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longtimelurker

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Everything posted by longtimelurker

  1. DeSz - Only Love Can Hurt Like This (Paloma Faith) Cami Clune - Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush) Carter Rubin - Footprints in the Sand (Leona Lewis) Ben Allen - Even If It Breaks Your Heart (Eli Young Band) John Holiday - Blue Moon (Ella Fitzgerald) Tamara Jade - War Cry (Queen Naija) Bailey Rae - Wasn't It Good (Tina Arena) Ian Flannigan - Poison & Wine (The Civil Wars) Jim Ranger - Help (John Farnham)
  2. 1. Tamara: Oh she has arrived!! This is much better than anything she's done in the taped rounds. 2. Payge: I'd never have expected to hear this song on this show, period. The arrangement is so slick and cool, and her artistry just continues to impress me. 3. Chloe: I think she gave the single coolest performance of the night. Sadly, I don't see her being voted through or saved. 4. Bailey: It's not without issues but I really liked her performance for some reason. 5. Cami: First performance of hers that makes me sorta understand the hype. She was pretty good with this song, even though I think it still required a little more vocal firepower than she's capable of or comfortable doing. The ending was really nice though. 6. Ben: Okay I must admit that was good. I didn't hear any twangy affectations he used to have in his past performances, and he seemed more comfortable on stage too. 7. Desz: It's a solid B+ performance, but I'm still worried about her since she had to open to show with this number. It just wasn't up to the level of expectation that I had for her. 8. Ian: He recovered well after a lackluster KO, though for me there's still something lacking that I'm not quite sure yet. 9. Carter: A cheesy song, but he sang it well enough, except for towards the end where he ran out of breath at one point. But Mariah's catalogue is not easy to tackle, so I'll give him that. 10. Taryn: She doesn't deserve that many dislikes for this performance. It wasn't even bad. A little rough, yes, but not bad. Love the song choice though. 11. Sid: I don't necessarily think the song is the problem. He did sing it well, but overall everything was a tad forgettable. 12. Madeline: One of my favorite songs currently, but it's so weird hearing it not as a duet. The harmony in the chorus is what makes the song for me, and I wasn't getting it from this one. Also, she was kinda all over the place vocally. 13. Joseph: Not a fan of the arrangement at all, especially on a song like this. I didn't find that many issues with his singing, but it's probably because I was getting bored. 14. WTW: The middle one's got such a pretty tone and sang her solo part well, but the other two were terribly rough. Altogether, they didn't seem to gel as much this time. You can literally see and hear the harmonies going flat. 15. John: I can definitely say it was better than his KO, but I just can't get past his tone. 16. Jim: This was disappointing, mainly because of the song. 17. Tanner: I think I want whatever Kelly's having. She seemed so genuinely excited for such a weak and tepid performance. I guess the bar for country males really is underground. Honorary mentions to Larriah's, Julia's, and Ryan's studios. They are all pretty decent.
  3. Desz Payge Ryan Madeline Julia Sid Ian Chloe Carter Jim Taryn Larriah Bailey Tamara WTW Cami John Ben Joseph Tanner
  4. Kelly: I have a hunch they're gonna give an uptempo song to Tanner. Or at least I hope they do. It's gonna be a sight to see. John: Probably Bailey? Since she seems to be the greenest and John doesn't have a clue what to do with her. I could see her getting something like 'Suds in the Bucket'. Gwen: I think Joseph might just be boring, not trainwreck potential. Maybe Carter if his voice drops. Blake: WTW. It's pretty likely for their harmonies to get messy live, I think.
  5. The 4-way KO was really good. The other 2 normal KOs, not so much. 1. Julia - I know she's pretty much doomed from the start with the song choice lol, but she was the best of the night for me. She's the indie girl that should have been guaranteed a spot instead of Cami, based on the performances tonight. 2. Ryan - He did great too, and is probably the winner of the KO. I just prefer Julia a little more, but I won't complain if he wins. 3. Larriah - Pretty solid, but she had some small pitch problems in there. She gave me Kennedy Holmes vibes, but not as polished. The song is kinda boring for me though. 4. Taryn - Props to her for picking a monster of a song. Did she deliver? Eh. There were some strong parts, but damn this song is like vocal suicide. I like her emotional delivery though. 5. Marisa - Even though she obviously deserved to win her KO based on track record, I can't really say she was robbed. The first half of the song was just weird and muddling. It's such an iconic song but I honestly couldn't tell where she was going with the melody or whether she had any direction at all. The big notes were impressive, but yeah they weren't enough to make me forget the first part. 6. Cami - I'm so bored with Cami already lol. Might be an unpopular opinion, but I did not enjoy this performance at all. It was just basically just her singing and dragging out some syllables and affectations at the end of almost every line, then predictably throwing in some head voice at some point. The song itself meandered around and didn't go anywhere. She's basically coasting on her tone. 7. Tanner - It sounded like a cringey bro-country number. Terrible song, average vocal. There's been a lot of country acts surviving the KO, some more justified than others. This was definitely the least justified. 8. John - He could hit all these notes and sing Celine's song in her key, which doesn't mean that he should. I kinda get how some would see this as impressive, but I just saw it as shrill and screechy. And the high notes were high, but they didn't sound powerful or comfortable at all. I think he was just too ambitious, he should have tried it several steps down so he could show off his lower range in the verse and still have plenty of room to hit big notes in the chorus.
  6. 1. Madeline: I definitely didn't expect to love this as much as I did. That was a near perfect performance imo. I really felt what she was singing, and for me that's the most important thing about music. 2. Desz: I don't know the song but she made me like it. It's unbelievable how she went from those low notes at the start to those big glory notes. And that amount of control is perfect. 3. Jim: I think this might be his breakout moment. What a powerful and authentic performance. 4. Chloe: I kinda forgot about her before this tbh. But she really turned it out, that was a lot better than I expected. Not sure about her chances going forward though, as I don't know if she's popular enough to get votes. 5. Carter: He's more believable this time round, but I was a little distracted by his hand gestures though. Easily his best so far. And lol at Gwen's "my baby" when Chloe hadn't even sung yet. 6. Bailey: A pleasant and enjoyable performance imo. It's nothing groundbreaking, but I like her enough. 7. Sid: He definitely tried to tone it down a little, but this time I have a new pet peeve, which is every time he sang "oooooh..." before a line. It's quite a lot and it's distracting for me. But still a good performance overall. 8. Ian: He's still got one of my favorite tones out of everyone, but yeah this wasn't really a step up. 9. Lauren: The arrangement threw me off, it sucked out the fire and intensity out of the original. Unlike her battle, I didn't believe or feel a single word she sang. And her stage presence didn't sell it either, she was basically just standing still in one spot with the whole time. You can't do that with this classic. 10. Kelsie: Oh dear. She's got a great voice, but her delivery was so theatrical and melodramatic that it came off as try-hard and a little desperate. 11. Jus Jon: I loathe this song so much, and he didn't do anything to change that. 12. James: Yikes, that was rough. They might have done him a favor by shortclipping that.
  7. 1. Payge - Duh. The emotions and the artistry and the stage presence. She's so good. 2. WTW - First performance of them that I like. The a capella opening was amazing, their harmonies were so tight. When they did their solo lines though, it was clear that vocally the girl on the right (can't remember her name) is the weak link. 3. Tamara - It was fun and very energetic. But I still have the same issue I had with her previous performances: it's always some kind of messy and too overstuff. 4. Ryan - The better country guy tonight. But he really needs to work on that diction, I couldn't understand a word except the name of the song. 5. Ben - The ok-ish country guy. Vocally he wasn't bad, just not very exciting. He looked a little stiff on stage without his guitar too. 6. Casme - I really like her but she flopped hard tonight.
  8. Another great night of battles! There wasn't any that I didn't like at least a little bit. If only we could have seen Tori vs Van. 1. Marisa vs Ryan: I live for big, bombastic, dramatic numbers and this performance was everything! Props to Ryan for navigating through this song in his register, despite his sorta weak opening, but Marisa was just wow. She totally upstaged him. 2. Carter vs Larriah: As sick as I am of hearing this song, I must admit they did amazing with it. Larriah was a real revelation here for sure, and she should have won this battle. Carter was good too, but I don't feel the emotion or connection when he was singing as much as when Larriah was. Also I found his stage movements rather rehearsed, but I'm not gonna hold that against him since he's still young. 3. Casme vs Rio: Casme is so underrated it's not even funny. She's a terrific performer and has a solid voice to back it up too, and yet she's not getting half the attention she deserves. Rio kept up well too. Overall just a fantastically even battle. 4. Aaron vs Ian: Ian won this from the first note. His voice has a real presence and just commands attention. Aaron was ok, but his higher harmony was a little rough. I do agree with John that it didn't really show that he has an identity yet. 5. Cami vs James: Compared with the rest of the night's performances, this was a questionable ender. Vocally, James excited me more. Cami has been a little on the nose with her song choices and how she sings them so far, though I know she had no say in this one. My main gripe is with the arrangement. I like the idea of it and the instrumental, but there was wayyyy too many harmonies and too few solo moments. They didn't even throw in any adlib around the end, it was just harmony, then pause, then harmony again. 6. Liam vs Ryan: Ryan has the better voice for me, but Liam gave a better performance. The battle started cool and then got a bit repetitive though, but that's probably the song. Still, I don't really mind who stays or who goes. Dominic and Trey did it better imo. I'd have preferred it if they montaged this one instead of Tori vs Van.
  9. 1. Desz vs Joseph: Great song choice for both of them. Desz’s tone is just to die for, though she might be better off holding back some of the runs. Some of them felt a little out of place. Joseph put up a good fight too. Can’t say that he fully deserved the steal though. He was good, but still a little unmemorable as a solo act. 2. John H vs Julia: The song choice was unfamiliar to me, so it took me a few listens to get into it. It’s such a tricky melody. John did well, as expected, though his high notes might rub some people the wrong way if he keeps doing that for every performance. Julia held her own too, but she never got explosive like John did. Maybe it’s a nerves thing. 3. Jim vs John S: Not sure why they keep bringing Kane Brown back, and have contestants sing his one-note, cheesy, snap track songs. The battle was forgettable, but Jim was clearly superior here. For the montages, even though 10 seconds is barely enough to judge any performance: 1. Chloe vs Lain 2. Skylar vs Tanner
  10. I think it was a good first night, none of the battles was bad for me. I actually enjoyed all of them to a certain extent. 1. Payge vs Lauren: This made me almost tear up watching it for the first time when it was leaked. I liked Lauren's audition, but here she sounded completely unrecognizable. Her head voice is so beautiful, I don't really know why she didn't audition doing pop because she's got the voice for it for sure. Payge was amazing as well, it's just that my personal bias leans towards Lauren's tone a hair more. 2. Eli vs Madeline: This is such an ironic song to sing on two separate stages. Overall it was a good duet in my book, and they both had good stage presence. Madeline delivered even though the song couldn't be further from her comfort zone. Eli was good too, but he kinda faltered a little during the lower parts, and when they harmonized together he just sounded a bit muted in contrast to Madeline's tone. 3. Bailey vs Sid: Maybe unpopular but I kinda cringed every time Sid got to his solo part in the verses. He was too growly and a little shouty for my taste, like he was forcing that gravelly sound. The chorus where they harmonized was alright though. Bailey was solid throughout for me, and showed improvement from her lackluster audition. 4. Taryn vs WTW: Taryn won this easily, even with one voice she had no problem overpowering the trio. She gave me some Faith Hill vibes. WTW, well, their choreography at the start was cute, but for a trio their voices still sound a bit thin and weak together. 5. Tamara vs Olivia: I enjoyed the battle but it was a clear step down for Tamara from her blind. Maybe it's the song, I do think she tried to do too much with it like she would in a bigger, more bombastic number where that'd have worked. Olivia, while not exactly great, edged out Tamara IMO, but I can't say that she was robbed or anything. 6. Jus Jon vs Payton: Payton's high notes weren't that pleasant to listen to, but she did redeem herself somewhat with the lower notes. Still, Jon easily took the win here. He might just be KO fodder though.
  11. 1. Lain: Surprisingly the best of the night for me. It's a really overdone song but I like how he navigated the melody to make it fresh to my ear (Also did something happen with Kelly during the pitch? It feels weird not hearing her talk at all during this one). 2. James: A great final audition, obviously if he'd been earlier in the line he'd have turned 3-4 chairs easily. 3. Tori Miller: Her tone is gorgeous, probably my favorite tone so far. She needs coaching though. 4. Julia: She's interesting and has potential, but I admit her diction was a bit whispery and hard to understand at times. 5. Bailey: She was ok, just middle of the pack for me. Probably has more to do with the song. 6. Emmalee: Thank god it wasn't the Sam Smith version. Her high notes sounded a little iffy though, like they weren't as full as I expected. 7. John: The lack of theatrics went well with the song though. It was a little boring but still pleasant to listen to. 8. Worth the Wait: They weren't really. 9. Skylar: I need to have a word with the person who came up with this lifeless arrangement.
  12. The lineup for tonight is certainly a choice. 1. Olivia - maybe I’m biased towards the song, but I don’t think she was half bad, her pacing of the lyrics was kinda distracting though 2. Larriah - she’s got potential being young and all 3. Sam - I found this very karaoke, but still decent karaoke 4. Tanner - it just feels so hollow, like he sucked the energy out of the entire studio and the studio next to it 5. Payton - not great and very messy, even with a shortclip she is still better than... 6. Van - there was no redeeming quality in that performance
  13. 1. Desz - I can't believe it took 19 seasons for someone to slay this song as hard as she did 2. Kelsie - her range is insane, and that whistle note is hella impressive 3. Casme - the beginning was rough, but she really picked it up halfway through, it's still a little messy but she's so much fun to watch 4. Carter - I was pleasantly surprised, he's got really good vocal control, though obviously he's got no believability on this song 5. Rio - he was alright, middle of the pack for me, a little forgettable tbh 6. Ryan - he's got a James Morrison vibe, but I feel like the performance went on for much longer than 90 seconds, it's just not very exciting, maybe it's the song's fault? idk 7. Ben - I don't hate country at all but he's way too twangy for my taste, also not all of that twang sounds natural either 8. Jus Jon - another performance that seemed to drag on for much longer than it actually was, no offence to him but it was just so monotonous the whole way through that I don't think he deserved a chair
  14. A little late but here are my commentaries for Night 2 and 3 of Playoffs. Playoffs 2 - There were more performances I enjoyed than the premiere night. Pretty much every matchoff was good, except for *that* one. 1. Angela vs Roxane: Angela surprised me. She'd struck me as a serious gospel singer so I would never have imagined her nailing a fun, energetic song. Even more impressive is that she managed to give the performance some sort of build-up, despite it being merely a minute long. Roxane did great with what she got too, though I think it was a bit more subdued than what I expected of her. George made the right call on this one, though I'd lowkey love to sub Masha out for Roxane. 2. Stellar vs Jesse: Stellar gave me all the feels with that song, though admittedly her start was kinda rocky. Her voice and delivery was just so emotional. The same could be said about Jesse as well, but hs performance was more controlled and grounded. Overall, they were incredibly equal. I only favor Stellar here because I like her song more than Jesse's. It was somewhat surprising to see her lose, but everyone knew she wasn't going home anytime soon. 3. Timothy vs Matt: So Guy really is capable of giving good song choices. Who'd have thought? Jokes aside, I enjoy both of these performances. Another very equal pairing where both brought it, though Matt's drop in the middle of the chorus was disconcerting for me at first. I go with Matt because his voice is really distinct and is the type that I'd listen to out of the show. Can't fault Guy for taking Timothy through though. 4. Claudia vs Goldi: It took me a few listens to realize how much Claudia sounds like Ellie Goulding here. Her voice is so pretty but her inexperiece really showed. She lacked vocal control and couldn't breathe properly switching back and forth between head and chest voice. She just needs a few years to refine. Goldi made me enjoy a song that I used to hate, so that's good. But I agree that although they sounded good together, there isn't a very compelling point why they should be a duo? If anything, I'm happy that they broke the curse of duos formed mid-show being eliminated the next round. 5. Mark vs Bo'Ness: It's literally a crime to condense 'Dream On' into a minute long performance. It's not just the crazy high notes, it's the build-up to them too. There was no space for Mark to build his performance, and those high notes didn't sound particularly great or healthy. Bo'Ness didn't get a song that allowed them to stand out. They were just there strumming and singing and then the song ended abruptly without a moment or a crescendo. 6. Elishia vs Jimi: Truly iconic for all the wrong reasons. I cringed so much during Elishia's performance (that voice crack, big yikes) and then cringed some more watching Jimi after I though there's no way he could have lost this one now. It was really hard to watch the coaches tearing into them almost immediately, but I believe Kelly made the right call in cutting both. If I'm forced to choose, I'd probably go with Jimi since I did wind up liking his audition and battle, whereas Elishia's audition was forgettable. Also, I might have missed this but what was the theme of their song choices again? Playoffs 3 - Mostly everyone was solid tbh. Very strong night. 1. Steve vs Emmagen: I thought both of them were fodders, and I didn't know either of their songs. Boy was I surprised. Steve reminds me of Ray Charles and I love it. The ruggedness of his voice fits the song amazingly well. Emmagen was surprisingly good too. She showed that she's got more in her than just the spunky kid singer shtick. Of course, there was no way she was gonna win this, but damn Delta's a good coach. 2. Lyric vs Chris: Lyric brought something new to a tired song, and for that alone she should have won. The way she sang the first line of the chorus gave me chills, and her voice just sounded so good on a ballad. Chris was good too, but that is not really a singing song. He tried to infuse his vocals into it and it turned out decent, but not remarkable. It's funny that Kelly gave the balladeer a fun song and the energetic singer a ballad. 3. Virginia vs Sapphire: Virginia's performance showed that her head voice is very underdeveloped. She's always going full throttle which I don't think was the right approach to 'Chandelier'. There are so many covers of that song out there in so many different styles that hers didn't stand out at all. On the other hand, Sapphire was terrific. She captivated me from the first note and her voice is just so warm and emotional. I don't throw around the R word very often but this definitely calls for it. Sapphire was robbed. This is the decision I'm most upset with this season so far. 4. Soma vs Stephanie: Soma's performance was stiff and not very good, but she is a unique singer. Stephanie, on the other hand, sang well and hit some impressive notes, but she's terribly generic. I'd go with Stephanie but I don't think either would survive the next round anyway. Regarding the "drama", I didn't think Soma was rude at all. Sure, she could have phrased it better but going on the show itself is a lot of pressure, not to mention during a global pandemic. I really felt for her when she asked if she got what it takes to be a musician. I hope she gets the help she needs because that sounds like some insecurity and anxiety issues. Now, if I were to make some predictions as to who will be the top 2 of each team, I'd go something lke this. Team Delta: Stellar (obviously), Jesse (he's been consistent so far) or Clarissa (she's capable of delivering something epic) Team Guy: Johnny (coach's favorite), Timothy or Matt (they are kinda in the same lane) Team George: Siala (coach's favorite), Angela (the best of all the powerhouses) or Virginia (seems to be a favorite too) Team Kelly: Chris (stand-out so far), Despina (just a gut feeling)
  15. Alex is doing Train’s Drops of Jupiter, which probably means he’s getting eliminated. I thought Johnny was singing Fighter by Christina Aguilera but in second thought it sounded more like the lyric was ‘I am on fire’?
  16. Playoffs 1 commentary. The production value is amazing. It kinda makes the American version look like a hodge-podge virtual karaoke night. Though I hate how short the performances are. The stage is already set up, at least let the singers sing for 90 seconds! Also, the fake crowd cheering is kinda annoyingly loud. 1. Graeme vs Clarissa: Graeme's performance is what Johnny could have done had he a) been given a good song and b) trimmed down the excessive vocal runs and tricks. He's also really good at emoting. It's a very raw and honest performance that should be worthy of Delta's save (though I doubt he'll actually get it). Clarissa was simply epic. There's something about her that I find oddly compelling, more so than other classical/opera singers that came before. Also her "Latin is not my native language" quip was so funny. Clarissa definitely won, though Graeme did put up a great fight. 2. Alex vs Despina: I stil don't get the hype for Alex. Every performance of his has only ever been just average for me. It doesn't help that 'Issues' is not a fresh song choice anymore by this point, and still he didn't do anything out of the box with it. It was a very straightforward and uninspired attempt. Meanwhile, Despina has been slowly winning me over, ever since I realized that her vocal affectations were totally natural since her normal speaking voice is pretty much the same. I think she had the bigger challenge of learning the song from scratch. That being said, I like what she did with the song and she had some interesting vocal choices in there. I'd have given her the win easily. 3. Wolf vs Johnny: The theme was... interesting. To be honest, I kinda like Wolf's version of 'Dance Monkey' lol, if only to see Delta's reaction to it. Might be an unpopular opinion there, but there's something about it that, though cringey, kinda works for me. That being said, his voice is really unpolished and it can come off as abrasive. If Guy was a good and unbiased coach, he should let Wolf sing something like 'Hurt' (Nine Inch Nails/Johnny Cash) instead. Johnny simply did too much with the song. It's only a minute long, you don't need to add a run every other line. I liked Johnny but I guess I'm over him at this point. 4. Masha vs Elyse: Not a good version by either of them. Masha got a bit messy towards the end, which was weird because I assume she must have been singing this song dozens of time. My frustration with her is that I'm not getting anything from her emotionally. I'm not sure if this is because she can't connect to English songs as well as she does with Armenian ones, but right now she strikes me as a bland, pagaenty singer who can hit all the notes but that's about it. Like a Diana Rouvas lite. She only won this round because Elyse ran into some very conspicuous stumbles in the second half, though I admit her a capella opening was beautifully done. 5. Nathan vs Siala: Nathan has always been more of a performer than a vocalist, which I think should only carry him so far into the competition. He's definitely more style over substance. His performance is fun, but that's about it. Siala's flub was hard to watch, but I like how the coaches constructively called it out as a learning experience. I guess George was gonna go with Siala from the start anyway so the flub might not have mattered much. Personally, I'd do the same based on their potential. 6. Josh vs Adam: Josh is growing through every performance. Not sure if the song was fitting for his style but the arrangement sounded cool. Adam, on the other hand, sounded much weaker than he did. Like, a noticeably weaker performance than his previous two. He's another one whom I don't get the hype for. Josh should have won since he actually showed continuous improvement. But Guy is biased, what else is news?
  17. Battles 4 commentary 1. Masha vs Ella: Classic diva match-up, which I'm a total sucker for. They were both pretty equal, but Ella got a little messy towards the end there. Masha's tone has more warmth and soul in it, while Ella's is thinner. I didn't expect Kelly to pick Ella though, but happy that they're still both in. 2. Timothy vs Luke: I didn't care for either of them before but I absolutely love this. Another pretty equal battle in my opinion. Hearing them side by side, I kinda favor Luke more by just a hair. Shame he got cut but it is what it is. Timothy wasn't half bad either, so this is just a matter of preference to me. 3. Sebastian vs Nathan: I think any song named 'Physical' would be a cringey choice for a 15-year-old boy to sing, though admittedly Olivia Newton-John would be much more inappropriariate. Cringe aside, that was pretty fun to watch. Vocally, I think Sebastian has more range and knows how to navigate the song a little better. Nathan still lacks that oomph for me. 4. Adam vs Elyse: Elyse was practically signed up to lose this one, but she put up quite a fight. It wasn't as good as her audition though that's probably on song and the format. I just don't get the hype for Adam at all. Both his performances so far have been average for me. 5. Mark vs Emma: Emma was literally trying so hard to embody that angsty vibe. Her vocals sounded really forced and unnatural. That should be enough to give Mark the edge to win, despite him not giving it as much. He basically won by default. 6. Emmagen vs Callum: At least everyone had fun, right? I mean, I was having fun until I remember Delta could have paired Emmagen vs Janie (folk-country battle) and Callum vs Matt (energetic showman vibes) and then advanced both Janie and Matt as solo acts. I guess Emmagen won this?
  18. Battles 3 commentary 1. Josh vs Jimi: Jimi's blind eventually grew on me after a few rewatches, while I didn't necessarily care for or remember Josh. But then Josh kinda killed it, which really surprised me. I can see what the coaches say now about him having a raw diamond quality. He did sorta miss the timing a bit at the beginning but that can be chalked up to inexperience. Jimi was playing just a tad too safe for me, though I admit I prefer Jimi's tone more. Overall it was quite equal, and I wouldn't mind it if both of them had been kept. 2. Chris vs Sapphire: As overdone as the song and the arrangement was, this was a really nice battle. Sapphire's tone reminds me of Birdy in that it has this heartbreaking quality to it. Chris is undoubtedly a seasoned pro; I'm just not as connected to him emotionally as I am to Sapphire. I'm glad that both got through though. 3. Janie vs Matt: Janie reminds me of Sally Skelton a few seasons back. Her voice is about as pure as it can get. She did have a rocky start with those low notes, but her voice really bloomed later on. Matt also had a few vocal issues as well. Some of his highest notes sounded strained and as if his voice was on the verge of breaking. I still enjoy this battle though, although making them a duo is a choice. Historically, any duo formed mid-show has been promptly eliminated the very next round, usually because they don't really gel together vocally or one is just better than the other (see Luke and Tannah). I'd just have Janie move on by herself. 4. Angela vs Jonathon: Not sure if the song really showcased the best of their abilities. I was expecting for more dramatic power ballad for them. Jonathon's operatic stylings seemed to be out of place until the final chorus, and Angela pretty much got the win by default here. Both stepped down from their auditions I think, though it's not their fault as much of the song. 5. Caleb vs Andy: I like the message of inclusiveness in their performance. Vocally speaking, Caleb straight up murdered Andy. Now, imagine if Caleb sang this as a solo performance. 6. Jesse vs Steve: I'm just not feeling this battle. Steve messed up obviously and he did recover; I'm not sure if the song fitted him to begin with. It certainly is more in Jesse's wheelhouse, who turned in a decent performance by himself. Delta should have waited to save either Janie or Matt later.
  19. Battles 2 commentary. Bolded are my picks for winners, italics are worthy of a save. All in all, I enjoy tonight more than last night. 1. Stellar vs Matt: Pretty sure Stellar's TCO to win now, if that hasn't been clear enough since the auditions. I didn't think she could top her audition but she might have just done that right here. Matt did a good job too, but there was no way he was gonna win this one. He managed to keep up with Stellar for the most part but his voice falters every now and then. I'm glad he's still in but I'm not sure how to feel about him being on Guy's team. 2. Despina vs Siala: Both are much better than I remember them to be, and the song choice fits them perfectly. One aspect they can improve, though, is diction. I'm giving the win to Despina here because while Siala is also good in this battle, I have a feeling that she doesn't have much versatility going forward, while Despina seems to be able to tackle a more variety of songs. But I'm open to be proven wrong. 3. Charlie vs Bo'Ness: I find Charlie to be more reserved and timid on stage while Bo'Ness have more personality. They are also very likeable. Vocal-wise, I enjoy this battle. While Charlie is the type of voice that I prefer, I'd give it to the duo for their harmonies and presence. 4. Roxane vs Ricky: Simply put, Roxane ate Ricky alive. When they're singing together, you can barely hear him. Not necessarily because she's louder (which she is), but her voice is tailor-made for the song. She's also a more natural performer on stage. I believe this battle is a done deal before they even sang a note. Poor Ricky, at least he tried. 5. Maddy vs Claudia: I expected to like this battle but then I just didn't. At least not as much as I wanted to. They took too much liberty with the melody that it really threw me off. Claudia is the clear winner though; her head voice is really pretty. Maddy's decent too but she's not as polished. That'll come with experience. 6. Xy vs Nataie vs Wolf: What a joke of a song that didn't do anyone any favor. Vocally, Xy was the most consistent from start to finish, while Wolf was pretty much all over the place. I don't even know what to say about Natalie... she was there? I can see her trying to establish herself within the performance but like Kelly said, she was done the dirtiest by that song. I don't really get why Wolf wins to be honest, since his singing here just sounds like aimless and desperate bellowing.
  20. Battles 1 commentary, bolded are my choice to win, italic for saves. Not a great premiere, but there are a couple of stand-outs for me. 1. Graeme vs Elishia: The best of the night for me, and I wasn't a fan of either of their auditions. Poor Elishia got drowned out by the background vocals at times, but she still brought it. That dance break was such a joy to watch that I'm willing to cut them some slacks for their vocals. Glad they're both still in but I would have had Elishia win instead. 2. Clarissa vs Virginia: An unexpectedly good battle! Though I gotta say the song was heavily skewed towards Virginia, as Clarissa sounds like she was vocalizing the same thing over and over again. Still, Virginia was the biggest surprise of the night for me. Thank god that Clarissa had the chance to jump ship to Delta lol; George did her so dirty. 3. Soma vs Lyric: I guess this is fine? I don't mind Soma's tone as much in this song, but she comes off very stiff and tentative. At least Lyric appears to put effort into her performance, but still I'm not impressed by either of them. A wasted save in my opinion. 4. Stephanie vs Kirby: I find Kirby's theatrics and stage movements a bit distracting and incongruous with the song. And that strained note is a big yikes. Stephanie is better here than her audition though (still a lcouple of yelly spots), so she kinda takes this one by default. 5. Alex vs Mason: Another ok-ish performance. I still don't get the hype for Alex; there's nothing about him that stands out to me as exciting. Mason's voice also has this nasal quality that I'm not really interested in. All things said, my biggest gripe with this battle is how they managed to sap all the energy out of a freaking Tina Turner hit. 6. Bukhu vs Johnny: Did Bukhu even sing in this..? This feels like a Johnny solo. I feel like if Kelly had been their coach, she would have found a way to combine their singing styles way more than this (think Sam Perry and that rapper guy last year - their battles were different and unexpected and great). Guy doesn't even seem like he tried; this performance is like mixing oil with water. Not to discredit Johnny who did amazing, but damn this left a bad taste in my mouth. I don't feel comfortable picking a winner because one got screwed over by their coach so much. To sum up: Guy is a terrible coach and the background singers need to chill.
  21. Episode 9 rundown: such a strong group, I wish they would have made the episodes more even talent-wise because the last week there were a lot of fillers. Am I the only one who feels that the coaches mostly forgot about their blocks and only remembered towards the end of the auditions? 1. Clarissa Spata: she was too good! I've got chills all over. 2. Elyse Sene-Lefao: amazing performance, the only tiny nitpick that I do have though is with the song. But she definitely crushed that. 3. Nathan Isaac: he gives me Freddie vibes, but only with his performing style, not so much his vocals. His voice is kinda weak, actually. 4. Graeme Isaako: he was fun and entertaining, I'm just not fully on board with his tone.
  22. Took a little time off and now I'm back. And the auditions are still not over yet. Yikes. Anyway here are my comments from episode 6 onward: Episode 6 1. Angela Fabian: she is awesome. I'm not religious but she made me feel something almost spiritual. 2. Xy Latu: he might have done too much with it at times, but still a solid audition. It just wasn't memorable to me. 3. Elishia Semaan: I personally like the song choice, but I think everyone can unanimously agree that it's not suited for a singing show. Also, she's kinda fodder-ish. 4. Natalie Gauci: this is an even worse song choice, and the arrangement drags it out to be extremely repetitive and monotonous. She also didn't sound like she's fully capable of hitting the big notes. I'm actually bewildered how she won Australian Idol. She must have been a lot better then. Episode 7 1. Johnny Manuel: it's a crime they slotted his audition so late in the process. He deserves at least premiere week pimp spot with this performance. 2. Claudia Harrison: opera and folk? I'm intrigued. 3. Bo'Ness: they seem cool. I'm not familiar with the song but I like it. One of them seem to be better than the other though, as is the case with most duos. 4. Emma Mylott: I just think she needs more energy. It's a fun song and she sucked the life out of it. But the vocals were there. 5. Lyric McFarland: is it just me or she sounds winded the whole way through? Mash-ups are usually more misses than hits for me though. 6. Andy Dexterity: inspirational message aside, he sang like 4 lines and got 4 chairs to turn, mainly out of curiosity. This feels extremely gimmicky. At least Sam Perry used his voice. Episode 8 1. Mark Furze: the only good audition in this episode for me. Australia really loves their rockers. 2. Jonathon Welch: he's not bad, but I just love this song too much that I set an incredibly high bar for it. 3. Ricky Muscat: he's similar to C Major, but not as memorable by far. 4. Callum Gleeson: Detla's picked up a lot of fodders now.
  23. Just to clarify, so they’re doing Battles after Blinds this season? Or they’re still going Blinds > KO > Battles?
  24. Episode 5 rundown, lots of no-chairs this time. 1. Caleb Jago-Ward: I'm rewatching season 4 as well as watching this season and boy was that a massive improvement! Loving his personality as well. 2. Alex Weybury: it was good, but not sure if it warranted 2 blocks, especially considering how stingy the coaches have been at doling them out. 3. Maddy Thomas: she's very green and it shows. I think she's slated to be an early cut. 4. Soma Sutton: her voice is so... weird? But not in a good way for me. She was visibly nervous so maybe that affected what her performance could have been. I do think she's capable of turning it out in later rounds given the right songs and coaching.
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