The Voice – Going head to head

Okay: Who’s idea was it to put The Voice on at the goofy hour of 10:00 pm Tuesday night?

*waits for response … taps foot impatiently*

That’s what I thought. No one is willing to fess up. Bunch of big chickens. Yeah … I know The Biggest Loser had a monster two-hour episode spread out over the table before we got things going, but … oh, forget it. No amount of whining and crying is going to change the fact it happened. Let’s move along. …

After a thoroughly interesting premiere — and an equally joy-sapping sophomore effort — we head into the first of four episodes of “Battle Rounds” on The Voice. I mentioned my hope for this next phase was to shake off the mucky funk the second episode left behind and catapult us back into what we enjoyed when the show was first introduced. The question of course is: Did the Battle Rounds live up to the hype?

The coaches pit two of their contestants against each other in a duet showdown where one of the two ultimately gets eliminated from the competition. The coach picks a tune, rehearsals and mentoring sessions ensue, then the battle commences. The sessions themselves weren’t impressive in the least, even with the likes of Reba McEntire and others making appearances to assist. They reminded me a bit of American Idol’s pre-introduction segments during auditions. *yawn*

First up? Christina Aguilera’s team members Frenchie Davis and TarraLyn Ramsey go up against each other singing Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” As the duet progressed, all I could think was that the both of them were somewhat screechy. Neither performance knocked my socks off. Forced to choose, I would have gone the way of TarraLyn rather than Frenchie. In the end Frenchie got the nod from Christina after a token critique from each of the coaches who watched their performance.

Blake Shelton’s choices — Patrick Thomas and Tyler Robinson — sang “Burning Love” by Elvis. Both of them, while trying to play off each other, didn’t seem comfortable at all. My downfall here was my partiality for Tyler, so of course Coach Blake chose Patrick to move forward instead.

Adam Levine’s picks, Casey Weston and Tim Mahoney, had an interesting “Leather and Lace” duet. And in Tim’s case, it seemed during the coaching sessions he struggled to catch the gist of the song. But then came the showdown. Alone? Strange things came out of the two contestants’ mouths. Dueting together? Strange things still came out … but their union worked in a weird sort of complimentary way. It was almost two wrongs making a right with Casey winning out.

Cee Lo pulls up the rear with Pink’s “Perfect” as performed by Niki Dawson and Vicci Martinez.  And it resulted in a competitive, terrific duet with both girls belting out their respective parts while working in conjunction with each other. Deservedly, Vicci squeaks by on the victor’s side, leaving Niki in tears and Cee Lo consoling her loss.

So … did this episode live up to the hype? Not as much as I’d hoped. I wasn’t looking for a knockout each and every time, but a few of the performances were lacking. It is a kick to see the chosen contestants go head to head with one another, sonically duking it out to earn the right to advance. And not every duet can be a slam-bang affair. It is what it is and you take the good stuff right along with the “meh” stuff.

At the last, I have one final question. Who — who — picked Carson Daly as the host of this show? He’s drab as a ship’s hull.

It’s probably the same motorhead Bozo who scheduled The Voice in the 10:00 pm slot.

Clacked by Michael Noble
on May 11, 2011 @ 11:36 EST5EDT