable commercial modern country, but it seems kinda likely. Good job going for the unknown dude Nate Smith to a 1974 song.

It's funny about "Half Of My Heart" - that was the jam back in college days. John Mayer himself conceived of the idea of him being Tom Petty and TSwift being his Stevie Nicks, but that song barely has Swift, and certainly doesn't have the constant duet interplay of "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around". It's a very good song however, and you can tell it's very personal to Mayer and he's always at his element with his mid-tempo bluesy dream-state vibe. It's good to hear it on the show. But it's absolutely hilarious this was given to Anya and AJ. In theory, bluesy stuff fits both of them, but probably not this song because it's not personal to them. You probably need a legit songwriter with lived experiences to tell this story, and that's rarely on this show. Although TSwift and Mayer had a huge age gap when they sang it, it was mostly Mayer for most of it. Here, they were actually duetting, age gap exists, believability in the two embracing the lyrics is nonexistent. In whatever limited time we saw AJ treat it like a jaunt, probably because he knows this is a sabotage song. He also seemed to have a weirdly deferential style in what little we saw, with Anya carrying the song, which is hilarious if we swapped it with TSwift carrying the song and Mayer's on background vocals. Anya certainly put the Olivia Rodrigo spin on this one. It's unfortunate that the idea of AJ seemed better than the execution, but AJ always had pop sensibilities that seemed to undercut the folky core he represented himself as, and that might have confused the coaches. The battles are really a test for whichever contestant wants it more, sabotage song or not. It's also a test for deferential personalities. Ashley Bryant won off-genre against Elyscia, but also had the higher memorability/care factor with the vocal tinge/acrobatics. I'm guessing Bryan Olesen is in for Team Legend for the long haul? This really seem like a girl's season; I think Olesen, like AJ Harvey, has too much of an omnivorous style to paint a cohesive image for voters. He's gonna bite off more than he can chew at some point, even though his recorded work in his prime was awesome (and non-vote bait material, ironically). Schuesler gives the appearance of someone people might vote for, lookin' like Laine Hardy and having a performance style like a less distinct Noah Mac. He's got good musical taste, but I think he needs a tad more seasoning. He's not consistent throughout his musical choices, and his battle style was deferential. He might make the voting rounds because short of R&B belters, they need someone like him to round the genre numbers. I rep Huntington Beach, but historically, SoCal doesn't do anything for voters.

I have a weird feeling this show is gonna make Ducote Talmage happen, if spoilers are wrong. Bad boy look, giving him all the country bad-boy songs between Wallen and Zimmerman, and the guy's just readily identifiable. Ryan Coleman could have been a blend of every country dude who previously got eliminated in battles. Seems like the type of dude country labels would throw out there and attempt to market. Dani Stacy impressed in her 30 seconds more than most of these other acts.

Awesome work! Assuming it all to be true: 1) I like Chance's team a lot. Everyone has pop potential with R&B/swagger underpinnings, which means audience no likey. Dani and Maddi seemed like fairly obvious picks, and both for those sultry R&B stylings that's an obvious connection with his genre. Finally the rapper gets someone who pseudo-raps, it will be interesting to see how much Chance gets Maddi to indulge on that side. But that's a great fit for Maddi. The other thing is Chance obviously plays favorites (see Ray Uriel from last year), and as a producer, he's probably looking for urban chart/pop upside. Nadege fits that bill in a lot of ways. With stuff like Tyla, Chloe x Halle, Nadege is an approximation of that, and her battle with Maddi showcased her in a good light. This obviously means that Val went the way of Manasseh - Chance obviously has the church upbringing, but probably is looking for younger upside, or people who act younger. In his two seasons, Chance has brought a lot more women than men into the playoffs (only Kyle here, and he's a steal) so he obviously prefers working with women. I think Dani might surface with the Nashville connection, but Maddi's youtube connections might create an organic groundswell of votes. 2) Reba's team feels very Reba, but kinda weak, with L as the only? frontrunner. L. and Ashley are very obvious picks. L. would be very hard to let go, given that the combination of her story, vocals, backstory and her vivacious energetic personality probably is found every 5 seasons, if that. They would at least put her through the voting rounds and see if the audience truly catches on (Beverly McClellan made it far way back then, so quite possible). I guess Reba is trying to make it up to Tom Nitti by advancing Ashley Bryant -- jk, I kid, I kid. Bryant is the only true country act among this crop of seven, so she's an easy advance. Her audition felt a bit karaoke night, and somewhat generic. Justin & Jeremy - I can't see it, but man, either this is Ray Uriel all over again, because to beat Jackie Romeo and Asher means that either Reba is trying to diversify her team at the expense of everything else, or they really stepped up. But based on what we know, feels a bit weak so far. 3) D&S have a strong team - Karen Waldrup's pipes, veteran trustworthiness and confidence automatically paint her as a frontrunner. AJ always felt like someone they would put to votes (see the L comment - you likely don't get someone of that ilk this good every 5 seasons; also, D&S need someone who kinda seemed like them back when they were in their mid-20s). Madison seems to have that glimmer in her eye and confidence, she's got that comeback arc, and she stands out. Definitely need to put to a vote. These were pretty obvious choices for them, and is not surprising. Whether AJ or Madison get votes depends on how heavily they both lean into the poppier side of the spectrum, or if they lean more towards meaningful songs. But so far, so good for both of them. 4) John's picks are somewhat by the book - he picks people who stay in their zone, and have a distinct identity. Gene Taylor, sure, old-timey R&Bey big voice guy, somewhat generic. Zoe Levert, riding the TSwift wave, looking and sounding like her (although a bit copycat and does she really embody the lyrics?). Olivia could potentially be a more mature-sounding Ruby Leigh, down to the Linda Ronstadt. There's something about Olivia's style and look that harkens back old age Americana and glamour, but I'm not sure if she'll lean into that further on the show. She's by far the most interesting. This is a fairly weak team, and I'm guessing Olivia would easily distinguish herself, possibly even for votes, but we'll see. Elims - I felt Bryan Olesen was a bit too chameleon-y for John to digest- sometimes the picture you get is all bombast and theatrics so far, and maybe John felt he couldn't get a grip on his true identity. That despite the similar age and Christian upbringings. Coach voting equity - we would think Reba has the best voting equity, almost certainly among this crop. But she and John have the weaker teams, ironically. But it only takes one. Also, lots of women this season, likely to get a woman winner. Power rankings (vote equity, ability to perform and actually get votes) based on this: 1) Karen Waldrup (D&S) 2) L (Reba) 3) AJ (D&S) 4) Maddi (Chance) 5) Olivia (John) 6) Dani (Chance) 7) Madison (D&S) 8] Ashley (Reba) 9) Gene (John) 10) Justin and Jeremy (Reba) 11) Zoe (John) 12) Nadege (Chance)

So 3 playoff passes so far - L Rodgers, Nadege, and Bryan Olesen. Which one of these is the "D-Smooth" of the group, the one who gets the farthest? I'm guessing Rodgers will be the Manasseh Samone, Nadege will be the MaryKate Connor, and Bryan Olesen will be D-Smooth, and the last playoff pass will be the Ryley Tate.

I wonder if Kamalei will go far. He seems understated, less invested and doesn't immediately hit like a Iam Tongi, but between the Maui wildfires and Hawaii being repped a lot recently, he seems like someone who will go far. Repping culture is something shows like these love, and he embraces that. Between "Over the Rainbow" and "Redemption Song", these songs allow him to achieve that potential. OK3 would go a lot better in X Factor. But the Voice likes their groups more wholesome and demure - GNT, Pinoy brothers, country husband and wife duo, mom and daughters, stuff like that plays more to their lane than "three friends who met up, girl power'd it, and harmonized very well". It's that whole argument between Kamalei and Gabriel again - being heartfelt versus being enthusiastic, but Gabriel and OK3 have a more contemporary pop feel that's done better than previous pop acts on this show. Heartfelt always wins. I do think Zoe has that understated T-Swift quality, down to the long and lanky frame. Doing a TSwift cowrite and a TSwift acolyte Marcus- er, Maren Morris song cements that. Ryan Argast must have wanted the free publicity, because the songs he sang were pandering to Dan+Shay, and to Karen. He's basically a jobber who puts them over, and purposely was fodder. I get that he's softened up and become more sentimental as we all do when we age, but this contrasts sharply with his Marina City work and upbringing. Would have liked to see a more rawkerish performance somewhere, but as such it's just another data point of wasted potential.

The irony is that Dan+Shay represent "country", but there's only 2 true country artists in this lineup (the perky Louisianian Karen Waldrup, and Ducote Talmage). Waldrup kinda reminds of Faith Hill, but her pop underpinnings might undercut frontrunner potential, barring heavy promotion. Talmage has that All-American bad boy look, and further reinforced that by covering Wallen, but again, doesn't scream frontrunner. Both are more pop/mainstream country, than trad country, so again, another thing that might work against them with voters. Of course, Shay has a ton of churchy R&B underpinnings, Dan was in an emo "Fall Out Boy" band before he escaped to the country, and the duo's brand of "boyfriend country" filled the vacuum of 2000s pop as 2010s pop migrated to hip hop and EDM. So not surprising they have quite a bit of R&B and pop on their teams. That isn't to say that they might steer Kyle, Ryan and AJ towards their brand of pop country. Pop: Justin+Jeremy, Frank Garcia, Madison Curbelo, Anya True, Kyle Schuesler, Ryan Coleman Folk: AJ Harvey Alt Rawk: Ryan Arghast Mainstream country: Waldrup, Talmage That's a lot of pop. By the way, between Schuesler (Emblem3's Huntington Beach) and True (Encinitas), that's a lot more SoCal than we're accustomed to on these shows. Did talent scouts really go hard in SoCal this year? Frontrunners? This is a fairly musically diverse team. Madison Curbelo has that whole "returnee to 4-chair thing" and she feels like someone Dan+Shay would be happy to promote/coach. I think she's a little too understated in style and doesn't have that arresting a voice/personality to ie, pull a Gina Miles, and there's a chance she'll box herself into Bob Marley/lighthearted reggae/70s pop songs, AJ Harvey has the look, the style, James Dean meets Elvis meets indigenous. Mid-20s, Dan+Shay again would be happy to promote/coach. If he stays on the folksy, meaningful song path and doesn't throw in pop songs just because it's cool to do so, he seems like someone who might do reasonably well. Justin+Jeremy are AZN Dan+Shay. Growth arc potential because of the unrefined aspects, bedroom youtube cover stuff. They sure love their British pop - 1D, Sheeran, James Arthur. We always talk about the Pinoy vote, but are they more style than substance? It feels that way. If it's top four, I'll round this with Waldrup, because they need country, and she's likely Dan+Shay's real meal ticket for conventional votes (because Dan+Shay can't move albums in the states and we don't know their coach equity). OTHERS: Ryan Arghast reminds of some combination of Mike Shinoda and Shinsuke Nakamura. The dude really faked the judges with his initial audition, because his Marina City work goes pretty hard. Dude should do a bunch of ironic Bowling For Soup type covers on this show ("Almost", "1985", "Girl All The Bad Guys Want", "Stacy's Mom") and scare the audience. Dan from his emo upbringing should vouch for this dude. He's not really for the Voice, but he would have really fit the music scene in the early 2000s with his style. I'd really like to see him advance and be more true to his music, just to see how the audience would react. Ryan Coleman seems like that generic "country/R&B/pop dude" who does all those, but nothing particularly stands out. Anya True=Olivia Rodrigo, if you squint hard enough multiple times over? She seems a tad awkward, and might need more time. Surfland's Schuesler looks like Idol's Laine Hardy, chose a good song that everyone who sings expects to do extremely well in, and he was decent. He's got a Zach Bryan freewheeling style so hipster country pop might be in the cards here. Frank Garcia's mariachi-R&B is an interesting blend as well.

Other reviews from yesterday: AJ Harvey stands out a lot as a frontrunner. He's got the look, confidence, represents Indigenous people. He seems to have this bad boy sorta vibe - kinda Elvis, James Dean-ish; as he was performing, there was kind of an all-knowing smirk like "I know I'm good". Definitely heartthrob potential with the girls. Starting with Bob Dylan helps to establish a folksy lane that will endear him with older votes, and his presentation was good. It will be hilarious once he pulls the Ariana Grande "Breathin" switcheroo somewhere in the lives, but the dude has a lot going for him. Ducote Talmage has got that Aiden Grimshaw gritty, intense vibe, except brought to country music. Death grip on the mic, bad boy look again, firefighter, roll tide roll. Good song for him - The Voice's Wallen also had a sandpapery type voice. Again, heartthrob potential, but again, not sure if enough teen and pre-teen girls watch to care. Between him and Van Slee for the younger country spot - Talmage stands out more. Zoe probably has a growth arc. For a Swiftie, "Better Man" is kinda like that middle ground to ingratiate with Voice voters, especially to start with a ballad. She kinda reminded me of a religious schoolgirl from "The Sound Of Music" with that getup, which was interesting. Hopefully she just does all Taylor Swift songs through her run. Let's do "Bad Blood" when it comes to voting.

Top three for sure in this season. She Whitney-ized a song that was steeped in the Brandy/Monica culture of R&B in the late '90s. She doesn't need any coaching, and probably could be coaching whichever judge she chooses. She's a tried and true archetype so we can probably game this all out, but on the show, she'll be successful. ETA: Many have mentioned prior, but there's a noticeable drought of AA diva belters who have won the show outright. She could be the one, especially in a perceived weaker season like this.

It's hard to believe Chance giving Nadège a Coldplay song if she's starting with Daniel Caesar/Kali Uchis. Thought it would be somewhat obvious that would this season's resident song flipper, Dani Stacy. Edited: Could be Maddi, since youtube stars will try to adapt songs into their style, and Coldplay definitely went through that era. Rap interlude in "A Sky Full Of Stars"? Also, who's the hipster who did David Gray's "Babylon"? That guy's no Rivers Cuomo. And shoutout to William Alexander, doing a really meaningful TikTok fueled song (Lizzy McAlpine's "Ceilings"). Transformed a folk-pop song into a wistful, sincere *there's some light in the end of the tunnel* version of the song, with Christian undertones. His version showed incredible control especially for his age, you empathized and believed. A really good first impression. Also shoutout for looking like Max Christie, or Jordan Fisher, or whatever. He might be heavily song dependent but in sports, we'd deem him as someone with a lot of upside.

Olesen seriously looks like RHCP's Flea, especially in 1989's "Back To The Future 2". Especially with the fauxhawk. First impression was this dude was more "rawker" than rocker. The song doesn't help. Might be a personal bias here, but out of OneRepublic's lucrative catalog, that one always got a skip when it came on during those lucrative 2010s. It just felt like fake energy, and this performance was by-the-numbers. Olesen with his Christian rock background gave this song the whole worship hands treatment, but giving a song "the Sunday morning" treatment has been done so many times on this show it felt nondescript. That being said, there's no denying his energy. He's definitely a performer, and will bring a ton of energy into the lives. His background also suggests he's got a ton more to offer on the show. He's also got a bit of an alternative, dancey, emo sound, you can tell he was influenced by the early aughts heavily and all of its chameleon nature. Christian music tends to veer towards samey-samey, as every band Nickelbacks and cribs off each other's sound, but his work stands out among Christian music, as his music could have fit even on pop radio at the time. I heard Owl City, Maroon 5, Fitz and the Tantrums, Tame Impala, Dashboard Confessional, Relient K in a lot of his early VOTA work. But all that is unique for this show, and informs my upbringing as well, so I'm a fan overall. Dude feels plantey though. Professional MVs back in the aughts -that MV screams "alt rock radio" I'm surprised it didn't hit those charts. But cool work: