What do you value most (performance related) in a contestant?

[Hsamid]

So the main ones traits that come to mind when it comes to contestant are technical ability, Uniqueness and Tone. But this can be a general discussion unrelated to the poll on what you value the most. We can talk about things outside of vocals like personality and stage presence too.

 

Lets define the 3 poll options though..

 

Technical Ability: anything technical. 

From range, agility, pitch, etc would fall under this category.

 

Tone: this one is probably the most self explanatory, but just how much you enjoyn listening to their tone

 

 

Uniqueness: the most abstract of the 3.. but anything that makes a contestant standout from everyone else. That could be a number of things. I'll list the ones that come to mind.

 

- how different their tone is to everyone else (examples that come to mind: John Holiday, Sawyer Frederick's, Domenic Haynes)

 

- how fresh their genre or song choices are ( recent examples: Bodie, Devix)

 

-  a very distinct style to them. Like certain vocal stylistic choices they make which can be easily associated with them, or the distinct way they rearrange/flip songs. (Examples that come to mind: Christiana Danielle, Libianca.

 

I was thinking the distinct style and genre/song choice could also fall under a seperate category  "artistry" but I feel like there's too much overlap. Like, if a contestant has an artistry to speak of, by default they sort of make themselves standout from other contestants. Which is why I chose not to make it a seperate category.

 

Anyways, discuss away.

 

 

[ikwonic]

Uniqueness. We've had a lot of seasons and most people blend together.

[Hsamid]

Not sure if this will be unpopular. But for me, technical ability is most important.

 

 

Ofc, if we were talking about making music. I'd probably prioritize technical ability last, since most music happens in the studio where you can correct all sorts of vocal issues.

 

But since half of the voice journey involves a live setting. How inherently pleasing your tone is doesn't matter if you struggle to stay on pitch, hit flat or sharp notes consistently, etc. If anything, all of those issues would cancel out a pleasing tone. Honestly, a lot of contestants over the years fit this description to a tea.

 

Same goes for uniqueness. You can have all these creative artistic choices in regards to arrangement and singing. But if you can't actually execute it.. then it just falls flat. Best example I can think of in recent memory Katherine Ann Mohler's KO.

Edited July 27 by Hsamid

[Gustavo527]

I think there is one aspect missing and is emotional connection. You could say that is subjective but at least for me, if a singer doesn't make me feel something when they sing, then their performance just feels "empty" like yeah, my ears are impressed but that's it, it left me cold. 

 

I voted for tone>technical ability>uniqueness. I need to like the tone of a singer to enjoy them, that's very important for me, more than technical aspects. Of course, technical ability is important but is something that i honestly can overlook sometimes (unless a performance is really bad). And then uniqueness, that's honestly not neccesary for me, and i don't like that people use it as an excuse to put down singers that are "not unique enough" (this happens a lot with female singers, btw, for some reason)

 

It probably would go tone>emotional connection>technical ability>>>>>>>>>>uniqueness. Uniqueness is overrated.

[Hsamid]

 

15 minutes ago, Gustavo527 said:

I think there is one aspect missing and is emotional connection. You could say that is subjective but at least for me, if a singer doesn't make me feel something when they sing, then their performance just feels "empty" like yeah, my ears are impressed but that's it, it left me cold. 

 

I voted for tone>technical ability>uniqueness. I need to like the tone of a singer to enjoy them, that's very important for me, more than technical aspects. Of course, technical ability is important but is something that i honestly can overlook sometimes (unless a performance is really bad). And then uniqueness, that's honestly not neccesary for me, and i don't like that people use it as an excuse to put down singers that are "not unique enough" (this happens a lot with female singers, btw, for some reason)

 

It probably would go tone>emotional connection>technical ability>>>>>>>>>>uniqueness. Uniqueness is overrated.

Damn, you're right about emotional connection. I would add the option but people have already voted..

 

i am curious though. This question is directed at everyone in general. But we always talk about emotion relating to ballads. But songs convey a whole range of emotions, so I guess I'm just wondering do the emotions that don't really come with ballads matter as much to you guys, if that makes sense?

 

 

Edited July 27 by Hsamid

[rp3598]

Tone is most important for me but really bad technique can ruin it so that’s also very important.

[FloorWax]

Tone > Uniqueness > Technical Ability

 

- If I don't like a contestant's tone, there's just no way that I'm going to support them in the long run.

- In my opinion uniqueness doesn't have to mean that they're this new never-before-seen type of contestant, but it helps that they at least have something that sets them apart. Off the top of my head, Rowan Grace is a recent example of a contestant who is just too non-descript for my liking. Another one is Manasseh Samone, who just felt so bland in comparison to other powerhouses in my opinion.

- I put technical ability last because I've had favorites that get decimated by their fellow contestants when it comes to pure vocal power but I like them best anyway. Will Breman and Payge Turner come to mind.

[Hamza Tufail]

Out of these three, Tone. Technical ability is #2.

 

I don't give a damn about uniqueness lol. 

[nytsch]

First option

 

I feel like often I find myself saying I just didn’t like a performance and I can try to explain it but I think it comes down to tone which is why I found that most important.

 

Uniqueness is kinda hard to sort because like you said it’s nondescript but  I’m generally not as attracted to “plain” voices? Like all else being equal my preference is the one with more character/raspiness etc so that’s how I thought of it. There are exceptions obviously but then I feel like a lot of that comes down to things like song choice which you can also put in that category.

[Hsamid]

14 minutes ago, Hamza Tufail said:

Out of these three, Tone. Technical ability is #2.

 

I don't give a damn about uniqueness lol. 

Just find this amusing  considering you stan some of the most unique and tonally polarizing contestants to come on the show (John H, Sawyer, Sorelle).

 

Ofc, you probably just enjoy their tone and don't care how "distinct" they are. Still though, lol.

 

[TeamAudra]

Tone, pitch control and enunciation (my biggest pet peeve.. if I can’t understand the lyrics, they are out). I don’t care as much about certain aspects of technical ability if the meet those criteria. Tone is obviously subjective, the other two are not. 

Edited July 27 by TeamAudra

[QueenCami]

tone tech uniqueness for me

 

there are a lot of technically strong singers who i didn’t latch onto as much. a lot of my favorites were favorites bc of their tone: allegra cami gihanna julia kat. i don’t really care if the person i like is unique as long as they sound good to me 

[QueenCami]

3 hours ago, Hsamid said:

 

Damn, you're right about emotional connection. I would add the option but people have already voted..

 

i am curious though. This question is directed at everyone in general. But we always talk about emotion relating to ballads. But songs convey a whole range of emotions, so I guess I'm just wondering do the emotions that don't really come with ballads matter as much to you guys, if that makes sense?

 

 

oh yeah def good to have someone who can capture the essence of an upbeat song. loved sidaundra on do what u want; ryleigh in come on over; omar on separate ways; and there r prob plenty more. they all rly capture the excitement of the song through their vocals or facial expressions or stage presence.

 

also if we r accounting for emotion that’s probably just below tone for me? brennley and addison r two of my all time favorites bc of how well they emote. but also sawyer does well with emoting but i didn’t latch onto him as a favorite. 

 

also slay at hanna eyre’s knockout; i know someone commented that they thought it was overrated i think Daillon bc they thought the song highlighted her vocal limitations, and although i disagree and think it was vocally strong i think another point can be made in that she captured the emotion well

[nytsch]

11 minutes ago, QueenCami said:

oh yeah def good to have someone who can capture the essence of an upbeat song. loved sidaundra on do what u want; ryleigh in come on over; omar on separate ways; and there r prob plenty more. they all rly capture the excitement of the song through their vocals or facial expressions or stage presence.

 

also if we r accounting for emotion that’s probably just below tone for me? brennley and addison r two of my all time favorites bc of how well they emote. but also sawyer does well with emoting but i didn’t latch onto him as a favorite. 

 

also slay at hanna eyre’s knockout; i know someone commented that they thought it was overrated i think Daillon bc they thought the song highlighted her vocal limitations, and although i disagree and think it was vocally strong i think another point can be made in that she captured the emotion well

I have to rewatch Hanna but I remember being biased bc I thought Autumn was robbed lol

 

It does seem like a better song for emoting than Autumn’s though.

[AliXRose]

Technical Ability > Tone > Uniqueness

 

Vocals are obviously the most important. I just cannot get behind someone as limited as Tanner Gomes (well it doesn't help that his tone is horrendous too and there's no uniqueness nor charisma about him, but nvm).

 

However, not everyone is Wendy Moten so at least they need to have a pleasant tone to listen to. That's how I end up rooting for indie pop contestants as much as soulful powerhouses.

 

Uniqueness is cool but not enough, they need to be solid or it falls completely flat.

[Hsamid]

5 hours ago, TeamAudra said:

Tone, pitch control and enunciation (my biggest pet peeve.. if I can’t understand the lyrics, they are out). I don’t care as much about certain aspects of technical ability if the meet those criteria. Tone is obviously subjective, the other two are not. 

When talking about the technical aspects of singing, for me this is the most important as well.

 

It's surprisingly hard for contestants to stay on pitch throughout a performance. Every live round, often times half the contestants can't (and with playoffs more like the majority, understandably so) and we usually only get a few contestants per season that can stay pitch perfect throughout the competition, sometimes not even..

 

If your pitch control is on point, at the very least you will give out a decent performance even if you don't have much else to offer. I don't care as much about the fancy runs and wide range if your off key a quarter of the time you try to pull it off. But if you can do those things at perfect pitch then that's just icing on the cake.

Edited July 27 by Hsamid

[TeamAudra]

3 hours ago, Hsamid said:

When talking about the technical aspects of singing, for me this is the most important as well.

 

It's surprisingly hard for contestants to stay on pitch throughout a performance. Every live round, often times half the contestants can't (and with playoffs more like the majority, understandably so) and we usually only get a few contestants per season that can stay pitch perfect throughout the competition, sometimes not even..

 

If your pitch control is on point, at the very least you will give out a decent performance even if you don't have much else to offer. I don't care as much about the fancy runs and wide range if your off key a quarter of the time you try to pull it off. But if you can do those things at perfect pitch then that's just icing on the cake.

Yeah…a good tone, with good pitch control, without garbled lyrics is all I ask. I don’t need vocal gymnastics or testing the limits of their range on live TV. I’m not hard to please. If someone can hit the big notes without trouble, and it sounds good, that’s fine too, but that doesn’t automatically mean I’m going to like it more than a more nuanced performance. I also understand that a lot of things are out of the control of the contestants, and they often get pushed to do certain things (or songs) they wouldn’t otherwise do. I can overlook some things, depending on the circumstances. 

[Hamza Tufail]

11 hours ago, Hsamid said:

Just find this amusing  considering you stan some of the most unique and tonally polarizing contestants to come on the show (John H, Sawyer, Sorelle).

 

Ofc, you probably just enjoy their tone and don't care how "distinct" they are. Still though, lol.

 

That's accurate lol. The reason I like them is tone and emotional connection.