‘The Voice’ Live Playoffs, Night 1: Taste the Rainbow of Range

Just in time to fill the giant, gaping, blue-oval-shaped hole in my heart following American Idol’s series finale last week, The Voice Season 10 went live this Monday, with the contestants of Team Xtina and Team Blake competing for spots in the top 12 semifinals. No, The Voice may never quite be what American Idol was in its prime many years ago, But it is great show, with great talent… and it’s all we singing-show fanatics have left. So the Live Playoffs could not have some at a better time.

And there was a bit of (short-term) nostalgia this Monday, as the “Coach Comeback” gimmick from last season was back in play, with each of the coaches inviting one previously eliminated contestant to compete alongside the rest of the top 20. The twist this season? The coaches could choose any contestant – i.e., not necessarily one of their own. Blake Shelton, nice guy that he is, remained loyal to his team, but crafty Christina Aguilera looked elsewhere. So, sorry, Maya Smith, Trey O’Dell, et al.

Here’s how it all played out…

Paxton Ingram (Team Blake)

Performing first and doing something uptempo and dance-y (read: potentially breathy/gaspy) could have put a typical Voice contestant at a disadvantage. But Paxton is no typical Voice contestant. Opening the show with a spectacular, Michael Jackson-esque cover of Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding’s “How Deep Is Your Love,” Paxton was a real thriller. He brought a huge amount of BET Awards-level energy and showmanship to the stage and kept his vocals under control despite all of his manic moving around, and his sense of joy was contagious. My love for Paxton was deep after this.

“I feel like you had your moment just now. You look like this is what you have been dying to do the entire time,” grinned Pharrell Williams. “It looked like you were genuinely having the time of your life up there, and I think it is hard sometimes to do that on live TV in front of a zillion people. You made us feel good. And that’s kind of the point of all of this isn’t it? To entertain! You definitely entertained every single one of us,” said Adam Levine. “I don’t think we have ever seen anything like that on this show. I don’t think there has ever been anybody before that just commands the stage like you do. I’m as confident that you are going to move on to next week as I am that Adam is going to do something stupid with his hair again before the season is over,” raved Blake. (Side note: For those of you who care, Adam is back to being a brunette.)

Ryan Quinn (Team Xtina)

Ryan is no doubt one of this season’s finest (and handsomest!) vocal technicians, but his lack of emotional connection during his earlier “Drops of Jupiter” performance caused him to lose to the kinder and gentler Owen Danoff in the Knockout Rounds. Doing bleeding-heart balladeer Sam Smith’s “I’m Not the Only One” this week, Ryan had a chance to redeem himself. And this was definitely a step – a big one – in the right direction for him. I still think Ryan could’ve dug even deeper, but he was clearly trying to interpret the lyrics in a more personal and visceral way, and he did sound magnificent on this.

“I think Christina did a good job with you in terms of being tender,” said Pharrell. “I am so overjoyed… Like, what I wanted to see from you that I hadn’t been able to see, Christina and you managed to crack the code… I just see you really thriving from the change in teams, so without any ego, I can say you are in the right place,” gushed Ryan’s original coach, an unusually humble and gracious Adam. Hmmm. Was Adam’s handing over of Ryan to Christina all part of some master plan to create an interesting underdog story arc for Ryan – or to orchestrate a win for Christina, finally? Maybe. If so, it all seems to be going according to plan.

Katie Basden (Team Blake)

Katie has flown under the radar all season, and while it may be too late for her to gain momentum now, her elegant cover of Trisha Yearwood’s “Georgia Rain” could make her this season’s dark horse if she squeaks through to the top 12. Her vocals were rich and relaxed, and her intimate, easy-going, storytelling manner just drew the listener in. Sure, she wasn’t flashy like Paxton, but she entertained in her own sweet, soft way.

Pharrell started off his “critique” by bizarrely (and somewhat condescendingly) hammering Katie with questions: “Do you feel like you were born to do this? And when I say ‘this,’ what is this – like, an album, touring, singing background, singing in the forefront? What is your thing?” But once Katie satisfied him with some pageant-y answer about “inspiring people to be the better version of themselves,” Pharrell told her, “You should be actively pursuing this now.” (Um, isn’t that what Katie is doing by going on The Voice? What a strange, airtime-wasting exchange.) Adam was more succinct and told Katie, “It feels like you are a country star, on her third record.”

Kata Hay (Team Xtina)

Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” could have been a disaster for an abrasive showboater like Kata (the Aretha songbook is not to be toyed with), but she “Janis Joplin’d it,” as Christina said, and crammed every bit of her massive personality into this vivacious powerhouse performance. The five-time international yodeling champion still had some troubled trembling spots, but for the most part she maintained her vocal control, and she compensated for any rough moments with her pure passion and commitment. Kata definitely came to win tonight.

“That was super-spirited, and you worked so hard… My mind is still spinning. Like, that is crazy, what you just did,” said Pharrell. “Sass, a lot of sass. No shortage of sass. Man, that was like an exorcism. I don’t know what that was. It was awesome,” gasped Adam. “Fiery! Exciting! The way you build up a song is so amazing. You have so much power, and the way that you move people is so special. I loved it, I loved it, I loved it!” said a delighted Christina.

Nick Hagelin (Team Xtina’s Comeback Pick)

Nick, the hunky ex-ballet boy with the adorable special-needs son, was never actually on Christina’s team, but she chose him as her Coach Comeback anyway – what a burn to her former team members! However, she made the right choice by dipping into Team Pharrell’s pool of standby contestants. (The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if this new rule twist was implemented so that Christina could continue to build her strong team, since none of her previously axed contestants were really all that Comeback-worthy.) Doing Rihanna’s “Stay” (because he wants to stay this time – get it???), Nick gave a sexy, slinky, gorgeous performance punctuated with dramatic falsettos. (That bum note he hit in rehearsal turned out to be a false alarm. Phew.) Nick proved he “deserved to be on his show,” as his old coach Pharrell said, and he totally avenged his unjust defeat in the Knockouts.

“You ended up on the right team. You ended up with somebody who is vocally a wizard, who clearly has done such a great job with you,” said Pharrell, obediently and obviously following producers’ orders to pimp Team Xtina to the max. “If I’m being honest, I think that you’re still in the process of really improving a lot. I don’t know where the ceiling is for you. It’s exciting because you occupy that space now in the competition where you are getting better all the time. I’m just happy to see you back,” said a calmer, cooler-headed Adam, who clearly didn’t get the same memo Pharrell had.

I agreed with both coaches, though. Nick did deserve another chance, and he does have potential. (Side note: I hate Nick’s new haircut as much as I hated it when Adam shaved his head last year. Nick, just in case you get to the top 12, start growing your hair out now.)

Joe Maye (Team Blake)

Blake compared Joe to Bruno Mars. But then Joe sang the Doobie Brothers’ very un-Bruno-like “Long Train Runnin’.” OK, then. But you know what? Joe did his thing with this, turning the Doobies’ classic rock jam into a Lenny Kravitz-ish soul workout. His theatrics were still a bit too over-the-top, but at least – like Paxton and Kata – he was really trying.

“I hadn’t seen that fire in you since our moment together [when we dueted during the Blind Auditions]. And you brought it back. That was amazing,” said Joe’s former coach, Christina. “I was thrilled that I was able to get you on my team. But after that incredible performance, you’ve got me thinking we have a shot to win this!” said Blake. I think such a prediction was extremely premature. And, also, incorrect. If Blake wins again this season, it’ll be with Adam Wakefield (more on him in a moment). But Joe did a good job.

Adam Wakefield (Team Blake)

Crooning “Seven Spanish Angels” by Ray Charles and Willie Nelson, this honky-tonk pro delivered a laid-back, simple, but incredibly impressive Stapleton-esque performance that practically made everyone who sang before him look like one-chair chumps. Adam W. brought so much soul, grit, and storytelling to the Voice stage. This guy belongs on the Opry stage. How was he not already a Nashville star?

“You are my favorite now in the competition. There’s just something that is impossible to explain about someone that has what you have. And they don’t need to dance around. They don’t need to entertain with anything other than their voice. And you tell the story with your voice – it kind of transcends everything. You immediately get taken into what you do. I personally believe that is the essence of what this show is all about,” declared Adam L. “There has really only been three singers in country music that have that thing is you have: Ronnie Milsap, Travis Tritt, and now Chris Stapleton have that soulful blend that you have. It’s so precious. That it makes me excited that you are going to give this a shot in country music. You have a future ahead of you,” said a beaming Blake.

Tamar Davis (Team Xtina)

As a former member of Destiny’s Child and Prince’s backup singer for six years, Tamar would unavoidably be held up to a higher standard than, say, karaoke hostess Kata or dark horse Katie. She did not meet that standard. Tamar sank while covering Andra Day’s “Rise Up.” There was a desperation to her shrill, fussy, and downright unpleasant performance, as she tried too way hard to show off with a series of dog-whistle high notes and superfluous runs. And her pitch was all over the place. What happened? Prince and Beyoncé would have never tolerated this!

Well, apparently by this point in the episode, all of the coaches had gotten that aforementioned memo about tonight’s mandatory Team Xtina-pimping. Either that, or they’d just watched some other, better performance not shown on NBC. Because, bafflingly, they all heaped praise upon Tamar’s horrific “Rise Up.” Pharrell spewed a rainbow of lies as he raved about Tamar’s “rainbow of range.” Blake, who must’ve sat out (or perhaps blacked out during) the Blinds, Battles, and Knockouts, called this Tamar’s “best performance so far.” Christina called this performance “joyous,” “incredible,” “gorgeous.” I watched all of this unfold with my mouth hanging open, as shocked as Pharrell was the night that Christina kissed Kata. Apparently the coaches had been handed a script saying Tamar was great, and they were going to stick to that script, no matter what actually transpired on the live stage.

Mary Sarah (Team Blake)

Mary was another early standout of the season, but like Tamar, she struggled this Monday, particularly in her lower register – and then in her higher register, when she ended the song with a lousy shrill note. She sang “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,” and apparently she never promised us perfect pitch, either. There was also a real pageant-girl vibe to this cutesy performance. I usually really enjoy Mary’s throwback style, but this time it just didn’t work. What a disappointment.

But again, the pre-prepped coaches refused to admit that this performance hadn’t been fantastic. Christina said there were some “nice notes there towards the end” (um, what?) and then pulled a Paula Abdul and said, “You look lovely today.” (On Idol, Paula had a tendency to passive-aggressively praise a singer’s outfit or looks if she had nothing else positive to say.) Blake joked about being sick of seeing Mary mentions in his Twitter feed and called her a “hillbilly,” which I guess he meant as compliments. Only Adam came close to throwing real shade, saying, “It seemed like there were moments when you got into the upper register and you came to life. You spent a lot of [read: too much] time in the lower register, more than I was used to.”

I wonder what sort of Twitter mentions Blake read Monday night? This was not great.

Bryan Bautista (Team Xtina)

OK, this is when the show started getting good again. Bryan’s cover of Zayn Malik’s “Pillowtalk” was one of the Monday performances that people will be talking about Tuesday morning. If I really was a conspiracy theorist, I’d almost speculate that producers had instructed Bryan to botch his Season 9 audition last year, so that he could have a killer comeback story this year. I don’t actually think that happened… but how else to explain Bryan’s dramatic improvement in the space of just a few short months? Bryan was Barclays-worthy tonight. He was Grammy-worthy. All of his vocal tricks worked; none of those tricks seemed unnecessary or forced; and he was sexy as hell.

“You murdered that song. Like, what? Who? How? When? Bryan, are you married? Got a girlfriend? Your girlfriend better hold on for dear life after tonight,” quipped Adam. “Who knew? How did that just happen? Honestly, you have what it takes to win,” gasped Pharrell. Pharrell might be on to something there. Bryan just might be the first returning contestant to actually win this show. And how would that be for a story arc?

Justin Whisnant (Team Blake’s Comeback)

Justin didn’t even make it to the Knockouts – he lost in the Battles to Mary Sarah. But I really liked his audition, so I was pleasantly surprised to see him return as Blake’s Coach Comeback – even though Justin had ill-advisedly sprouted a man-bun during the months since the Battle Rounds were taped. (The bun mysteriously disappeared once Justin got onstage this Monday. Either it was a clip-on, or he lopped off that excess hair and gave it to baldy Nick Hagelin.) Justin’s song choice, Travis Tritt’s snarky “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares),” was fun – it has always been one of my favorite country breakup songs – and his performance was solid. But I’m afraid he didn’t do enough to differentiate himself from Team Blake’s stronger Adam Wakefield. I always thought Justin’s selling point was his modern, indie spin on country, but this performance was too straightahead to make much of an impression. Will anyone care? Will anyone call his voting line? Will he even get a quarter of the votes? See what I did there?

“You took some liberties, did some things a little different than the original. I know Travis Tritt watches the show. I know he is going to get on Twitter later and say something about it, because he appreciates it when somebody does his song – especially when they do it justice like that,” said Blake. (But what if Travis gets on Twitter and praises Adam Wakefield instead???)

Alisan Porter (Team Xtina)

Of course Alisan – aka “the unicorn” or “the Jordan Smith” of Season 10 – got the pimp spot. Not that she didn’t deserve it, mind you. Producers want to create great TV more than anything else, so why wouldn’t they have this season’s best singer close the show? And I enjoyed seeing Alisan channeling her inner rock star (and a bit of her inner Juliet Simms!) on Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby,” prowling the stage in leather shorts, whipping her hair like Willow Smith, and howling her lungs out. She Janis Jopin’d it, all right.

To be honest, though, I don’t know if rocker-chick Alisan is my favorite incarnation of Alisan. Yes, after softer performances like “Blue Bayou” and “The River,” it was nice to see how this dynamite girl can switch things up and sing just about anything. But now it’s time for her to define herself as the kind of artist she wants to be in the real world. She doesn’t 100 percent convince me as a rocker, so hopefully next week – and we all know she will be on the show next week – she will pull it back and do something more “River”-esque.

“I said it a million years ago when you came on the show: ‘That’s the winner of the show.’ I am not surprised by how miraculous that was,” said Adam. “That was insane! I am so in love right now with what you just did on that stage! You murdered that song. I mean, what you do with your voice is epic. So phenomenal. You deserve to go higher and then some,” Christina said proudly.

So now, it is prediction time. Which six of these contestants – two voted through by America, and one saved by a coach, per team – will make it to the top 12? For Team Blake, I am going to go with Adam Wakefield and fan-favorite Mary Sarah (despite her off night), and I think Blake will save Paxton Ingram. Team Xtina is a much closer call. Alisan Porter is a given, of course; she will dominate the votes. But for the other two, I predict Bryan Bautista as America’s pick, which will then force Christina to make a tough choice between Ryan Quinn and Kata Hay. And she’ll probably go with Ryan for strategy reasons – i.e., because he’s a cougar-baiting hottie, natch.

Tune in Tuesday, when we do this all over again with Teams Adam and Pharrell. Those are, arguably, this seasons’ weaker two teams, so it may not be total must-see TV. But I’m still looking forward to the performances by Owen Danoff, Hannah Huston, and Emily Keener. And besides, Tuesday’s episode – and Wednesday’s bonus results show – will probably help soothe my Idol withdrawals. See you then.

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