Recap: NBC's The Voice, Battle Round #3

Tell me that didn't just happen.  I know that the rules of the recap are that I'm supposed to go in order of what occurs on the show, but I'm still in shock.  Rebecca Loebe is out?  Gone.  History.  Toast.  Kaput.  She was my #2 pick.  Her mesmerizing take on Nirvana's "Come As You Are," was a revelation and she seemed poised to be the only singer in the competition likely to give Javier Colon a run for his money. 

And she was beaten by the second coming of Kevin "Chicken Little" Corvais???  Someone who should be in the customer service area of Best Buy, backing up your old computer files??  Not on stage singing a Radiohead song HE'S NEVER HEARD BEFORE.  One of the most iconic songs of this generation -- and he's unfamiliar with it????

Okay, let me regroup.  So, welcome back to The Voice.  It's time for Round Three, where the coaches cut their roster of acts till we end up with four from each who will head off for the live voting rounds.  Who won't be making it is Rebecca Loebe, despite being served up a softball of an alternative music classic right in her wheelhouse.  But, I digress.

First up is Christina Aguilera.  She picks 16-year-old Raquel Castro to go up against middle aged (i.e., twenty-something) Julia Eason.  They're going to sing Rihanna's "Only Girl in the World."  In the auditions, Julia blows Raquel away -- she has a strong, powerful voice that grabs you.  But on stage, Raquel comes alive.  The fireplug with the Snooki poof just takes over and you don't even see there is anyone else there with her.  Is she the greatest vocalist, the possessor of the best "voice?"  Well, no.  But she has that certain something that makes her instantly watchable and interesting and her voice is solid enough to back up the performance side.  And with that the previously all-bald Team Christina has it's newest, follicly well-endowed, member.

Next round pits two members of Team Blake -- Dia Frampton vs. Serabee.  They are given "You Can't Hurry Love," by The Supremes. Dia is a soft, gentle folk singer, Serabee is a gospel belter who never met a note she didn't want to pummel into submission.  During rehearsals, Blake Shelton stresses to Serabee that she needs to exercise some restraint when she's singing.  "Keep all the tricks down," he says, then tells us that he hopes she listened to what he said. 

Well, guess what, Blake?   Just like you will discover after you and Miranda have your first child, you can give all the good advice you want, but people still have to make their own mistakes.  And Serabee makes a big fat one right on national television doing exactly what Blake told her not to do -- she oversang possibly worse than she had in rehearsal.  But Blake showed that he may indeed make a great parent, telling her, in effect, just because you can doesn't mean you should. 

Dia has some weird vocal quirk that makes it sound like she's a Transylvanian vampire devouring every note (she sounded a little like Graham Parker -- not known for his vocal prowess as she glug-glugged through her part), but at least she didn't defy her coach.  And so Serabee, and her ironic hat, were kicked to the curb.  By the way, kudos to Cee Lo for the most apt description of the duel: "that was...bizarre."

Okay.  It's time.  Third pairing...the lustrous Rebecca Loebe against the anemic Devon Barley.  When their coach Adam Levine tells them the song he's chosen is "Creep" by Radiohead, Rebecca gasps knowingly.  She loves this song (who doesn't...oh wait, I can name someone).  Devon looks confused.  But, in his defense, when Adam tells him he's going to have to get in touch with his inner creep, Devon quickly responds, "Done" and I'm liking him a little bit. 
 
In rehearsal, Rebecca nails the beginning of the song while Devon doesn't even know the melody.  It looks like it'll be a romp.  Like any MLB team against the Dodgers this year (ouch).  But Devon learns the song and gets in touch with the lyrics and what they mean to him.  Then it's time for the duel.  Devon starts, instead of Rebecca, and he sounds good -- a little menacing and, yes, creepy.  Rebecca sounds a little off.  She's going for pretty, not weird, but it doesn't sound quite right.  When she comes in "I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul," she is basically squawking off key, as if she's going through puberty right then and there.  Her voice completely falls apart and she never puts it back together.  A Chernobyl-like meltdown.  Adam looked shocked; I don't think he expected that to happen.  Based on the performance he had no choice.  And with that, Devon moves on and Rebecca heads back to her car.

Okay, with that out of the way, we can move on to the last duel of the night, Kelsey Rey vs. Tori and Taylor Thompson, from Cee Lo Green's team taking on Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten."  All three girls are cute and can sing.  Do the sisters have an advantage? Duh. Two cute girls are better than one.  They actually sang pretty well (as if that mattered, I'm so naive!!) as Kelsey seemed to have some a mini-breakdown of her own (not of Rebecca-esque proportions), her voice turning strangely raspy and weaker than in her audition.  She tried her hardest, but the sisters were an impenetrable force of nature and she was ultimately powerless to overcome their adorableness.
 

Next week is the final battle round and then we the people get to exercise our right to vote.  See you back here then.

NBC's The Voice -- Episode 4: The Battle Continues, Rd. 2

Tonight was the second round of battles pitting two of the coach's team members against each other to see who would make it to the live voting rounds where the very discerning American voters will of course make the correct choice and not, for example, vote out the really talented kid with the big heart in favor of the boring, copycat country singer.  Wait, sorry, wrong show.

First up is the big, lovable teddy bear, Nakia, against the owner of the world's greatest Afro, Tye Austin.  I think the last time that much hair has been on one stage must have been the Poison/Warrant/Quiet Riot reunion tour.  They're singing Nee Yo's "Closer" and it seems more in Tye's wheelhouse.  He has such smooth, silky vocals and a perfect recording voice.  I could listen to him sing all night.  But he is up against a force of nature in Nakia.  He has the power, the emotion, the showmanship to really sell the song.  You can't take your eyes off of him on stage.  I would have gone with Tye, being the vocal purist that I am.  But Cee Lo takes "Kia" an interesting nickname for someone who would appear to outweigh his namesake car.

The next duel is actually a threesome, but much less sexy than it sounds.  It's the so cute you want to puke couple of Josh and Nicole Johnson who inexplicably go by the stage name Elenowen.  The folk-pop duo look like they could be third cousins of Kings of Leon and I want to take up a collection to buy Josh a full sweater or jacket so he can get rid of that gnarly vest.  They're going up against bald, rocker Jared Blake who I did not remember from the audition rounds.  Apparently, he did "Good Girls Gone Bad" and everyone passed, so he got a second chance with "Not Ready to Make Nice."  That time, Blake Shelton took him.

Now the folk-pop duet and the rocker dude are going to battle it out on..."Ain't No Mountain High Enough."  Really?  Strange song choice.  Jared started out all gruff and edgy, and then Elenowen came in and they were hardly a presence on the stage, just two lovebirds singing to themselves, somewhat unaware that they needed to engage the audience.  It was weird, Gertrude Stein-esque ("no there there').  I wonder if they knew this wasn't a rehearsal.  I think Blake may have wanted to go with them -- they're cute and marketable.  But Jared brought it and there was no way to ignore that he went after the song like it owed him money.  So he's the next member of Team Blake. 

Poor Angela Wolff.  She is cute as a button (although she should probably consider visiting a cosmetologist who can tame those formidable eyebrows before they take over her face), has a terrific figure and has a really nice voice.  She is as the saying goes, the complete package.  Just one teensy problem.  She's up against someone who may have the best voice to ever grace a reality TV singing competition in Javier Colon.  This guy gave me chills and while my memory of some of the other auditions may be a bit shaky, I will never forget the first time I heard him sing.

Their coach Adam Levine picks "Stand By Me" for them to sing.  I wonder if he thought of giving Angela a blindfold and a cigarette before she went before the firing squad.  As I expected, Angela is terrific.  She has nice stage presence and a lovely voice and is simply adorable.  So I'll be sad to see her go, but when Javier opens his mouth, well, let me quote Blake here:  "Javierrrrr."   He is what makes the music industry so confounding.  There are no guarantees.  You can have a great, really remarkably pure and soulful, voice and yet never make it.  Javier can sing rings around everyone else, but here he stands on the silly boxing-ring stage singing for another chance at stardom.

But sing he does and even though it's just a snippet of what he can do, there is no question he has the quality this show claims to be about...the voice.  And his is as sweet and crystal clear as any I've heard.

The last battle of the night is from Christina Aguilera's team.  She has bald, ballsy, blaster Beverly McClellan going up against some guy who looks like he sells insurance, Justin Grennan.  How cute, their last name's rhyme.  Last week the final battle was Vicci and Niki.  I'm sensing a theme.

They're assigned a song that looks tailor-made for the rocker chick, The Who's "Baba O'Riley," also known by the name of "Teenage Wasteland" and the theme from "CSI:NY."   Considering Justin has been living under a rock for the past twenty years and was totally unfamiliar with this overplayed song, he did a terrific job.  But in proving that heart and desire are sometimes more important than technical skill, Beverly just worked harder and wanted it more and so she fought off his strong opening vocals.  By the end, she was in complete control of the song and the performance and Justin had faded into the background.  Welcome to the live shows Beverly.

Some of these singers already have songs and albums out there, so no need to wait till the end of the show if you want to buy some of their music:

NBC's The Voice -- Episode 3: Let the Battle Begin!

We're back with the third episode in the latest entry in the crowded field of vocal competition reality TV shows.  Are there really that many great, undiscovered singers out there?  Well, apparently, because of the 32 contestants vying for 16 spots in the voting rounds, there are quite a few good voices out there.  If Randy Jackson were judging this show, he'd utter nary a "pitchy."  Which makes tonight's show particularly difficult.

This is the first round of battles, where two of the coach's picks have to go head-to-head, singing the same song on the same stage, with the coach picking the one who will go on.  Christina Aguilera is up first and she puts her two ample divas up against each other -- Terralyn Ramsey and Frenchie Davis.  They take on Beyonce's call to action,  "Single Ladies," and in rehearsal both sound amazing.

Christina is aided by Sia, who gives Frenchie a newsflash -- she has a tendency to go sharp.  First Frenchie heard of this, and, frankly, first for me too.  But she's taking the advice knowing that this is her last second chance...unless it's not too late to try out for the X Factor.  Meanwhile, Terralyn is trying to play mind games by holding back during rehearsal -- as if Frenchie couldn't tell that the powerhouse was not putting out her A-game. 

Well, maybe Terralyn shouldn't have held back, because when she lets it all out its a bit of a screechy mess.  Frenchie shows command of the stage and her vocal and she's the first to move on.

Blake Shelton is up next and he puts country boy Patrick Thomas against pop singer Tyler Robinson, giving them the Elvis song "Burning Love" to compete with.  Blake brings out the heavy guns, no less than Reba McIntire, to help him prepare his singers.  Blake gives Tyler some great advice:  just because you can do a lot of runs doesn't mean you should.  He also gives some a more questionable suggestion -- telling the very young, very innocent Patrick that one of the two needs to convince Blake that they are in fact a hunk, a hunk, a, burnin' love.  Patrick can barely reach a simmer, so I'm worried for him.

But Patrick has a really sweet, clear voice and takes immediate control of the song.  Tyler looks more like Elvis Costello than Presley. He takes the advice and doesn't oversing, but does a really nice thing with some of the notes.  Blake applauds him for his vocal restraint and seems genuinely struggling with the decision.  I would have given the round to Tyler, but, perhaps not surprisingly, the country boy is the choice.

The third battle of the night pits two of Adam Levine's team, Tim Mahoney and Casey Weston, singing the Don Henley/Stevie Nicks duet "Leather and Lace."  Casey sounds like she's been sucking helium since birth when she talks, but all that goes away when she sings.  Tim may not have the best voice for this song as his natural voice is a little high to provide the masculine contrast, the leather, to Casey's lace.  He makes Don Henley sound butch. 

One wonders whether this battle round is really a thinly disguised "face" round.  The premise of the show was that it didn't matter what a singer looked like, it was all about "the voice."  But with the judges facing the stage, knowing that in just a few weeks the future of their contestants will rest on the shoulders of a visually impacted, somewhat shallow America, how much does stage presence and look now factor into the decision?  In other words, without a dynamite vocal, Tim would appear to be on shaky ground.

Casey does an almost perfect Stevie Nicks' impersonation, complete with the raspy, purry vibrato.  Tim's voice is really good, but not blow-my-mind memorable.  And he did a lot of teeth baring that was not real attractive, while Casey just standing there was too adorable.  I think this was the easiest choice and Adam selected Casey.

Last up were Vicci Martinez and Niki Dawson from Cee Lo Green's team singing Pink's "F**kin' Perfect." I'd like to ask that they agree on one spelling of "icki" and stick with it.  This is really confusing!  Vicci had killed it in the audition round, Niki's was not shown so we don't really know what to expect from her.  Niki says, modestly, it should be a great battle since we're both such great singers.  Cee Lo's helper Monica notices Niki's, um, confidence.  So the question is, can she back it up?

Well, yes.  They both do.  Adam did not hyperbolize when he said this was the best duet of the night.  Vicci has a really unique sound, all rough edges, and she is quite the dynamo on stage.  Niki has the most beautiful, sparkling voice.  Crystal clear and powerful.  They sing like their lives, and not just a shot on a TV show, are on the line and one wonders if Cee Lo is regretting his decision to put them up against one another. 

I think it's ultimately the power of her physical presence that has him pick Vicci over Niki.  Niki -- next time you audition, do something about those bangs.  Your voice was an A+, but the hair was tragic and despite the name of this show, there's more to a successful singing career than just having a great voice.

NBC's The Voice -- Episode 2

The first episode of this new entry into the reality TV talent show genre was unexpectedly great.  The four coaches showed a lot of personality and the talent was seriously stellar.  Only the personality-less Carson Daly (making one wish for a Dunkleman comeback) cast a shadow over an otherwise bright debut.  Could tonight's second episode of The Voice measure up?

Well, yes and no.  The judges were still adorable in their bickering.  But the quality of the talent did not reach the levels of the first week...in fact, there was not one contestant chosen by all four coaches.  Meanwhile, Carson apparently took some lessons from the Chris Harrison-Ryan Seacrest handbook and learned how to deliver the "shocking rose ceremony/results" type intro with just enough faux intensity and concern. 

So first up is Melinda Doolittle, a background vocalist who wants to step out of the shadows and... what?  Oh, nevermind. It's Cherie Oakley, a background vocalist who wants to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight.  She decides to lasso her aspirations to a Miranda Lambert song, even though the only country music coach up there just happens to be ... let's delicately say intimately familiar with the original artist. 

I think she does a good job with Gunpowder & Lead.  I'm not jumping up and down (which I would only do metaphorically since otherwise it would look really weird), but I think she had a decent enough voice and a good stage presence.  Not surprising, since he doesn't want to sleep on the couch after this episode airs, Blake Shelton passes.  But Christina hits her buzzer at the last moment, just as Cherie is ratcheting up the histrionic, over-the-top flourishes to near Aguilera-like proportions.  Once again, Cee Lo was sad to see he passed on a cutie.

The next guy, a Kevin Corvais doppelganger -- did this show want so many American Idol comparisons?-- says it's either be a singer or go to med school. When asked where the med school idea came from Devon Barley says his dad, Dr. Barley.  Oh, that's sweet, his dad is a doctor, maybe a heart specialist or a brain surgeon, maybe an ENT.  Wait, what was that?  He's a chiropractor?  Yeah, I can see why his son would want to try singing instead. 

So Devon sings the catchy "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz and he has a smaller obstacle to overcome since, as far as we know, no one is currently involved with Mraz.  Devon has a nice throaty, breathy quality when he sings that could be cool. But when he goes for the big notes, he can't back them up.  The guy needs to eat his Wheaties...bulk up a little.  Barry Bonds, you're a buff guy, what would you suggest?  What's that stuff that makes your head grow?  Don't worry, there's no steroid testing in music -- primarily because only Henry Rollins would be under suspicion.

Still, two people buzz in for him, Adam Levine and Cee Lo Green, and though there's not as much hard core campaigning as last week, Adam does give him enough love to make the choice easy.

The next one up is Joshua Scott Hand.  He thinks he's hysterical because he speaks slowly, in an exaggerated fashion, and uses obvious physical gestures to try and sell what he thinks are jokes.  At first I have no idea what he's singing...until he gets to the chorus and I can finally make out it's Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi."  Not a good sign.  There's putting your own twist on a song and there's singing so poorly that the song is unrecognizable.  He falls into the latter category and is gone. 

Raquel Castro is 16 years old, but when she talks she sounds even younger. She nervous about singing in front of her idol, Xtina, but she's a tough Jersey girl so she's going to soldier on.  She sings "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis and the nervousness is apparent at first...she can barely catch her breath.  She's hardly singing at first, but by the time she gets to the chorus (which, for the record, is really monotonous and annoying) she gets stronger.  She starts belting her little heart out, going after notes whether or not they fit the song or are in her range, but it works and Christina turns around. 

Emily Valentine from Hollywood is next.  We don't get to see her at first, so we can play along with the judges.  But we're given a few hints by her saying that people who judge her by her appearance end up surprised, so we know something's up.   She sings Pink’s “Sober" and it's one of those great songs that would make almost anyone sound good.  So when she does some runs at the end of the first verse that are so off key it acutually makes me wince, I think she's not going to make it.  But, with the lesson of this show (and American Idol, I'm looking at you Lee DeWyze) being "tone" is more important than "pitch," two of the four judges choose her.  Welcome to the Autotune age!

When we see her she's very blond, a slightly less attractive Gwen Stefani, but cute.  And covered in tattoos.  There's a little battle for her, even with Christina pointing out the obvious problems with staying on or anywhere near key, and Cee Lo and Blake Shelton vie for her affection.  Blake uses the argument that he likes her more since he buzzed in first, but like every other overly enthusiastic suitor, he is rejected for the guy who seemed less desperate, who needed a little more convincing.  So she goes with Cee Lo.

We are quickly informed that Cee Lo also gets Niki Dawson, who sang Katy Perry's Teenage Dream, while Blake was the only one who picked Sara Oromchi who sings (well, from what little I can hear), John Lennon's "Imagine."  Either these two girls don't get to voting rounds, or The Voice is also copying the idea of producers' manipulation from American Idol.

Tim Mahoney is one of those contestants that the show will remind us repeatedly "is what this show is all about," meaning he's at the age where he probably needs reading glasses, he's not super attractive and has been trying in vain for longer than most of the viewers have been alive to make it in the music business. It's a sad, but not at all uncommon story.  And it begs the question, how long do you keep chasing your dream?

He sings “Bring it on Home to Me," originally sung by Sam Cooke. His voice is passable, and I fear he's going to be disappointed, then Adam buzzes in, rather quickly.  Adam makes a face when he turns around as if what he is seeing isn't what he was expecting.  That's the premise of the show, dude.  No one else buzzes in, which was not surprising as there was nothing unique or memorable about the performance (except for how unattractive his hat was...that may stay with me for a while).  Funny thing. Turns out, Adam thought Tim was a chick.  That's why he hit his buzzer so fast....that was a cool sound to be coming out of a girl. Not so much a guy who was born before the Watergate scandal.

But the two of them will be a match made in heaven since both of them sing like girls but have penises, which Adam was nice enough to point out for all of us, not unlike Boy George and Cher.  So after some more discussion about male genitalia, they finally figure out there's not much to talk about as Tim has no choice to make.  He's on Team Levine.  Good luck with that one, Adam.

Julia Eason sings Duffy's song "Mercy" and I realize that I used to think it was an Amy Winehouse song.  Anyone else?  Julie is really cute and she has an okay voice, but it sounds so much better because of the song.  I'm thinking in the future they should have the contestants sing their ABC's or Happy Birthday or The Star Spangled Banner or something else that no one sounds good singing.  Cee Lo and Xtina both love her...and I'm not getting it.

The next contestant to make the Miranda Lambert faux pas is Angela Wolff.  She sings the future Mrs. Shelton's “The House That Built Me" and unless she was able to make a blind person see or Christina's roots come in blond, she was not making it out of the audition alive. 

Next is Tyler Robinson from Folsom, California.  Blake Shelton humorously claims to have never heard of the city that's home to the famous prison that even more famous Johnny Cash sang about famously.   So, Tyler is gay and out on national TV but not out to his dad.  Maybe his dad is a Luddite and he'll never know.  Or maybe he's watching Dancing With the Stars and has something to tell his son, too. 

Tyler commits a bigger crime than wearing that really unattractive jacket -- he sings Train's "Hey Soul Sister."  In the chat room tonight it was agreed that there is no such thing as a good version of that song (and I tried to pimp Street Corner Symphony's version to no avail).  Blake has a momentary seizure which causes his hand to involuntarily attack big round red things and suddenly this not really talented guy without much talent is on his team.  Thank goodness for cuts!

Next up is a big hairy teddy bear from Austin, Texas named Nakia who is also gay and also ballsy...he sings Cee Lo's "Forget You."  This apparently isn't the poison that a Miranda Lambert song is and Cee Lo and Blake both want him.  I'm not surprised.  While he may not have the best voice I've ever heard, he has presence and personality in abundance.  He's a showman with a good enough voice.  Blake makes an unfortunate joke trying to dissuade from going with Cee Lo, saying that he dresses like a peacock.  Not exactly something will turn off a gay guy.  I'm just sayin'.  Not at all surprisingly, the immensely entertaining Nakia goes with Cee Lo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAXuP7p6RHE

We quickly learn of two other selections -- a girl named Serabee who sang “Son of a Preacher Man" and was picked by Blake and the stereotyped "goth-rocker" chick Casey Desmond who performed Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way."  Was it just me, or did Adam's, "you're mine, awesome" to Casey not seem all that enthusiastic?  Was it the flaming read hair, the unfortunately heavy handed blush or the neon green eyeshadow that discouraged him?  Justin Grennan sang Train's "Drops of Jupiter" and was picked by Christina as her team's first male member.  That's right, I said it.

There was a quick medley of people who didn't make it, complete with some tears from Christina. 

Dia Frampton is nervous as she's about to sing Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly."  She sings about two lines and Blake hits his buzzer.  Apparently he's really excited to hear a girl not singing a Miranda song.  Dia's voice is quirky, but not in a cool way.  I don't know if it's just nerves, but she's all over the place. She starts doing various vocal flourishes that make is sound like she's gagging or choking.  She has a weird vibrato and an odd falsetto...so of course, she gets two coaches' votes!  But they're rewarded because she's cute as a button.  She has to pick between Cee Lo (who may need to stop off at the Human Resources office to pick up the sexual harrassment pamphlet) and the spoken-for Blake and she wisely chooses Blake. 


Curtis Grimes wears a cowboy cat and is singing "Hillbilly Bone" by...uh oh...Blake Shelton. Will he be as overly protective of his own music, as he is Miranda's?  Curtis says, "If Blake doesn't push the button for me, I'm going to run up there and push it for him."  Foreshadowing, party of one?  Well, I don't know the original, but this is really sleepy.   He's singing all the notes just fine and he has a nice country twang, but there is no electricity at all in his performance.  It's just blaht.  Cee Lo gives his a mercy push...and Blake doesn't touch his.

Blake explains what was missing from the performance -- cockiness.  That makes sense.  So while agreeing that Curtis can sing well, he didn't think he had the intensity for the song.  I actually agree with him, I think the Curtis-Cee Lo  pairing may be brilliant. Curtis has the voice, he just needs the swagger and maybe Cee Lo can help him find that.

The last to audition are the Thompson Twins...well, actually, they're sisters Tori and Taylor Thompson and close in age, but not twins.  Close enough.  They sing the Sugarland hit "Stuck Like Glue" and do a terrific job, especially on their harmonies.  And they're cute, and one is brunette and one is blonde, and they're confident on stage.  Watching the coaches as they slowly figure out it's two singers, not one, is priceless.  But it looks like our pig farming sisters are heading back to the farm until Cee Lo comes to the rescue!  After they all turn around, suddenly everyone is all positive.  I don't know what their hesitation was.  I think Cee Lo will have fun with this group.

So that's the last competitor so goodbye, we'll see you next week. What?  Oh, not everyone has a full roster.  Whaaaaat?  In fact, Adam only has six contestants he needs two more!  So they decide to give some of the contestants they passed on a second chance to make a more tuneful first impression.  For some, that means a second rejection which means that any effort to come up with a non-hurtful excuse for their failure is now out the window.  You didn't pick the wrong song, were too nervous, were too similar in style to someone else, you sucked.  Ouch.  Althought Sonia Rao takes it very well.  Kudos to her parents for raising her with enough confidence that the Entertainment Industry BS doesn't get her down!! 

But not experiencing this double blow is Lily Elise who had made Christina cry earlier.  She starts out singing lower than I would think was possible, unless she borrowed Tim's penis and does a decent job with Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" and they're both all excited that Christina "got her back."

Jared Blake singins "Not Ready to Make Nice" by the Dixie Chicks and I love his voice.  Great raspy, Hootie-ish sound.  Blake pickes him and is genuinely happy, saying "I got my guy."

Adam is the last to fill his team and unless a hermaphrodite is auditioning, will he find anyone he relates to?  Casey Weston sings "Stupid Boy" by Keith Urban and she reminds me a little of Crystal Bowersox, barefoot, folk-rocker who will turn country when her first album sells okay but doesn't exaclty excite mainstream radio.  She's the second to last member of Team Levine.

Angela Wolff will not be singing another Miranda Lambert song, this time she takes on "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele because we haven't heard enough covers of that song recently.  Adam picks her up before she even goes for the glory notes.  She is so excited and so isCee Lo because she's another "pretty girl" and even if she's not on his team, at least he gets to see her around the set.  Rawr.

So the auditions are over after just two episodes, now it's time for the battle rounds.  If only they were preceded by the host elimination round.  I'd watch that on pay-per-view.