FloorWax reviews every TVUS Winner's Journey (Season 22 Posted!)

[FloorWax]

I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time, watching all the performances of every winner just to see how they stack up against each other, and I thought it might be a good idea to document my thoughts on IDF for y'all to see. Now, I've only really started watching live since S13, so most of the performances before that point I have never seen. Because of that, I think this is going to be a fun ride and I can't wait to familiarize myself with some of the show's most beloved contestants.

 

I will be doing these in chronological order, and for fun, I'll be ranking the winners as I go along. 

 

 

LINKS TO POSTS:
Javier Colon

Jermaine Paul

Cassadee Pope

Danielle Bradbery

Tessanne Chin

Josh Kaufman

Craig Wayne Boyd

Sawyer Fredericks

Jordan Smith

Alisan Porter

Sundance Head

Chris Blue

Chloe Kohanski

Brynn Cartelli

Chevel Shepherd

Maelyn Jarmon

Jake Hoot

Todd Tilghman

Carter Rubin

Cam Anthony

Girl Named Tom

Bryce Leatherwood

 

Edited August 7, 2023 by FloorWax

[Cookie73]

Another series for me to follow. This seems like an interesting idea, especially without it being a ranking

[Hamza Tufail]

This should be interesting to follow. 

[FloorWax]

 

 

 

Season 1: Javier Colon

Coach: Adam Levine
 

Audition: Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper
One of only two 4-chair turns in his season, Javier sang with such great tone and control, sounding almost flawless. Mind you, this was back when there wasn’t as much processing on the contestants’ vocals as there is in recent seasons. His vocal runs were all very well executed and he demonstrated some range too. A solid audition, through and through.

Battle: Stand By Me (w/ Angela Wolff) by Ben E. King
As far as battles go, this was just average. Javier definitely deserved the win, as partner Angela was pretty inconsistent vocally, but I thought he could’ve cut down on the runs this time. Not a bad showing, but not a highlight.

Top 16: Angel by Sarah McLachlan
This was a beautiful performance. He connected with the song and every choice he made felt natural and authentic to him. His range was on display more than ever, and I did not expect his high notes to have that much power behind them. Job well done for his first live show!

Semifinals: Fix You by Coldplay
Technically, there was nothing wrong with this performance, but to be honest, I wasn’t really feeling it. The rendition lacked emotion for me and his tendency of cutting off his phrases early didn’t work well for this song in particular imo. I see how this could’ve been a moment but I just didn’t love it.

Finals: Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson
I’ll say it, singing next to a guy like Javier with such a powerful upper range really exposed Adam’s vocal weakness . He may have been holding back, but Javier clearly outsung him on this one. Nonetheless, it was a fun duet and a fitting song choice considering Javier does have a little Michael in his voice.

Finals: Stitch By Stitch by Javier Colon
As far as The Voice original songs go, this is actually one of the better ones I’ve heard. It’s pretty standard 2000’s pop-RnB, but its well- written, and obviously, very well-sung. Javier meant every word of this song as he performed it, and I’m surprised it was chosen to open the finale as it could have very well been a closing performance.

 

Overall:

Though the season was short, you can tell from the few performances he had that Javier is a fantastic vocalist, and a very deserving winner for The Voice’s inaugural season. What I liked most about him is his tone, which is very easy on the ears and maintains its sound even as he goes higher and higher. Enjoyed watching his run, even if he never totally blew me away.

Top 3 Performances
1. Angel
2. Stitch By Stitch
3. Time After Time

 

 

Winner's Ranking (so far):

1. Javier Colon

2. ???

 

[FloorWax]

 

 

 

Season 2: Jermaine Paul

Coach: Blake Shelton

 

 

Audition: Complicated by Avril Lavigne
Unlike Javier’s, this didn’t exactly have “winner” written all over it. Never mind only two chairs turning, it was kind of a mess and the angsty pop-rock song was a big mismatch for his soulful vocals. Once he got to the chorus, it kind of sounded like he was shouting the lyrics more than he was singing them, but evidently, Ceelo and Blake saw potential in him.

Battle: Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car (w/ ALyX) by Billy Ocean
First of all, this was so wonderfully cheesy and dated, and the potato quality YT video I watched it on didn’t help matters. This battle was pretty even, vocally, and both contestants brought energy to their performance. Though, Jermaine still isn’t standing out like I expected he would.

Top 24: Livin’ On A Prayer by Bon Jovi
So apparently, this was the first live performance on that season, so I can forgive him being drowned out by the band at times. He managed to hit some impressive notes here and there, but his upper range is very hit-or-miss. Also, it’s hard not to sound karaoke doing this song, and this was no exception.

Top 16: Against All Odds by Phil Collins
Despite the song choice being very early 2000s American Idol, this was his best showing in the competition thus far. His vocals were consistent all throughout and the growls he does were actually well-placed this go around. I don’t know the context of the season, but I can imagine this showing turning the tides for him.

Semifinals: Open Arms by Journey
This was another old-fashioned ballad, but now I’m honestly convinced that’s where he shines most. I ended up liking this even more that Against All Odds, and I could definitely see why after this performance, the voters considered him worthy of a spot in the finals.

Finals: Soul Man by Sam and Dave
Contrary to Javier and Adam, I actually thought this was a very evenly-matched duet. Blake and Jermaine actually complemented each other very well on this song. Not much else to say.

Finals: God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton
Besides the little handshake he did with Blake in the middle of the song, this performance was leaving me kind of cold, honestly. It was a good vocal, but I don't think it would've swayed anyone who wasn't already on his side to vote for him.

Finals: I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly
However, this performance most definitely would have. Even though I myself found it to be outrageously corny, you can't deny that this performance looked and sounded like a moment. Again like Javier's original song, it's a little odd that this performance was chosen to be the opener rather than the closer.

 

Overall:

While Jermaine did sing a variety of songs on the show, I didn't really think of him as a versatile singer. He shone the brightest on RnB ballads that allowed him to showcase his rich tone and soulful growls. He had some strong performances here and there, but overall, I just don't think he stands out too much as a contestant. I would've much rather seen the crown go to fellow finalist Juliet Simms who had a distinct voice and also killed it during her performance of "Free Bird".

Top 3 Performances:
1. Open Arms
2. Against All Odds
3. Soul Man

 

 

Winners' Ranking (so far):
1. Javier Colon

2. Jermaine Paul

3. ???

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by FloorWax

[Hamza Tufail]

Yeah, Javier's Tone is so pleasant!

 

 

[Hamza Tufail]

Jermaine's I Believe I Can Fly was actually pretty good, Ngl.

[FloorWax]

6 minutes ago, Hamza Tufail said:

Jermaine's I Believe I Can Fly was actually pretty good, Ngl.

 

I agree that it was a good vocal performance but I can’t take that song choice seriously  

[StarWalker1]

20 minutes ago, FloorWax said:

 

I agree that it was a good vocal performance but I can’t take that song choice seriously  

In addition to the artist being a BIG no no ...

[Cookie73]

Javier’s season was very short, so I can understand how he won just by watching his audition. I really liked seeing him flip an 80s classic, and this was the first true moment for the show. I’m not too familiar with his other performances, considering I didn’t know about the show when they aired. 
 

Jermaine’s audition was a mess, and my least favorite audition from a winner, as the song clearly didn’t fit him. His playoff was also rough, though it is a difficult song to sing. The rest of his run wasn’t too bad, but his song choices were very generic. He’s a good vocalist, though I would have probably preferred a different winner. I can’t judge him well because I didn’t watch that season either

[nytsch]

When I was rewatching season 1 the auditions were honestly hard to get through at times, they’ve come a long way since then lol. I do remember Javier’s audition because it was actually pretty good and I thought it could stand up against the auditions of later seasons.

 

I agree Open Arms was kind of a memorable performance even if it wasn’t particularly my thing.

[Hsamid]

2 hours ago, nytsch said:

When I was rewatching season 1 the auditions were honestly hard to get through at times, they’ve come a long way since then lol. I do remember Javier’s audition because it was actually pretty good and I thought it could stand up against the auditions of later seasons.

 

I agree Open Arms was kind of a memorable performance even if it wasn’t particularly my thing.

I'll be honest I kinda feel this way about seasons 1 through 4, and that goes for all the pretaped rounds. It might have to do with earlier seasons actually being closer to live performances.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Hsamid

[QueenCami]

omg LOVE this idea! so excited to read this and disagree with you about almost everything but my impression is that this will be a high quality analysis so genuinely very much looking forward to this

[FloorWax]

I did Javier and Jermaine twice in a row because the former's season was so short, but from here on out I'll probably do one winner at a time because holy s*** contestants were given so much more performances back in the day starting with S3. Cassadee performed almost as much as the previous two winners combined.

[Hsamid]

This will be exciting to read.

 

You pretty much summed up my thoughts on each of their performances, so don't disagree with you there.

 

Personally, I was pretty blown away by Javier's rendition of angel when I first heard it and it's still one of my favourite live performances on the show. Idk, maybe it's part nostalgia for me since it's one of the first the voice performances I listened to.

 

 

 

[Dai]

- I don’t have any nitpicks about Javier’s run on the show but at the same I don’t feel very strongly about any of his performances. Dia would have been my winner, even if he was the superior vocalist.

 

- Didn’t remember anything about Jermaine’s journey on The Voice so I had to rewatch his performances, and… wow, I really, REALLY don’t like his voice. He’s definitelt talented but I couldn’t get into anything he did. Again, I would pick the runner-up over the winner (this time without hesitation - Juliet is one of my favorite Voice contestants ever)

[nytsch]

26 minutes ago, Daillon said:

- Didn’t remember anything about Jermaine’s journey on The Voice so I had to rewatch his performances, and… wow, I really, REALLY don’t like his voice. He’s definitelt talented but I couldn’t get into anything he did. Again, I would pick the runner-up over the winner (this time without hesitation - Juliet is one of my favorite Voice contestants ever)

 

I would also pick the 3rd or 4th place over the winner 

 

Tbf (and because I feel kinda bad hating on Jermaine so much lol), I don't think he is my least favorite winner anymore, that goes to Bryce now. We'll see how this ranking goes though 

[FloorWax]

Question: should I make a review of Amanda Brown’s run instead 

[Cookie73]

1 hour ago, FloorWax said:

Question: should I make a review of Amanda Brown’s run instead 

I mean, you didn’t do that for Juliet and I think Cassadee is a much better winner than Jermaine

[FloorWax]

13 minutes ago, Cookie73 said:

I mean, you didn’t do that for Juliet and I think Cassadee is a much better winner than Jermaine

 

Yeah, I’m just kidding, I actually have Cassadee’s post ready now. I’ll probably post it in a while.

 

It’s just that I watched Amanda’s entire run too right after finishing Cassadee and dang that woman was incredible.

[AliXRose]

12 hours ago, FloorWax said:

Despite the song choice being very early 2000s American Idol

I don't know why but this is so shady lmao

[FloorWax]

2 minutes ago, AliXRose said:

I don't know why but this is so shady lmao

 

To American Idol or to Jermaine 

[AliXRose]

Just now, FloorWax said:

 

To American Idol or to Jermaine 

Yes.

[Cookie73]

45 minutes ago, FloorWax said:

 

Yeah, I’m just kidding, I actually have Cassadee’s post ready now. I’ll probably post it in a while.

 

It’s just that I watched Amanda’s entire run too right after finishing Cassadee and dang that woman was incredible.

Either way, Amanda and Cassadee would have been a great Top 2

[FloorWax]

3 minutes ago, Cookie73 said:

Either way, Amanda and Cassadee would have been a great Top 2

 

Since I know literally nothing about them, how were Nicholas David and Terry McDermott as contestants?