The Voice - Finale...

So, the winner of 'The Voice, 2014' was Anja Nissen.  Always felt it would be one of the singers from Team Will or Team Ricky. My pick was Jackson though. That said, the there were some great singers on the show this year - I can't wait to hear more from each of them.  Did they ditch the performance of the winners single?

My favourite moments from the show, were, Clown sung by Thando & Candice, I Know Him So Well sung by Megan & Brittanie; Strong sung by Robbie & Jackson.  Anja's version of His Eye Is On The Sparrow, John Lingaird's I Will Follow You into Dark, Jackson's When the War is Over, Gabriel & Cecilia's I Dreamed a Dream & Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Now changing the channel and jumping to the X-Factor :) 

The Voice Lives #3

So the five in the final are,  Jackson, Frank, ZK, Johnny and Anja (who was the Home-Coach save).

Mind you listening to all of the performances last night - wow, there wasn't much between any of them. It's been said many times, each of these artists are taking the next step of their journey, there's only going to be winner this year, but each of the artists, have gained exposure during the show.

Last night, I loved the performances from Jackson, Kat & Holly. My favourite duet was Holly with Frank and Jackson with Sabrina.

Finding it hard to pick a winner - but I'm leaning to Jackson. (Take a bow Kylie, who was the only one to turn around for him).  All of these artists left would be great winners. Beyond that, I'm looking forward to seeing their shows & listening to their albums.

The Voice 2014 - Lives Wk 2&3

Two weeks to go... 

The final eight are: Sabrina, Jackson (Team Ricky);  Anja / ZK (Team Will), Holly / Frank (Team Joel), and Kat / Johnny (Team Kylie).

Really sad to Gabriel and Cecilia & Robbie Balmer go.  Gabriel & Cecilia 's arrangements of I Dreamed a Dream & Smells Like Teen Spirit were stunning.

But, as I've said, at the moment it's all about taste. I'm predicting the final four to be Sabrina, Frank, Kat & Anja.  I suspect the winner is going to be either Jackson or Sabrina (the surprise could be Kat). We'll see though.

I haven't got into the Kids version yet.  Not sure why, but something about it doesn't sit right with me.

The Voice 2014 - Lives (Wk 1)

The first week of the Live Shows started on Monday night, and I enjoyed Coldplay opening the show with 'A Sky Full of Stars' . I've only had one listen to the album in full (while it was streaming on i-tunes), and I love what I've heard.  Chris Martin is a unique artist and performer.  Will hope to see them when they tour Australia, hopefully in the near future.

On to the show.  During the live shows, the coaches save one singer, the public vote determines the singer eliminated.

Team Will: Gabriela & Cecilia saved. They really have something special, and are now my favourite on TeamWill. ZK's performance of 'With or Without You' was the most disappointing , probably because I love the song, and thought that they could have done more with the song.

Team Kylie: Johnny saved. Can't split Kat, John Lingard and Robbie Balmer. Sad to see any of these go.

Team Joel: Frank Loukadis saved. Taila & Holly were both great, and I want to hear more from them too.

Team Ricky: Jackson saved (he's my favourite on Team Ricky, though Sabrina is a close-second).

I am finding Joel and Kylie's team the hardest to pick. Probably because the majority of my favourite singers are now on their teams.  In term of the coaches Kylie is my favourite, primarily because she has been the best at picking songs to make her team shine. In both the battle round (Brittanie & Megan, Jackson & Robbie, Candice & Thando - still for me the performance of the show, and Hayley & Kat) and the first round of the Live shows.

Watching the way the audience votes will be interesting. Can someone do a "warmest final four" based on social media mentions & i-tunes downloads.

The Voice - Last Showdown's and Sing off...

The Showdowns and Sing-offs were always going to disappoint as some of the popular contestants went home. But the thing is the show allows people to hear some great singers, and now, having heard these singers, our part is to keep following and support them. Looking to see when they are playing, share their music on our social media feeds.  The show was another step in their journey & now we are along for the ride.

In the final showdowns the singers who went straight through were ZK, Johnny, Taila & Sabrina, and heading to the sing-offs were Matt, Megan, Holly & Elly. ZK did a beaut version of 'Say Something', Johnny nailed 'All of Me'.

The sing-off groupings were - Megan, Lionel, Robbie (Kylie); Thando, Fely, Elly (Ricky); Soli, Laura-Leigh, Holly (Joel) and Jacob, Juilian, Matt (Will I Am).  None of the coaches decisions surprised me - the four winners were Robbie; Elly, Holly & Matt. I was sad to see Megan, Fely & Thando go, but I have no doubt we will hear more from those three.

My favourite blind auditions were - Emily Rex, Brittanie Shipway, Megan Longhurst, Harry Healy & Jayde Grey. Beth Anderson also was one that lingers too.

The battles which really stood out (and I go back to listen too) are  'The Clown'; 'The Climb', 'I Know Him So Well', 'Strong' & 'Young & Beautiful'.

The Showdown performances I keep listening to are  - 'Burn for You'; 'I Will Follow You into the Dark', 'His Eye is On the Sparrow' & 'Tennis Court'.

Moving forward, the popular view seems to be that #teamwill and #teamricky are the strongest. I think Robbie, John and Isaac are the most likely to challenge Ricky & Will teams. But as in all of these shows it comes down to the song choice and how the public votes.

I wonder if anyone has done a warmest hundred type analysis for social media mention, to predict a favourite.

The Voice - Showdowns Week 1

Interlude  -  the highlight of re-watching some of the battles, has been the moments the camera hovers over the family and friends of the singer .. the looks of pride, joy and surprise during the performance are just magical.

Onto the show... the mentors have joined the competition.  Great to see them have the same Blind Audition experience as the coaches. The four mentors are - Apl.de.ap (from Black-Eyed Peas, for Team Will); Havana Brown (Team Ricky); Megan Washington (Team Joel) & Kirk Pengilly (from INXS, Team Kylie)

Showdowns One
Each teams singers were divided into three groups of three - during the first show Team Will (Juilian, Gabriel & Cecilia, Carly). Team Ricky (Matthew, C-Major, Thando), Team Kylie (Candice, John, Lionel), Team Joel (Frank, Soli, Blake)

The four singers going straight through - C-Major, Gabriel & Cecilia, John Lingard & Frank. I'd really love to hear C-Major  tackle something completely different.  John was the most impressive of those four singers, I really felt the story he was telling, and a brave song choice too. Gabriel & Cecilia have some magic about them, while, I certainly felt Frank was a front man of a big rock band.

The four who went to the sing-off were - Thando, Soli, Lionel & Juilian.  (Felt for Juilian, probably a touch stressed and then Will asking his wife to see on the red chair... might have added a touch to the stress level).

Showdowns Two
The groups for the second showdown episode were Louise, Jacob & Inja (Team Will); Brandon, Fely & Jackson (Team Ricky), Isaac, Laura-Leigh & Jess (Team Joel)

The four singers going straight through - Anja, Jackson, Issac & Kat. With Jacob, Fely, Laura-Leigh and Robbie going to the singoff. Was hard to split Kat & Robbie, I would have gone the other way.

The remaining triplets are Matt, Chita, ZK (Team Will); Rosie, Megan, Johnny (Team Kylie); Doug, Holly, Talia (Team Joel); and Josh, Sabrina, Elly (Team Ricky).

Very interesting sing-off's are building ...  think it would be more interesting if they sang something other than their audition songs.

Favourite performances...
John's take on I Will Follow You into the Dark; Anja's performance of His Eye on the Sparrow; Issac's take of Tennis Court and Robbie's Burn for You.

The Voice - Battle Rounds #4 (Final)

Was disappointed in last night's episode - two performances were 'edited' from the show - only a glimpse of the battles between Emily Rex & Chita (Team Will) & Laura-Leigh Smith & Elise Baker (Team Joel) were shown. Wondering what the rationale for that was.

Onto the music...
Brittanie & Megan gave me chills with their performance of I Know Him So Well. 'Wasn't it madness' only one went through ;-)  Both of them belong on Broadway, and can't wait to see them there. :)

So winners in the other battles  - Jacob (Kylie saved Jhonna) Matt (& Joel used his last save for Soli);  Isaac, Rosie, Blake, Matthew.

The Showdowns (new for this season) begin on Sunday night - when three singers from each team compete with the coaches sending one to the Live shows, one going home and the remaining singer going through to a 'sing-off'.

A few random observations -
Kylie's match ups were my favourites - Candice (& Thando), Megan (& Brittanie), Robbie (& Jackson); Rosie (with Reece & Tico); and Kat (& Hayley).
Ricky has most of his singers through (only Mia, Pete, Scotty eliminated; Carly, Gabriel & Cecilia, Jess and Lionel were saved).
Will and Kylie had two singers saved each - Jhonna, Soli (Will) and Thando & Jackson saved (Kylie).
None of Joel's singers were saved.
There's something kind of funny in Joel begging Will to turn for Soli - and then Will begging Joel to save Soli.

Ricky (and Will) probably have the strongest teams - though given the last week I am sure there are a few more twists & turns, before there is a clear favourite.

The Voice Battle Rounds #3

Just finished watching the performances from last night.The real standout performance was from Lionel Cole & Sabrina Batshon  (who sang Beauty & the Beast).  Was awesome watching the chemistry between Lionel & Sabrina - he seemed to be so supportive of her. Just loved the ending of the song. I was stoked to see all three coaches save Lionel (he chose to go with Kylie). Looking forward to hearing more from Sabrina, (on the show & beyond), she has a beautiful, rich voice with so much control and Lionel just had so much range in his voice.

The other performances which I enjoyed were Kat (and Hayley's) performance of 'Roar' and Harry and Frank's take on the Red Hot Chilli Peppers 'Under the Bridge'.  Am sad to see Harry eliminated.

Also going through from last night's show: C-Major, John, ZK were the remaining winners (with Tom and Tasha eliminated). Will I Am saved Carly.

Of the singers left to perform in the battle-rounds, I'm most looking forward to hearing - Emily (and Jhonna from Team Will); Brittanie, Rosie, Megan (from Team Kylie), Elise, Blake (Team Joel), and the remaining battle from Team Ricky is Peter & Matthew.

On the saves, Ricky & Will have used both - Ricky saved Thando & Jackson. Will saved Gabrielle & Cecilia and Carly. Kylie & Joel have one left - Kylie saved Lionel, and Joel saved Jess.

The episode made me miss Keith Urban :)

The Voice - Battle Rounds #2

We saw seven battles last night, and two (sad it wasn't three though) singers saved. The battles were between Anja & Sarah, Jayde & Louise (Team Will), Dallas & Doug, Annabelle Eve & Taila Gouge (Team Joel), Josh McDonald & Scott Gelzinnis;  Brandon Duff & Gabriel/Cecilia (Team Ricky); Candice Skjonnemand & Thando Sikwila (Team Kylie).

A few of my highlights from last night.  I loved Doug took Dallas under his wing, and would love to hear them sing together again. Gabriel and Cecilia are the first duo to go through (after being saved by Will I Am). They have a really great connection, and I'm going to be intrigued what songs Will I Am gives them.

But the two best battles of the night were Annabelle Eve & Taila Gouge & Candice Skjonnemand & Thando Sikwila. During both of these performances I got chills.  Candice & Thando's performance was probably the best from the three seasons (to date), I got chills & tears - and no surprise that Thando was saved by Ricky (who has now used both saves).

The battle between Jayde & Lousie was over-hyped during the show. I was also surprised that Louise was the winner of the battle. Louise has a powerful voice, and will be interested in seeing how she goes, but I felt Jayde was more even. Impressed with the grace she showed on the stage as the decision was made. I am looking forward to hearing more from Jayde.

The Voice: Battle Rounds #1

The Battle Rounds are now my favourite part of The Voice - two (sometimes very different) singers going head to head singing the same song. Universal will make money selling the combined performance tracks. Especially seeing as a lot of them sound like duets. It is sad that Universal are only selling the performances from the Live Rounds on.

Last night set the bar pretty high for the rest of the week.  We saw six performances from Fely & Mia; Elly & Jess (Team Ricky);  Johnny & Maybelle; Jackson & Robbie (Team Kylie); Courtney & Holly (Team Joel) and Krishool & Julian (Team Will).

Not surprised by any of the coaches decisions - the winners were Fely, Elly, (Jess was saved Joel), Johnny, Robbie (Jackson was saved by Ricky) Holly and Julian. Was glad to see Joel take Holly through, impressed with her performance holding her own ground against Courtney.

 I liked Mia's performance last night more than her blind audition. Elly & Jess kind of met my expectations - great performance too.

The highlights for me from the night were Fely & Mia singing Young & Beautiful; Robbie & Jackson singing Strong. I'm looking forward to Elly and Jess singing songs a little more out of their comfort zone.

The Voice - Wk 3

The Blind Auditions have now finished. Tuesday night's show was a reminder that the contestants are not simply judged on their own voice, but the other voices within each team and the coaches strategy. I felt sorry for those who auditioned in the last shows, but kudos to Will I Am & Ricky Martin for offering to work with Sarsha Simone.

My favourites are:

Team Will:  Emily Rex; ZK, and Jayde Grey.
Team Kylie: Rosie Henshaw, Brittanie Shipway, Megan Longhurst
Team Joel: Harry Healy, Doug Williams, (can't decided between Annabelle Lee & Elise Baker)
Team Ricky: Matthew Garland, Carly Yelayotis, Josh McDonald

For the Battle rounds I'm thinking that Jess Berney and Elly Oh would be a good pairing. Josh McDonald & Brandon Duff; Candice & Brittanie are great pairings too. There will be some epic battles, and some great singers will be eliminated early this season. The coaches will have tough decisions on who to save - this season each coach has two saves to use.

The Voice ... wk 2

Week two now gone..  Will I Am now has 12 on his team, Ricky and Kylie 11 each, and Joel trailing behind with 10.

Monday night's show was the best of the season so far - with half a dozen performances which really connected with me - Sabrina's 'Power of Love' Doug's 'Love the one you're with', Rosie's 'Sing it Back', Jayde Grey's 'Free-falling', ZK 'As Long as You Love Me'.

I was also impressed with Beth Anderson's performance of "Times Like These". None of the chairs turned but her performance powerfully communicated her story. It was interesting to read her take on her experience here.

At this stage, unlike last season I don't feel there is a clear front-runner.  About this time last year - you kind of knew that Celia Pavey & Harrison Craig would be there at the end, even Season One - Karise Eden was a touch above the rest.

Tuesday night's episode was quite disappointing. I wasn't really taken by any of the contestants who got through. I did like the Blind-Blind thing. It gave a taste of the coaches experience. Hoping for more tomorrow night.

I'm pretty intrigued to see the Battle-Round pairings - and given the talent seems more even this year, we may see some surprise eliminations.

The Voice - week one

The third season of The Voice began on Channel Nine this week.  The best part of the show for me is the first two rounds. The blind auditions are great as the contestants are judged on their voice (though it's also about how they fit into the the coaches team...); then the battle-rounds have two artists sing the same song - the best of these sound like duets - (listen to Celia Pavey & Anna Weatherup; Mitchell Anderson & Steve Clisby (from season 2) and Kelsie Rimmer & Brittany Cairns (season 1))

Joel Madden is now the only coach remaining from the original season. He's joined by Ricky Martin (who was on last year); Kylie Minogue and Will I Am (both first-timers).  Some minor tweaks from last year, each coach can now save the losing singer from two battle-rounds.

The first week now gone, I think more jumped at out me last year.  But the ones which really stood out to me were, Harry Healy (Romeo & Juliet, beautifully sung & played), Brittanie Shipway (On My Own, easily one of the best versions of the song, I've heard); and Emily Rex (Pure Imagination, like Will I Am, one of my fav. songs).

Couple of other observations the dynamic between the coaches this year is so fun (and playful). I don't know a whole lot about Will I Am, but he's been a great addition. Loved watching him during Emily's performance, he looked like a kid in a candy store (after all, she was singing his favourite song).

Looking forward to seeing what this weeks blind auditions will bring.