Before battle rounds begin on The Voice tonight, I thought I would post about some of my favorite performances from the blind auditions. While I have already professed my love and adoration for Charlotte Sometimes, I was also really impressed with a few other vocalists who I would love to see go far in the competition and come out of this show with new opportunities to make some really great music.
First, there’s Lindsey Pavao.
After hearing Lindsey Pavao sing during the blind audition, I looked up her performance on YouTube, eager to hear her voice again. I then proceeded to play the video repeatedly. Her voice is just so cool and intricate, and it captivated me immediately. Not to mention, she took a truly terrible song, translated it into a completely different genre, and turned it into an earworm.
Juliet Simms reminds me of Janis Joplin, which is a comparison that, in my book, can only ever be a good thing. I love Janis Joplin, and like her, Juliet Simms’ voice is honest, emotional, raw, and sometimes ugly, which I like. The grit in her voice is what I am drawn to, so I hope that her coach can help develop that a bit more.
I have never been a fan of Alicia Keys. As much as I love a woman with an alto voice that embraces that low tone instead of trying to hit higher notes in an attempt to convince the audience that there’s more range there than what she is naturally comfortable with, Alicia Keys just never did it for me and I could never latch on to even just one of her songs. Whitney Myer made me completely forget that I was hearing a song that was originally done by Alicia Keys. She made it a Whitney Myer song, infused with character and soul that made me absolutely love what I was hearing.
The power and fullness of Sera Hill‘s voice is overwhelming. She’s undoubtedly a powerhouse singer with an extraordinary amount of self-restraint, which contributes to her ability to stay on pitch and keep you in the moment with her. Her voice fills you up and then slowly lets you deflate as she mellows and it’s a really beautiful process.
The Voice battle rounds begin tonight at 8pm EST. Check out the video below for a sneak peek of what’s to come:
I have a feeling I’m going to be writing quite a bit about The Voice this season. It’s shaping up to be an impressive season full of some great talent.
totally on it with you here with a couple of exceptions.
I would add Mathai from teamAdam. What a talent!
As for Juliet Simms, she did not make my final top 6 in part due to exactly the way you described her – as someone who “reminds you” of Janis Joplin. Not original enough, in my opinion, but talented for sure.
Speaking of talent, Lindsey Pavao is at the top of the heap. In addition to one cool-ass voice, she is an amazing songwriter in her own right. She has a bright future ahead of her, regardless of how this oft-fickle show turns out.
But what’s the deal with Alicia Keys girl? Seriously? Not one song?? WoW!
Her back up singer Jermaine Paul also is a very talented singer in his own right and I predict he makes the final 4. Unless his over-sized ego gets in the way.