Someone648 Ranks the Season 23 Blind Auditions (#1: The Finale)

[Someone648]

PART 3: This is where I get more positive, I promise.

 

30. Talia Smith (Team Niall)

I actually really enjoyed the beginning part with just the piano. Solid enough delivery. When the beat picked up, it just got really shaky. She picked (or got stuck with) a deceptively tricky song and she did much better than most other contestants on the show, but the dip in quality of the latter half is pretty noticeable. Thankfully it was still worthy of that chair turn. I must commend her for bringing the proper energy to the performance. This didn't end up in the upper half of my rankings, but it sure was a pretty fun one to watch.

 

Clue: Sir, yes sir! But not really.

This refers to her military background, and of course she doesn't answer to "sir."

 

 

29. D. Smooth (Team Kelly)

 

This one's quite simple, really. Only one individual has ever sounded remotely interesting/impressive with this song and he was wearing a giant fuzzy green costume in front of Ken Jeong (#JusticeforThingamabob). D. Smooth delivered a clean enough, although not "perfect," vocal. I'll say this one avoided the 30's ranking because there wasn't a significant dip in quality and it stayed consistent throughout. Additionally, D. Smooth definitely had confidence and good stage presence throughout, so I don't want this to seem like a D. Smooth (or Ed Sheeran) hate train. I actually have faith in him delivering in future rounds. Just this one isn't gonna be a replay. Dude was definitely holding back.

 

Clue: Even if it was, I'd probably still rank it down here at best.

Not a "Perfect" performance, but no one can perform this song well enough for it to be super high in my rankings.

 

28. Ross Clayton (Team Niall)

 

Here we have a pretty solid version of Blue Ain't Your Color. Nice, strong opening. Wasn't too fascinated by the chorus, but I do appreciate the bigger notes he went for at the end. The whole thing was fine, just fine. Not a single part of it was bad. He can do better, but the song's already been done better a few times. Worthy of 4 chairs? Not really, I don't think so. Is he capable of a 4-chair performance? Oh absolutely, no doubt.

 

Clue: ...but what about gray?

This refers to the song title, of course, and that Niall's team shirt/sweater/whateveritwasIdon'tremember was gray.

 

27. Ray Uriel (Team Chance)

 

Props to him for tackling this song. I'm still mentally writing out all of the other explanations for my remaining picks, but I'm pretty sure this is the shakiest performer that I ranked higher than expected. Those high parts are tough for any performer and boy was he shaky. He didn't quite nail every run there, but he finished without completing botching the performance and at least for me, I was still able to enjoy him throughout all the shakiness. I think if he'd opened up more at the end like Kelly said, that would've been the thing to send him a bit higher here and in other rankings as well.

 

Clue: One source owes me an explanation.

 

In case you're not on the spoiler page ever, we had an early source mention that Niall's first contestant was a 1-chair black male that sang "Glimpse of Us" and that guided us throughout the spoiler hunting/verification process. Turns out they confused Michael B. with Ray Uriel, because they're so similar. And we couldn't confirm the mistake until we got Ray's blind song choice when it aired. Practically twins, right?  So yeah, that source was responsible for the chaos.

 

26. Alex Whalen (Team Blake)

 

First off, this guy looks exactly like he sounds. Second, this guy really delivered, didn't he? Just a strong and confident country(ish)/rock(ish) performance throughout. This guy's a pro and you can really tell. I guess the only reason he's down at 26 is, much like some of the others, he kind of gets lost in the shuffle of all the great contestants this season. I have faith in him giving even stronger performances and staying off the radar, just to come in and snag a deserved spot in lives. Just watch, this guy's gonna sneak his way through battles so subtly, you won't even see the battle coming.

 

Clue: Much like Adele and George Michael...

Alex comes from London, just like Adele and George Michael

 

 

PART 4 HINTS:

25. ...and that's what you missed on GLEE!

24. ... well THAT would've been embarrassing.

23. 7 years or 10 years? 7, I guess.

22. Twice last season and once again this season... yet all of you... nevermind. You know your mothers gave you that out of love, right?

21. Caps on caps on caps

Edited March 30, 2023 by Someone648

[jarmon]

No complaints with this set! 

[Someone648]

3 minutes ago, jarmon said:

No complaints with this set! 

[allistr]

34 minutes ago, Someone648 said:

 

21. Caps on caps on caps

Could be Sorelle  Chance needs 3 caps for them

Edited March 30, 2023 by allistr

[QueenCami]

1 hour ago, Someone648 said:

PART 3: This is where I get more positive, I promise.

 

30. Talia Smith (Team Niall)

I actually really enjoyed the beginning part with just the piano. Solid enough delivery. When the beat picked up, it just got really shaky. She picked (or got stuck with) a deceptively tricky song and she did much better than most other contestants on the show, but the dip in quality of the latter half is pretty noticeable. Thankfully it was still worthy of that chair turn. I must commend her for bringing the proper energy to the performance. This didn't end up in the upper half of my rankings, but it sure was a pretty fun one to watch.

 

Clue: Sir, yes sir! But not really.

This refers to her military background, and of course she doesn't answer to "sir."

 

 

29. D. Smooth (Team Kelly)

 

This one's quite simple, really. Only one individual has ever sounded remotely interesting/impressive with this song and he was wearing a giant fuzzy green costume in front of Ken Jeong (#JusticeforThingamabob). D. Smooth delivered a clean enough, although not "perfect," vocal. I'll say this one avoided the 30's ranking because there wasn't a significant dip in quality and it stayed consistent throughout. Additionally, D. Smooth definitely had confidence and good stage presence throughout, so I don't want this to seem like a D. Smooth (or Ed Sheeran) hate train. I actually have faith in him delivering in future rounds. Just this one isn't gonna be a replay. Dude was definitely holding back.

 

Clue: Even if it was, I'd probably still rank it down here at best.

Not a "Perfect" performance, but no one can perform this song well enough for it to be super high in my rankings.

 

28. Ross Clayton (Team Niall)

 

Here we have a pretty solid version of Blue Ain't Your Color. Nice, strong opening. Wasn't too fascinated by the chorus, but I do appreciate the bigger notes he went for at the end. The whole thing was fine, just fine. Not a single part of it was bad. He can do better, but the song's already been done better a few times. Worthy of 4 chairs? Not really, I don't think so. Is he capable of a 4-chair performance? Oh absolutely, no doubt.

 

Clue: ...but what about gray?

This refers to the song title, of course, and that Niall's team shirt/sweater/whateveritwasIdon'tremember was gray.

 

27. Ray Uriel (Team Chance)

 

Props to him for tackling this song. I'm still mentally writing out all of the other explanations for my remaining picks, but I'm pretty sure this is the shakiest performer that I ranked higher than expected. Those high parts are tough for any performer and boy was he shaky. He didn't quite nail every run there, but he finished without completing botching the performance and at least for me, I was still able to enjoy him throughout all the shakiness. I think if he'd opened up more at the end like Kelly said, that would've been the thing to send him a bit higher here and in other rankings as well.

 

Clue: One source owes me an explanation.

 

In case you're not on the spoiler page ever, we had an early source mention that Niall's first contestant was a 1-chair black male that sang "Glimpse of Us" and that guided us throughout the spoiler hunting/verification process. Turns out they confused Michael B. with Ray Uriel, because they're so similar. And we couldn't confirm the mistake until we got Ray's blind song choice when it aired. Practically twins, right?  So yeah, that source was responsible for the chaos.

 

26. Alex Whalen (Team Blake)

 

First off, this guy looks exactly like he sounds. Second, this guy really delivered, didn't he? Just a strong and confident country(ish)/rock(ish) performance throughout. This guy's a pro and you can really tell. I guess the only reason he's down at 26 is, much like some of the others, he kind of gets lost in the shuffle of all the great contestants this season. I have faith in him giving even stronger performances and staying off the radar, just to come in and snag a deserved spot in lives. Just watch, this guy's gonna sneak his way through battles so subtly, you won't even see the battle coming.

 

Clue: Much like Adele and George Michael...

Alex comes from London, just like Adele and George Michael

 

 

PART 4 HINTS:

25. ...and that's what you missed on GLEE!

24. ... well THAT would've been embarrassing.

23. 7 years or 10 years? 7, I guess.

22. Twice last season and once again this season... yet all of you... nevermind. You know your mothers gave you that out of love, right?

21. Caps on caps on caps

25. Kate Cosentino? The song was covered, and this could be a reference to the fact that she avoided doing a typical "karaoke" cover and actually messed w/ the arrangement.

24. Kason Lester: it would've been embarrassing if he turned no chairs singing "It's Not Over" cause... well, it would have been over. Alternate guess is Jamar w/ "Try Me," but that's more of a stretch and I think he'll rank higher. I think Someone648 also was bothered by an arguably subpar cover of a Daughtry song as well, so yeah.

23. Mary Kate: Big stretch but Mary Kate came to The Voice for the first time ~3 years ago, so wondering if this clue is hinting at how long she had been singing before she auditioned for The Voice

22. nvm

21. Agreed with @allistr about Sorelle! Very good catch, not sure if it's right, but it makes a lot of sense and I don't know if I would've figured that out on my own. When I read the clue, I was reading caps as "CAPS" rather than hats lol.

 

Anyway, @Someone648 -- great job on these clues. They're super interesting and definitely worthy of a Saturday crossword lol. I appreciate that they're not cut and dry so there's room for speculation.

Edited March 30, 2023 by QueenCami

[Someone648]

41 minutes ago, QueenCami said:

24. Kason Lester: it would've been embarrassing if he turned no chairs singing "It's Not Over" cause... well, it would have been over. Alternate guess is Jamar w/ "Try Me," but that's more of a stretch and I think he'll rank higher. I think Someone648 also was bothered by an arguably subpar cover of a Daughtry song as well, so yeah.

23. Mary Kate: Big stretch but Mary Kate came to The Voice for the first time ~3 years ago, so wondering if this clue is hinting at how long she had been singing before she auditioned for The Voice

 

 

Anyway, @Someone648 -- great job on these clues. They're super interesting and definitely worthy of a Saturday crossword lol. I appreciate that they're not cut and dry so there's room for speculation.

Kason and Mary Kate were 36 and 38, respectively.

 

Appreciate the feedback!

[QueenCami]

21 minutes ago, Someone648 said:

Kason and Mary Kate were 36 and 38, respectively.

 

Appreciate the feedback!

taking Ls  the other guess I had was Sheer Element but Jej auditioned 4 years ago so I have no idea.

[allistr]

1 hour ago, QueenCami said:

24. ... well THAT would've been embarrassing.

For this one I'm guessing Rachel Christine? You might feel embarrassed if you're uninvited idk

[QueenCami]

3 minutes ago, allistr said:

For this one I'm guessing Rachel Christine? You might feel embarrassed if you're uninvited idk

ooh perhaps? but frankly would be mainly embarrassing for Someone648 for ranking her so low   /joking

[allistr]

Just now, QueenCami said:

ooh perhaps? but frankly would be mainly embarrassing for Someone648 for ranking her so low   /joking

I just checked his comment on ep 5 poll and he actually gave her a great score, so it's good to opt her out.

Edited March 30, 2023 by allistr

[FloorWax]

Heyyy I technically got everyone right as I put Talia as an alternative option.

[Someone648]

On 3/29/2023 at 1:13 AM, jarmon said:

 

PART 3 HINTS:

30. Sir, yes sir! But not really. - Talia Smith

29. Even if it was, I'd probably still rank it down here at best. - D.Smooth

28. ...but what about gray? - Ross Clayton

27. One source owes me an explanation. - Ray Uriel

26. Much like Adele and George Michael... - Alex Whalen

Gotta shout out this one for being 100% btw

 

[jarmon]

27 minutes ago, Someone648 said:

Gotta shout out this one for being 100% btw

 

I'm just that good 

[Misirlou]

30-26

- I'd have Alex much higher and Ray lower. Ross would be a bit higher too. Agreed on Talia.

[Cookie73]

My thoughts

 

Talia Smith- You and Jarmon both had Talia in similar placements to me, I guess Jarmon’s placement is a safer bet for me. It didn’t really stick out much.

D. Smooth- Not much of a difference between your placements, or mine. Not the best song choice

Ross Clayton- I agree with Jarmon’s placement more. I agree that he wasn’t worthy of four chairs, but it was around the middle for me. 

Ray Uriel- I think I agree with Jarmon’s placement more, since his audition was quite weak to me

Alex Whalen- Both of yours were similar again, but I agree more with Jarmon’s placement, since I would have it in my top half and Jarmon’s ranking was the higher one

I think I agree with Jarmon more in terms of this group of contestants.
 

All I’m hoping for at this point is for Sheer Element to not be in the next set

[FloorWax]

I'm not gonna look too deep into your placements and just say how much I agree with what you said.

 

- Yup there was a very noticeable dip in quality after the beat kicked in, she has a sweet tone but I think she may be lacking in power personally

- Agree that he gave a very consistent performance with good stage presence. I don't like the song choice either but I got past it more than most users here I feel.

- You seem very unenthused by this performance and I wholeheartedly agree 

- Finally someone doesn't put this in the bottom lol. I can't deny that it was a shaky performance but I still enjoyed it and think he has a spectacular tone.

- I thought he was a standout in a relatively weak premiere but yeah he kinda got lost in the shuffle as the season went on.

[Someone648]

12 hours ago, FloorWax said:

I'm not gonna look too deep into your placements and just say how much I agree with what you said.

 

- Yup there was a very noticeable dip in quality after the beat kicked in, she has a sweet tone but I think she may be lacking in power personally

- Agree that he gave a very consistent performance with good stage presence. I don't like the song choice either but I got past it more than most users here I feel.

- You seem very unenthused by this performance and I wholeheartedly agree 

- Finally someone doesn't put this in the bottom lol. I can't deny that it was a shaky performance but I still enjoyed it and think he has a spectacular tone.

- I thought he was a standout in a relatively weak premiere but yeah he kinda got lost in the shuffle as the season went on.

I totally get why he's near the bottom of other people's lists, but there's just something unique about that voice that I'm rooting for lol..

[Someone648]

12 hours ago, Cookie73 said:

My thoughts

 

Talia Smith- You and Jarmon both had Talia in similar placements to me, I guess Jarmon’s placement is a safer bet for me. It didn’t really stick out much.

D. Smooth- Not much of a difference between your placements, or mine. Not the best song choice

Ross Clayton- I agree with Jarmon’s placement more. I agree that he wasn’t worthy of four chairs, but it was around the middle for me. 

Ray Uriel- I think I agree with Jarmon’s placement more, since his audition was quite weak to me

Alex Whalen- Both of yours were similar again, but I agree more with Jarmon’s placement, since I would have it in my top half and Jarmon’s ranking was the higher one

I think I agree with Jarmon more in terms of this group of contestants.
 

All I’m hoping for at this point is for Sheer Element to not be in the next set

Do you think there's a clue that matches them?

[Someone648]

Part 4: Getting Up There

25. Sorelle (Team Chance)

 

So I had to give this one more listens to properly evaluate it because I wasn't very warm to it at first. These girls might be the most polarizing act this season, right? For me, I do enjoy them and their harmonies. Hard to beat harmonies like that. My only issue really lies with them sounding way too theatrical (on this song) for my taste. This really felt like a cut performance from a Queen tribute episode of Glee. Would've liked to hear a strong solo part here as well, which we didn't get. I don't think this performance was bad at all, but I just have several questions and wasn't sure how to feel about them at first.

 

Clue: ...and that's what you missed on GLEE!

Honestly this was just because I've mentioned I felt this sounded like a Glee cover, but as I typed this out I had the audition playing and they just said they were from Ohio so I mean... yeah. That's 2 strikes on Glee, I guess.

 

 

24. Sheer Element (Team Kelly)

I didn't intend on having the two trios back to back but here we are. Overall, they're clearly the stronger, more experienced trio, and Jej being there is a huge plus. Individually and as a whole, they sounded great! Now I do love this song, but the overplay from the last few years has made it kind of descend into annoying-ness. The song, not the group - the group's great. But with that, I don't find myself coming back to this audition often at all, but I commend them for being as talented as they are.

 

Clue: ...well THAT would've been embarrassing.

...if Kelly hadn't turned for Jej. She had us waiting til the last second!

 

 

23. Jamar Langley (Team Chance)

 

 

First of all, I admire the experience he clearly has. Clearly one of the more seasoned vocalists of the season. I also admire the bold song pick. It wasn't super big or showy, but he delivered everything in just the right amount, and it's personally a song I wasn't familiar with either. Although I may be contradicting myself here, would've liked to hear just a bit more. Like he has a 4-chair worthy voice but gave us a 3-chair worthy performance, but could've tapped into that 4-chair performance, am I making sense? Anyways, good on Jamar. He's impressive.

 

Clue: 7 years or 10 years? 7, I guess.

Refers to Jamar's age (36) and the age gap he has between the two coaches that turned for him (Chance is 29, so 7 years, and Blake is 46, so 10 years). And he ended up picking Chance, the 7 year gap.

 

 

22. EJ Michels (Team Blake)

 

Great falsetto, great pick for what his voice is capable of. I guess in retrospect, I can justify ranking this a bit higher, but for me, there's some unique edge to his voice that intrigues me, and it's not what he chose to show off. This guy comes from a band, right? That band is more my speed. Wonder if he'll deliver something more alternative later on. Guys that perform music like this tend to fall off my radar pretty quickly, but he's at least made a positive impression so far. Let's see what else you can do now, EJ.

 

Clue: Twice last season and once again this season... yet all of you... nevermind. You know your mothers gave you that out of love, right?

EJ's first name is Eric. Last season, we had two Erics that didn't go by their full name (Devix and Eric Who - unless who is his actual last name lol).

 

 

21. ALI (Team Kelly)

 

And y'all thought this was Sorelle  Rounding out the first half, we have ALI. I should probably start by listing some obvious factors... there's some technical errors that we can hardly fault her for throughout the performance. Even with some of the runs being a bit shaky, she performed it with a cool confidence and I love her tone and the musical choices she made throughout the performance. Very few would've performed it better and she's just been a joy to watch so far. Great job from ALI!

 

Clue: Caps on caps on caps

Her name is just three capital letters

 

 

Part 5 Hints:

20. Solid coach/contestant pairing. Don't anticipate this one getting bounced around from team to team.

19. 17 seasons.

18. 176 days

17. The Voice is a much smaller commitment anyways.

16. V?

Edited March 31, 2023 by Someone648

[allistr]

3 minutes ago, Someone648 said:

Clue: Twice last season and once again this season... yet all of you... nevermind. You know your mothers gave you that out of love, right?

EJ's first name is Eric. Last season, we had two Erics that didn't go by their full name (Devix and Eric Who - unless who is his actual last name lol).

Oh I forgot about Eric Torres

[Cookie73]

This is heartbreaking. Sheer Element, one of my Top 5 favorite auditions, is in the bottom half of both rankdowns. I guess I didn’t hate the song enough to consider Jonathan Mouton one of the better S21 auditions (though not in my T10). We’ll see where they fall in my end of season ranking though (unfortunately not Top 5 due to their short run)

 

Sorelle- closer to where I would have them than Jarmon’s list. This performance definitely gave me Glee club vibes as well. Their battle fortunately didn’t though

Jamar- closer on this list for me. It was in the bottom half but relatively close. It wasn’t a standout audition to me, and his battle is also similarly mid (though I thought he elevated the battle)

EJ- Both of you had him in similar spots to me. I do think his battle was better though, and I thought he stuck out more in that performance.

Ali- closer on Jarmon’s ranking. It was one of my Bottom 5 auditions this season.

 

[Someone648]

For reference, this is where it's currently standing

Team Kelly:

Allie Keck

Cait Martin

Holly Brand

JB Somers

Marcos Covos

Rachel Christine

21. ALI

24. Sheer Element

29. D. Smooth

33. Katie Beth Forakis

 

Team Chance:

Manasseh Samone

Mariah Kalia

NariYella

NOIVAS

23. Jamar Langley

25. Sorelle

27. Ray Uriel

31. Magnus

39. Chloe Abbott

40. Alyssa Lazar

 

Team Niall:

Gina Miles

Kala Banham

Kate Cosentino

Ryley Tate Wilson

Tiana Goss

28. Ross Clayton

30. Talia Smith

32. Laura Littleton

34. Jerome Godwin III

37. Michael B.

 

Team Blake:

Carlos Rising

Grace West

Kylee Dayne

Neil Salsich

Walker Wilson

22. EJ Michels

26. Alex Whalen

35. Tasha Jessen

36. Kason Lester

38. Mary Kate Connor

[FloorWax]

20 minutes ago, Someone648 said:

Clue: Twice last season and once again this season... yet all of you... nevermind. You know your mothers gave you that out of love, right?

EJ's first name is Eric. Last season, we had two Erics that didn't go by their full name (Devix and Eric Who - unless who is his actual last name lol).

 

I KNEW THIS WAS ABOUT NAMES but I didn't catch the Eric connections nor did I know that EJ's first name is Eric lol

[FloorWax]

21 minutes ago, Someone648 said:

20. Solid coach/contestant pairing. Don't anticipate this one getting bounced around from team to team.

19. 17 seasons.

18. 176 days

17. The Voice is a much smaller commitment anyways.

16. V?

 

20. Holly Brand? (may be a stretch but maybe its because Kelly already let go of a Holly once, who got stolen by another team)

19. Mariah Kalia? (because she's 17????)

18. ???

17. Carlos Rising? (I don't even know why, I just have a feeling)

16. ???

 

Clearly I am stumped lol

[allistr]

For 16, I'm guessing Kate Cosentino because she's the only one left with the "V" hand sign shown in trivia lol