The Voice Season Six Battle Rounds I Power Rankings

I hate the Battle Rounds with a fiery passion. There may be four great performances in six season (none of which happened this season) and many more bad ones. It seems like best case scenario is that you get a complete train wreck. I thought the advent of the Steal in season three would make things better but it is now worse. Things have gotten even more predictable, I guessed 22 of the 24 winners before the contestants took the stage, one of the two I got wrong ended in a Steal anyway so it did not matter much. Plus it has become clear that each episode will end in a Steal so there is really no reason to watch it. And worse now that they are montaging Battle, that means no more train wrecks. Blake apparently forgetting the Erin Martin / The Shields Brothers debacle of a season two gave a female / male duet What’s Love Got to Do with It which may not have been as big a train wreck as the first time, but we will never know because it was montage. And in possible the worse rule change in the history of the show, they are actually adding a second Battle Round. Ugg. Hopefully they do more than three Battles per hour. Or just montage the whole round. But anyway. Here is my updated Power Ranking:

1. Sisaundra Lewis (Team Blake): Just like the coaches mentioned, let me bring up that note at the end: that was otherworldly. My goodness.

2. Madilyn Paige (Team Usher): I found it interesting that right before picking her, Usher talked about her maybe thriving on Blake or someone else’s team. When Usher said that it did give me pause that he may have picked the other guy even though this Battle seemed like the second most obvious winner of any Battle and that Madilyn deserved it. But could Usher’s comment be foreshadowing for the next round? I kind of hope so because I always thought she would be better off on Blake’s team.

3. Sam Behymer (Team Adam): I wanted to like Sam’s Blind Audition but it sounded like she was trying to add too many moments and when you try to make too many parts of a song a moment, nothing ends up being special about it. After the round I hopped that Adam would iron out those issues (the studio version of Royals was significantly better and maybe my favorite studio recording of the round). Thankfully on the rehearsals Adam and Aloe really hammered those out unnecessary moments and Sam ended up having one of the standout performances of the Battle Rounds. And since she had more control, when she hit the line, “give a little time to me we’ll burn this down” really stood out as a defining moment.

4. Audra McLaughlin (Team Blake): The Battle Round is my least favorite part of the show; it is really hard for anyone to stand out unless you completely blow your opponent out of the water. It is even worse when you go up against a duo and there were times when Audra felt like a third wheel and other times when she tried too hard to out[-sing two voices which ended up being too loud. But she clearly has one of the best voices in the competition and the studio version is significantly better than the live performance. Unfortunately there is another Battle Round this season, but on the bright side, there are no more duos left on Team Blake.

5. Josh Kaufman (Team Adam): I am under the assumption that singers get montaged for one of two reasons, because they were simply not good, or because they go up against a frontrunner in the Battle Round and maybe should have won. Even though Josh has the much better voice, I thought Austin Ellis may have actually had a slightly better performance. But I do think the song was more in Austin’s wheelhouse, and Josh has a much higher potential. The question is will Adam be able to find better songs that suit Josh from here on out that are better for him than Happy was.

6. Kaleigh Glanton (Team Blake): Is a familiar Battle Round scenario, coach pairs two singers of different styles, gives them a song that is in one of the singer’s wheelhouse, and then picks that singer as the winner. So when Blake gave Kaleigh and lounge singer Noah a Michael Buble song, I figured Carson might as well have raised Noah’s hand right then and there. Except Kaleigh amazingly did the lounge song better than the actual lounge singer.

7. Clarissa Serna (Team Shakira): It became apparent to me during the behind the scenes package that Clarissa should go with the straight hair more often.

8. Brittnee Camelle (Team Usher Adam): I did not think much of her Blind audition; probably that most had to do with the horrible song selection. But give this girl an actual good song and, wow. I do not know what Usher was thinking about letting her go. It may have been smarter to go with Shakira who took both her Steals to the Live Show last year while Adam, who did take three Steals to the Lives the first two seasons, dumped both his Steals in the Knockout Round last season even though they were probably better. Hopefully Adam gives her more sexy RnB and no cheesy pop songs but she is much better at the former.

9. Ddendyl (Team Shakira): Montage win… yawn.

10. Tess Boyer (Team Usher Blake): I have never been a fan of Janis Joplin so I definitely liked Tess’ more subtle approach to the song.

11. Morgan Wallen (Team Usher): Montage win… yawn.

12. Dawn and Hawkes (Team Adam): I talked earlier how it is hard for Audra to go up against a duo but it is also challenging for duos to go against a singular artist. You have to present yourselves as individuals, as a duo, and then force yourself into a trio for parts of the song. The performance was a bit sleepy which worked well for their first performance, but I wanted more during this round.

13. Patrick Thompson (Team Adam Shakira): When Adam did not choose him, I figured if anyone, Blake would steal him, possibly even Usher since he was similar Ryan Innes. I did not see Shakira being the only one to push her button.

14. Biff Gore (Team Usher Blake): I would have given Biff the slight edge in his battle but the song did benefit him a bit more because he can let go in the way that the song need.

15. T.J. Wilkins (Team Usher): I would have given the Battle to Biff, but T.J. may be around longer because while he is too clean to properly sing a song like Ain’t too Proud to Beg, he seems to be more versatile and with the right songs, he could be a dark horse this season.

16. Bria Kelly (Team Usher): I found this performance less annoying than the very shout-y Blind Audition, but she still remains a little too much for me. Unfortunately shout-y females (Juliet Simms, Jackie Lee) have done well on the show.

17. Kat Perkins (Team Adam): I had to laugh when Adam said, “It’s a shame that they are both together.” Hey idiot, you were the one that put them together. If you think they are both top five artists then why put them together. Unless you think the other three are also on your team. Granted Adam’s hubris probably thinks that. Even though I thought Patrick was better this round, both were definitely two of the top thirty-two singers this season and should have advanced. I would not go as far to say both, or either, are top five like Adam did.

18. Melissa Jimenez (Team Usher): A couple seasons ago, Loren Allred got montaged twice and then somehow advanced to the next round because she hit a note at the end her performance even though her opponent was much more consistent. Personally I would have taken Britnee who was much better throughout the battle than Melissa who only hit one great note.

19. Stevie Jo (Team Usher): I would have given Stevie Jo the win too, but mostly by default. Instead of both advancing, if I had the decision, I would have been content with both going home.

20. Delvin Choice (Team Adam): There were a few times this season where I would have been content if both would have been sent home, this was at the top of that list. If one had to advance, I guess Delvin was the right, I hate to do this, choice, because it sounded like Caleb Elder was singing “I’m a man.” Seriously, how do you mess up the lyrics in the title of the song?

21. Cierra Mickens (Team Shakira Usher): It is interesting that Shakira put Ciera and Emily together because for both singers I liked their Blind Auditions but wondered if I liked them because they picked songs that are hard to screw up. I did not like their Battle Round, but again, I wonder if it had more to do with the song selection, Brave is kind of boring and bland and there really is not much you can do with it. I guess I will have one more round to figure out if I like either.

22. Emily B (Team Shakira): Basically what I said about Cierra applies here.

23. Jake Barker (Team Usher Adam): I am surprised anyone wanted to Steal him, let alone all three. Grated it could have been very well that only Adam wanted him and Shakira hit her button because she always has to press her button second and Blake, well Blake just did it to irritate Adam. But in a season filled with unworthy four button pushes, it is only apropos that there was also an unworthy three button Steal.

24. Ryan Whyte Maloney (Team Blake): Yeah, not that surprising a dude singing What’s Love Got to Do with It got montaged. Oh Blake, what were you thinking? The Shields Brothers are the only dudes that should sing that song.

25. Jake Worthington (Team Blake): I have long assumed that performances get montaged because they were not good, if that is the case, I wonder how bad the montage Battles were that they did not shown so this Battle was. One of the worst Battles the show has ever aired.

26. Deja Hall (Team Shakira): Winning the least entertaining (shown) Battle does not make me think she will be going much further.

27. Josh Murley (Team Adam Shakira): Not the most head-scratching Steal ever, but you have to wonder what Shakira was thinking unless she has started to use the philosophy of the other coaches to treat their Steals like fodder. But that would be weird for Shakira whose best performer last year was a stolen artist. She would have been much better off stealing Alaska and Madi.

28. Christina Grimmie (Team Adam): Montage win… yawn.

29. Dani Moz (Team Shakira): There was a Battle last season when it seemed pretty clear that Shakira picked someone based solely not on who she thought was better but on the assumption that someone would steal the loser. I wonder if that was her thinking with Dani and De'Shawn Washington because my jaw dropped in shock when she picked Dani. Did she think just because Blake and Usher thought DeShawn won (Adam was indecisive) that one of them would steal him? If that is the case she may be overtaking Christina as the worst coach on the team.

30. Music Box (Team Shakira) Usher): I am all for pseudonyms, but Music Box does not work for a singular person. But this is not a reality show trying to find the greatest nom de plume, and her voice was way too over the top the whole time and was the main reason why this was the worst Battle of this round. And for the first time in the history of the Steal, Blake was not the coach who made the dumbest Steal of the season.

31. Kristen Merlin (Team Shakira): So after her big pitch to her two country artists that she secured this season was that Shakira would bring in Miranda Lambert to mentor them, they ended up montaging their battle. Alrighty. Maybe Miranda was not that good of a mentor.

32. Megan Rüger (Team Blake): Montage win… yawn.

As I always do, it is fun to see who has the strongest team. So I rank each contestant, giving one point to last place and thirty-two to number one and add up each team and here is how they stack up after the Battle Round:

Blake – 148
Adam – 148
Usher – 132
Shakira – 100

After the Blind Auditions, Shakira had a slight lead and now way at the bottom. It certainly did not help that she does not have anyone in my top eight. Bad pairings, bad picks, and some bad song selections did not help her. It is amazing that she got anyone to steal one of her artists when Blake was not poached once. Blake jumped from third to tied for first with Adam who was fourth and far behind after the Blind Auditions. Adam did have the best of the lackluster steals this season. But who care what I think? Here is how the iTunes buyers rank the Battle Round winners (and Steals) by how high they charted in the top 1500. I also included Blind Auditions that charted during the Battle Round to give you an idea of who may have some staying power this season.

1. Madilyn Paige (142)
2. Josh Kaufman (168)
3. Sam Behymer (266)
4. Kristen Merlin (371)
5. Jake Worthington (399)
6. Jake Baker (429)
7. Christina Grimmie (450)
8. Madilyn Paige – Titanium (455)
9. Stevie Jo (457)
10. Bria Kelly (459)
11. Clarissa Serna – Zombie (501)
12. Dawn and Hawkes – I’ve Just Seen a Face (507)
13. Kaleigh Glanton (507)
14. Christina Grimmie – Wrecking Ball (603)
15. Dawn and Hawkes (597)
16. Sisaundra Lewis (611)
17. Jake Worthington - Don’t Close Your Eyes (634)
18. Josh Kaufman – One More Try (742)
19. Kat Perkins (943)
20. Clarissa Serna (1111)
21. Morgan Wallen (1193)
22. Audra McLaughlin (1291)
23. Dani Moz (1314)
24. Bria Kelly – Steamroller Blues (1397)

The first thing I noticed from the iTunes list is how many contestants did not even show up in the top 1500: only 17 of the 32 advancing made the list. For comparison, last season 27 charted somewhere including three in the top 100. If you count the Blind Auditions, 36 songs charted sometime during the Battle Rounds. The second thing that jumped out at me was how high Kristen Merlin charted being montaged. Sure there have been a few that were montaged during the Battles that charted fairly high, Cassadee Pope made the Overall Top 200, last season, Holly Henry made the Top 100 Pop Charts. But those two had good selling Blind Auditions, Kristen’s Battle Round song charted 300 spots higher than her Blind Audition. Kristen even out charted Christina Grimmie despite the latter being touted as a YouTube star. I guess when your fan base is used to streaming your music for free, they are not that inclined to buy it. But it did help make Team Adam have 6 of his 8 member on the chart. Shakira only had three, even worse; one of those was the montage Kristen so six of her contestants who performances in full did not make the top 1500. To give a better idea of who is the most popular this season, I took the average of how high their first two songs charted and here is how those artists rank.

1. Josh Kaufman (152)
2. Madilyn Paige (158.5)
3. Chistina Grimmie (261.5)
4. Jake Worthington (269.5)
5. Bria Kelly (292.5)
6. Dawn and Hawkes (310.5)
7. Sam Behymer (408.5)
8. Stevie Jo (480)
9. Kaleigh Glanton (495)
10. Kristen Merlin (529.5)
11. Jake Barker (591.5)
12. Clarissa Serna (598.5)
13. Sisaundra Lewis (675.5)
14. Morgan Wallen (688.5)
15. Kat Perkins (697)
16. Audra McLaughlin (771.5)


Again, not an impressive showing compared to last season where 23 of those advancing to the third round had both their songs make the top 1500. Also, number one on this list, Josh, would have been the fourth highest on last season’s list behind Holly Henry who did not even have her second performance aired. Making things worse, last season had to compete with multiple marquee albums that come out in the fall, there still has not been a big name album to come out this year so far so you would think it would be easier to chart.

Now it is time some spoilery talk. The Battle Round II preview spoiled almost all the pairing except four, but two of those could be figured out by process of elimination, so there are only two Battles that are completely unclear (but can be assumed because of like genres). Looking at the Battle Round II match ups, some coaches made some dumb matchup because some of the higher iTunes charters are going up against each other. The other coaches may be wise to do some stealing, but I fear they will just go with more fodder. Here is the match ups, I listed who I think will win first and ordered the teams with how confident I am with my picks

Team Adam
Christina vs. Sam (S to Shakira)
Josh vs. Delvin (S to Usher)
Dawn and Hawkes vs. Kat
Jake vs. Brittnee (interesting that Adam would have his two stolen artists going against each other)

Team Blake
Sissaundra vs. Biff
Audra vs. Megan
Jake vs. Tess
Kaliegh vs. Ryan

Team Shakira
Clarissa vs. Dani (S to Adam)
Emily B. vs. Kristen
(Here are the two that are unclear but I am assuming these are the matchup based on similarities; again it will be odd that Shakira is pairing her two stolen artists)
Ddendyl vs. Deja
Patrick Thompson vs. Josh Murley

Team Usher
Melissa vs. Music Box
T.J. vs. Ceirra
Morgan vs. Stevie Jo
Bria vs. Madilyn (S to Blake)

So thanks to Usher and Adam, four of the top seven best selling singers on iTunes this season will be going up against each other. Since Bria is getting a major push (she closed out two episodes including the season premiere which is what I consider the pimpiest of the pimp slots) she is likely to win and despite being montage, I would still consider Christina the favorite in her second Battle (though it is entirely possible she got the Holly Henry treatment this season: heavily featured in first promo, early four chair turning Blind Audition, late Battle Round montage, out in the third round). If that is the case, that means the coffeehouse singer contingent, which has done fairly well on the show, especially iTunes, will be completely gone. Hopefully I am either wrong or coaches actually use their Steals wisely on Madilyn and / or Sam otherwise the show may see another dramatic drop in the rating again this season. I do not think it is a coincidence that the rating went way down the last two season when the coffeehouse singer fan favorites Caroline Glaser and Holly Henry went home prematurely. But the thing is as the ratings tanked the last two seasons as the show went on, the overall view ship stays mostly the same meaning the show is getting progressively older, much like American Idol in its middle seasons. Of course few people, young or old watch that show anymore these days . If The Voice keeps eliminating fan favorites before they can vote for them, they may quickly match American Idols in the ratings sooner than later.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/30/14

Shameless: Good news and bad news for Frank, he is now at the top of the liver donor list, bad news, he had to lose a kidney to get there. But since there are still two episodes left, there may still be some time for him to completely bottom out. But hopefully the episode is a lesson to anyone who thinks about turning to the black market for a vital organ.

The Walking Dead: Wow, we actually got our first glimpse of Terminus and it is not even the finale. I thought like the previous seasons, we would only get a glimpse of the next season’s setting with the last scene. So Maggie and Glen’s groups finally met up and made it there, I am guessing Tyrese and Carol will not be far behind. The big question is if Rick will make it with Darryl’s new buddies hot on their trail. It is probably nice that Rick has a man on the inside of the group. The other big question, will we actually learn what happened to Beth this season?
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Crisis: So the bad guys might not be all that bad as it looks like they are avenging some evil deeds by the CIA. They are just going with the any means necessary to expose the conspiracy instead of simply calling some new media to cover the story.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Crisis on iTunes.

Revenge: There are few things I hate more than the “x amount of time ealier’ place card at the beginning of episode, and Revenge is the worst at doing them because almost everyone makes you think Emily is in dire straits but by the time the scene plays out at the end of the episode, it always turns out that was her intent the whole time. So I knew as soon as we say Emily storm out the opera, she planned the whole thing, and yep, she planted the news of her fake pregnancy.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

The Voice: I am a big proponent of the Steal and in fact I am going to go ahead and take credit for the idea after pitching the idea during season two. Unfortunately except in the few rare exceptions (Amanda Brown, Caroline Glaser) the Steals are mostly wasted on fodder for the next round. I did find it interesting this season coaches started complaining when their talent did not receive a Steal. Shakira looked generally shocked that nobody picked up De'Shawn Washington (it seemed to me that she only picked Dani because she assumed DeShawn would get stolen). Then Adam physically got out his chair to call Usher an idiot for not stealing Alaska & Madi (Adam, maybe you should not have wasted a Steal on Jake Barker). I would have like to have seen one of the coaches steal both arists and I am not just saying that about the latter because Alaska looks like a combination of Selina Gomez and Victoria Justice (okay, I am mostly saying it because Alaska looks like a combination of Selina Gomez and Victoria Justice).

Both times, Usher explained his lack of a Steal on “waiting on something specific.” Then he stole Music Box. Yes, the same Music Box you missed if you blinked during her montage. Yes the same Music Box who was on the losing end of the worst battle that actually showed this season (which was hard to choose because there multiple stinkers this season which again makes me wonder just how bad the six montaged Battles were). And Usher followed that up by Stealing another female RnB singer who lost a lackluster Battle. So was the something specific that Usher was looking for were singers who had no chance of upsetting one of his original singers in the Battle Rounds II?

As it usually is with the Battle Rounds, there were none that I would classify as great and really only two that I would even call good, both that happened this week. There was the cuteness overload that was Madilyn Paige and Sam Behymer who had a breakout moment during her Battle. The rest this season ranged from average to why was this not montaged. At least now we can move onto the Knockout Round. Oh wait, those have been replaced with the Battle Rounds II. Ugg. Can they just montage the whole round and move straight to the Live Playoffs? Wait, the Playoffs are no longer live? Double ugg.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.

How I Met Your Mother: For an entire season that took place on the weekend of a wedding, they sure skipped over the actually ceremony fairly quickly. I think Marshall and Lilly’s wedding got more screen time this week. Not that I am complaining, ever wedding should fly through the ceremony to get to the open bar.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Blacklist: When the old guy showed up as Ivan, I thought to myself, this old dude is the big hacker? I was expecting some teenager. It turns out I was on to something because Ivan was just a patsy. I actually liked that the villain of the week turned out not to be some supervillian that crossed path with Red and was instead just a lovelorn teenager. More importantly, Lizzie finally found out about her husband. And he was found out by some silly elephant instead of fingerprints I figured were left behind since he did not have time to destroy all incriminating evidence. But he has to know that is the case so it will be a little silly if he stickls around next week as if nothing happened.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Castle: Wait, Captain Gates has a family? Who knew?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Justified: When Boyd continually insisted on smoking despite not actually being a smoker and being in a non-smoking room, I knew something was up. Did he sneak something sharp in the box? Did he poison all but one of the cigarettes in the pack? Nope, he packed it with explosives. Awesome. But the bigger news of the week: Kendall shot Art? Okay, it is obvious that he did not do it because his story did not line up with what we saw. Now the question is just how will Raylan prove that Daryl was the actual triggerman. I am guessing Wendy and Dewey will have something to do with it.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Cagayan: Ugg, someone seriously quit to keep themselves punching someone, how lame. How about pulling yourself out before Cliff Robinson gets booted?
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Cagayan on iTunes.

The Americans: I could never be a spy (or healthcare provider) because there is no way I am wiping another dude after they go to the bathroom. I would just sooner untie him and hope he does not attack me.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Hannibal: I guess I was a little off guessing that Hannibal may keep Beverly alive in his torture basement. I was also completely wrong that it was Hannibal that killed the bailiff. But I guess it is still probable that Hannibal killed the judge.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

I go Back Again, Fall off the Train, Land in His Bed, Repeat Yesterday's Mistakes

Poor Shakira, during her first season on The Voice no one wanted to join her team and ended up with arguably the worst team in the history of the show (though Christina Aguilera’s first and third season teams were just as bad). Though better this season, she is still looking at a last place finish. More importantly, the first single off her new album did not really set radio on fire despite having the biggest radio star of the last five years Rihanna on the track. But other than Maroon 5, none of the coaches on The Voice have gotten much of a bump from the show (at least in terms of pop radio, Blake Shelton is still ruling country radio but still lacks a crossover hit). Christina’s album bombed, Cee-Lo’s Goodie Mob comeback was met with a resounding yawn. Ironically many of the guest performers get a good boost after appearing on the show; Robin Thicke shot to number, and Christina, despite not being able to kick start her own career on the show, managed another hit via guest spot on the show with A Great Big World. Granted it is possible Shakira will get the big break when she performs the song on the show (but will Rihanna show up for anything short of the finale which is still two months away).

Granted the reason why Can’t Remember to Forget You is not a hit is most likely has less to do with some sort of The Voice coach curse and more with pop radio itself. If you listen to a top radio station you will hear mostly watered down EDM or folk rock songs (or in the case of Wake Me Up, both). Soul is making some inroads thanks to Aloe Blacc (getting some Wake Me Up rub) and Pharrell Williams (who has been placed in multiple advertisements in the last couple month). But it is very hard for different sounds making it on to pop radio. Case in point Lorde released Royal in March of last year but it did not become a hit until the fall. So it is not very surprising, even with Rihanna’s name attached, that the ska-rock from the nineties vibe of Can’t Remember to Forget You is having a hard time breaking through even with a music video that could have passed for softcore porn when ska last had a moment.

But at least you can easily classify Can’t Remember to Forget You, second single Empire is much harder to pin down. It definitely has an epic, rock tinged power ballad feel to it, but more Céline Dion nineties type power ballad than eighties Bon Jovi type with weird auto-tune in the chorus. And there may be the problem with Shakira. (yes, the album title has a period in it) it tries to be everything at once. She tries to cram Latin, pop, rock and many other sub genres into the same song. Instead of the songs sounding eclectic, they just come out sounding jumbled. The worst case is the duet with Black Shelton which adds country to her musical jumbo which finds Shelton singing lines like “p-p-p-p-popping the pills.” Blake duet with Christina Aguilera was significantly better.

But these genre mash-ups are not all jumbled messes, when she infuses some reggae into Cut Me Deep which features some Canadian reggae band named MAGIC! (yes their band has an exclamation point and all caps and no I will not be making a Snow joke), it turns into one of the better tracks on the album. Another standout is the new wave meets rock sounding Spotlight (which was actually written with the same Nashville based team that also co-wrote the Shelton assisted song but not nearly as embarrassing). And showing that less is sometimes more, the acoustic 22 is better than most of the overproduced songs on the album.

Song to Download – Cut Me Deep

Shakira. gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/2314

Once Upon a Time: So if Regina and the witch are sisters, does that make her the Wicked Witch of the East? She surely is not Glinda.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: Oh no, there is a female Carl. This probably will not end well. And by not end well, I mean it will end awesomely. But is a shame that Fiona finally realized she should have given up the drug addict brother to get herself off. I have a sinking suspicion he is going to help get her job back at Cups Inc. despite how irate his sister is. It is the least he could do.

The Walking Dead: What the Frack just happened? We all knew that Lizzie was going to go off the deep end eventually but killing her sister so everyone can see that dead can come back and not be evil? Not cool. And the episode just ended up being one big homage to Of Mice and Men, heavy on the mice and low on men. She even murdered rabbits a couple of episodes ago. That was when Darryl and Beth walked by the carnage and it seem safe to assume that the billow of smoke they saw was from their moonshine cabin. When Tyrese came upon the Grove, I actually initially thought maybe it was going to be the same funeral parlor.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Crisis: I was not expecting much from a show that prominently features Rachael Taylor as a law enforcement agent (and an American one at that since she still has yet to master the accent yet). But it was surprisingly entertaining in a best case scenario for a network ripping off Homeland kind of way. You had two pretty good major plot twists (there would have been a third had the promos not already told us that one of the Secret Service guys was bad). Surprisingly the relationship with Taylor and Sully is compelling along with the father / daughter which got even more interesting especially with the plot twist. Though we probably will not see them paired off again, the Secret Service newbie and the fat kid’s time together was probably the best part of the premiere. The show could go off the rails like Homeland, and even quicker, but I was at least intrigued by the start.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Crisis on iTunes.

Revenge: So to cure her loss of time, all Emily had to do is be near drowned to remember some horrible memory. Ugg.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

The Voice: The first week of the Battle Round reminded me of the Blind Audition, there was a lot of cool song selection (the underappreciated Melanie Fiona song, the okay to appreciate now Steve Winwood song, the rare actual duet sung during the duet stage of the show) but the performances were just lackluster. There were three Battles (Jake vs. Lexi, Stevie Jo vs. Jake, Delvin vs. Caleb) where I would have been content if both singers when home. It just makes me wonder just how bad the montaged battles were that they were not shown over the clunkers that were.

The most notable event did not happen on stage but via press release when the show announced another change to the show because no two seasons can be the same. The Knockout Rounds are gone and are replaced by The Battles: Round Two which, as the name suggests is just like The Battles: Round One but instead of the coach picking the song, the duet partner performance will perform an agreed upon song. And instead of individual coaches for each or none at all, Coldplay’s Chris Martin will serve as the Key Adviser for all teams. And yes, The Steal will be returning, one for each coach.

Unfortunately it was also announced that the Instant Save will be also returning. But this time the bottom three will get a Last Chance Performance (which I assume will be like season two) before a small portion of the internet decides on which one advances. One more small change, the Playoffs will not be live this season, which means the coaches will trim their teams from five to three and American will not be voting until the top twelve this season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.

How I Met Your Mother: Wow, they sure were able to get a bunch of guest stars to comeback for that parking lot montage, who even knew Sally Draper’s teacher was Blah Blah?
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Blacklist: It has become more clear that they should not do a Ressler-centric episode. That was just bad. At least we got a bit more about Tom’s secret life. Note to everyone out there, when someone tells you not to make a call because they will kill you both after you hang up, do not make the call, or at the very least do not turn your back on the guy.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I was excited for the “Ali Tells All” episode thinking we would finally get song ago asked questions answered. I quickly realize there was plenty that even Alison does not know like she does not know who tried to kill her. But considering that her mother tried to cover it up, that pretty much has to mean that her brother is A, right? Who else would she lie to the police for? Erza knows who A is except he was shot before he could tell anyone. I would rather he die than learn who A is at this point. But knowing this show, Ezra will probably pull through but have selective amnesia after surgery.

It also seemed like the writers forgot their own mythology. I could have sworn that Ali and Melissa’s husband taped their rendezvous in the woods with it ending with Alison saying, “I know you want to kiss me” before the camera hit the ground and she was dragged away. And how did Jenna and Garrett figure into that whole night? I thought they did something with a shovel but it has been left vague. Did they have something to do with Spencer’s shovel? Oh well, maybe we will get an “A Tells All” episode in a season or four.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Justified: When the promos hyped that Danny would attempt the 21-Foot Rule on Raylan it was pretty obvious it would not end well for Danny. But I could have never guessed that it would end up that way. Even though it exceeded my already high expectations for the scene, I am still slightly disappointed that after three teases we never got to see Danny attempt the 21-Foot Rule. But on the bright side: holy Dickie Bennett sighting! It has been way too long. The show figured out a way to get Dewey out of prison, it is a shame they could not do the same of Dickie. But it was nice to see Dickie completely selling out Dewey in hopes in getting sent to Club Fed. I am still hoping we will finally get a Dewey / Dickie in jail spin-off. You can now add the Harris brothers to that cast. It will probably be much better than Ava’s Caged Heat storyline.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Cagayan: Right before this episode it seemed that some of my early favorites were on the chopping block so I hoped the merge would put them in a better position (and hopefully in the same tribe and in an alliance). But unfortunately Morgan looks to be back on the bottom and even worse Cliff Robinson got booted ruining the Clif Robinson and Wooooooooooo buddy comedy. It is amazing after how poorly they performed, The Brain tribe is sitting the prettiest as the other faction implode on each other on the two tribes. One of the Brains could actually win this season, possibly even be the final three, if they finally live up to their names.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Cagayan on iTunes.

Community: Just like the second Paintball episode, the second Dungeons and Dragons was not as great but still pretty entertaining, especially with the triumphant return of Hector the Well endowed.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Hannibal: Oh Abigail Hobbs, at least you still survive in Will’s fever dreams. I wonder if anyone else will show up in those eventually. It seems like Beverly will be available. Though it is very well possible that Hannibal keep her alive down in his dungeon and that is what Jack was doing there at the beginning of the season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

The Voice Season 6 Blind Auditions Power Rankings

In the first three seasons of The Voice I pretty much made it all the way through the seasons (I did skip the season two finale due to lack of interest of who made it) but for the first season Usher and Shakira joined the show, I was out after the Live Playoffs when American choose to save only country and RnB singers, along with the female Taylor Hicks. But that was further than last season when I stopped watching half way through the Knockout Round. But I actually had singers I invented in early who just did not go as far as their talent would suggest, this season really lacked that one stand out moment which would get me excited for the season that followed. I do not think any of the Blind Auditions would make the list of the ten greatest in the history of the show. Hopefully someone has a breakout moment in the Battle Rounds (which might not be likely considering I can count the number of great Battle Round performance on one hand) or I may be out earlier than I was last season. But I did make it through the Blind Auditions and here is how rank those that turned chairs.

1. Audra McLaughlin (Team Blake) – Back in season four I wanted to like Sarah Simmons, she had a great voice but she was always just way too much. Audra has a voice like Sarah but unlike Sarah, Audra has control. And since she is on Team Blake, I do not have to worry Adam railroading her for his chosen one or giving her a head scratching bad song to sing. But then again last season Blake made the worst decision in The Voice history when he dumped Holly Henry right before the Live Shows.

2. Sisaundra Lewis (Team Blake): There is definitely an Aretha quality to her. There was a point where I thought she was going to come off the rails and do a bunch of unnecessary vocal gymnastics but she stepped up to that line but never crossed it and that is a great quality for a soul singer. Could this be another Jermaine Paul situation with her going with Blake? (I am sure the producers shudder at the thought, the guy still has yet to release an album.)

3. Ddendyl (Team Shakira): Speaking of interesting voices, “quirky” have done fairly well on this show and no one this season, possibly ever than Ddendyl. If the show does not work out, give that family their own reality show.

4. Madilyn Paige (Team Usher): Oh Blake, where were you on this one. Nurturing this is the kind of voice that made you the best coach in the first two seasons. Then season four you go all country, and these last two seasons… who knows what you are doing. I really have no faith that Usher knows what to do with Madiyn and it may be a quick exit for her. Hopefully Blake at some point steals her.

5. Kaleigh Glanton (Team Blake): First off I am down with any chick who will bust out some Creedence on stage. But better yet, she has a very interesting voice.

6. Josh Kaufman (Team Adam): The show has had a bad age problem the last two seasons where only one singer over the age of thirty has made the live shows after they made up two thirds of the finals back in season three. Despite not having an age limit, the plus thirty crowd seems to be getting less Blind Auditions (while the under-twenty seem to populate the no chair turn montages littered throughout the seasons) and those that do make it through always seem to be gone by the Battle Rounds without a hint of a Steal. If Josh (38) or Sisaundra (44) does not make it through to the Live Shows than it will be extremely clear that there is a new unspoken age limit because in a fairly weak field this season, there is no way anyone could not think they not one of the top twenty-four singers. I would also say Patrick (35) and Ryan (33) Biff (45) are worthy of the Live Shows this season.

7. De'Shawn Washington (Team Shakira): How did this guy only get one chair to turn? This is the kind of guy who Cee-Lo could have taken from being the only guy to hear what is special to very far in the competition. Hopefully Shakira has the same effect on him. I love old soul music and this guy just embodies it.

8. Sam Behymer (Team Adam) – Sam reminds me a lot of Juhi from last season because I really want to like her, but both were a bit… much. They also both obviously have winning personalities. I do have high hopes for Sam because Juhi was the only contestant last season who got better with each of the pre-taped round, hopefully with the right coaching, she can improve with every performance and actually go further than Juhi did. Unfortunately Adam dumped Juhi for someone on a downward trajectory so she may have to jump to Usher’s team (or Blake or Shakira who I thought would have been a better fit than those that turned around) to go further. On a side note, you really need to go to graduate school to become a librarian?

9. Morgan Wallen (Team Usher): In an off season for dudes, his voice gruff stands out and sets him apart from the bland blue eye soul men populating Usher’s team this year.

10. T.J. Wilkins (Team Usher): Biz Markie pretty much killed Bennie and the Jets for me and it has been hard to listen to a “clean” version of the song ever since. But T.J. was very smooth and really hit those falsettos well. The world could use more pure RnB singers.

11. Cierra Mickens (Team Shakira): Maybe it was the song (you really have to try hard to ruin Crazy) but I really enjoyed her performance, but I would like to heard her do something with a higher degree of difficulty next time out.

12. Clarissa Serna (Team Shakira): I had an irrational fear of Zombie when I was younger; it probably was because of Dolores O’Riordan banshee wail. I am not sure if it is a plus or minus that Clarissa lacked that intensity. But I am intrigued to hear what she does next. But I am surprised that Shakira’s weird war metaphor worked.

13. Biff Gore (Team Usher): Oh Biff, your wife is about to give birth and you are trying out for The Voice? Although after five kids, maybe he is ready to get out of there. But another strong pure RnB singer. Unfortunately he also went with Usher like T.J. so that is a fairly obvious Battle Round match up.

14. Lindsay Bruce (Team Shakira): It was a bit rough at the beginning because the Will Hoge vocals were a bit too low for a female voice, but once she got into a range more comfortable, the performance became much more enjoyable.

15. Patrick Thomson (Team Adam): His growl really teeters between awesome and annoying. Hopefully he can keep in on the side of awesome.

16. Dawn & Hawkes (Team Adam): Duos have had a hard time on the show until The Swon Brothers made the finals. But Co-ed duos had had it rough. The Line were early front runners who were railroaded by Christina in the Battle Rounds. That is also where Elenowen were unceremonious dumped for a lesser artist. These two were good, but they seem to be way too subtle to go far in this competition.

17. Ryan Whyte Maloney (Team Blake): I did not get the Steve Perry comparison aside from singing his song, Steve’s voice is bigger while Ryan’s is higher.

18. Bria Kelly (Team Usher): Steamroller Blues is my second favorite James Taylor song after Fire and Rain so I was looking forward to someone polish off this lost gem (or as lost as a song on his Greatest Hits album can get), but Bria was a bit… much. There is promise there. Unfortunately it seems like Usher would be the worst possible coach for her of the four. She could have won with Blake and still could have contended with Adam or Shakira. There is always a Steal.

19. Emily B (Team Shakira) – I am not sure if she has a great voice or not, but Wicked Game is one of those rare songs where you have to try to ruin it. I am not sure if she will make it far (but she wisely picked one of the weaker coaches) but this performance was solid.
20. Melissa Jimenez (Team Usher) – A nice clean and clear voice, but is just lacking something special.

21. Paula DeAnda (Team Blake): I have to admit I missed the original Paula DeAnda era. The reboot was a bit iffy. It was a good but unremarkable voice and she somehow managed to suck most of the fun out of the Ariana Grande song.

22. Jeremy Briggs (Team Shakira): I am not completely convince that this is not Mark Andrews, who was coincidentally also on Team Shakira. Granted I think Jeremy will make it about as far as Mark did in season four, not past the Battle Round because both are pretty benign rock singers.

23. Brittnee Camelle (Team Usher): Song selection is so important so it is hard to take someone seriously when they are covering Demi Lovato. I did sort of like her voice so I would be interesting hearing her sing a song that is not absolutely horrible. I am not sure I can trust Usher to find one, most of his Battle Round selections last time were pretty lame.

24. Kat Perkins (Team Adam): Great song selection, but like a lot of performances this season I still want to see more to decide if I really like the voice or not.

25. Alaska & Madi (Team Blake): Loved the song selection but the performance came off as way too nice. Having two teenage girls trying to tackle the sexual tension and angst of The Civil Wars is hard enough, but it is impossible to do with a smile on your faces.

26. Deja Hall (Team Shakira): Just another reason why The Voice should raise its age requirements, Deja was decent but the performance was extremely shaky. More years of experience could have ironed that out. Instead she probably peaked as a teenage getting a round to or two on a reality show.

27. Christina Grimmie (Team Adam): After two lackluster singers, I was really hoping The Voice would go back to bringing more ringers. YouTube stars is not really what I had in mind. Much like the guy a few seasons ago who boasted being the most subscribed artist, Christina is just mediocre. I really cannot see Adam keeping her around very long so she may have to hope for a save so her two million subscribers can vote for her.

28. Ria Eaton (Team Blake): Shut it down, someone did Anna Kendrick on the show. Awesome. But I was extremely disappointed that Ria did not break out some cups while singing. How do you do a performance of Cups without actual cups?

29. Megan Rüger (Team Blake): started out well, but when she hit the pre-chorus she went into this head space that got annoying really quick.

30. Delvin Choice (Team Adam): No one last season really deserved a second shot except for Malford Milligan, but I guess if you had to bring someone else back from season five, Delvin may be the next choice. But he ended up ruining one of my favorite songs ever by oversinging at the end.

31. Cary Laine (Team Adam): Before the season aired, the show was hyping that this season had the most four chair singers ever. Of course this was not due to the talent this season but because Shakira just had to push her button right after someone else did and Usher seemed to push his button at the last second just to be an irritant. Half of those four chair turners did not deserve the honor especially Cary who is the least worthy four chair singer of all time after The Morgan Twins. There is probably a reason why Blake seemed to be fighting for the country singer the least. Best case scenario for Cary is probably the last, and only, country singer Adam beat Blake out for Warren Stone who won his Battle Round even though his opponent was better and got dumped in the Knockout Rounds when Adam realized he had four significantly better singers.

32. Jake Barker (Team Usher): His voice is alright, especially in the falsetto, but dude really needs to tone down the oversinging.

33. Caleb Elder (Team Adam): Is he entertaining? Yes. Was it an inspiring song choice? Definitely (really the song selection was a definite improvement over last season despite some cheesy pop songs and a couple overused soul songs). Was the actual performance any good? Eh.

34. Stevie Jo (Team Usher): Wait, both of his parents were in heavy metal bands and look like random people at the local PTA meeting? I remember back in the first season they actually had a couple contestants that we did not see until a coach pushed their button, they should have done that with Stevie. But it was severely disappointing that he sang Usher instead of Judas Priest.

35. Brothers Walker (Team Usher): Other than the novelty of being twins, there really is not much interesting about them. Much like The Morgan Twins a couple seasons ago (who inexplicably got four chairs to turn around) I do not expect them to go very far. But then again I thought the same about The Swon Brothers. But it is never a good sign when Blake does not turn around for a country act.

36. Noah Lis (Team Blake): An alright voice, just really boring.

37. Jake Worthington (Team Blake): I always seem to scratch my head as some of the singers they have brought back for a second chance but Jake is the least worthy ever to be brought back.

38. Kristen Merlin (Team Shakira): Yeah Kacey Musgraves just sang a pro gay country song on the Grammy’s but it is hard to think a lesbian could make it in a genre that only sings about beers, trucks, and dirt roads these days. But this is the Voice, and when it comes to Kristen’s voice, there is just too much vibrato to the point it got really annoying.

39. Lindsay Pagano (Team Shakira)

40. Tess Boyer (Team Usher)

41. Joshua Howard (Team Adam)

42. Lexi Luca (Team Blake)

43. Austin Ellis (Team Adam)

44. Josh Murley (Team Adam)

45. Cali Tucker (Team Blake)

46. Music Box (Team Shakira)

47. Dani Moz (Team Shakira)

48. Tanner James (Team Usher)

Like I always do, it is time to rank the teams to see who is the strongest. I gave a corresponding number to each with number one getting forty-eight while the last got one and so on; then added them up by team. And here are they came out to be:

Shakira – 304
Usher – 302
Blake – 300
Adam – 270

I was a bit surprised that Shakira was on top (she did pick up two of the best one chair artists, but just by a small margin over Usher and Blake with Adam pulling up the rear. But who cares what I think, here is how the contestants rank by how high they charted on the iTunes chart. Please note I did not contribute to this list for the first time since the first season which remains the only other time I did not buy at least song from the Blind Audition. And looking at the list I may not have been the only one. Only 31 of the 48 contestants moving on made the top 1500 this season compared to 39 last season. And there is also an enthusiasm gap as both Holly Henry and Preston Pohl spent most of the Blind Auditions in the top 200, as I write this, no Blind Auditions from this season is in the top 1000. Granted last season only had six montage contestants while this season had ten, so that did not help. That is a lot of fodder.

1. Dawn and Hawkes (24)
2. Christina Grimmie (73)
3. Clarissa Serna (86)
4. Bria Kelly (126)
5. Josh Kaufman (136)
6. Jake Worthington (140)
7. Madilyn Paige (175)
8. Morgan Wallen (184)
9. Alaska and Madi (220)
10. Emily B. (239)
11. Audra McLaughlin (252)
12. Delvin Choice (416)
13. Kat Perkins (451)
14. Kaleigh Glanton (482)
15. Stevie Jo (503)
16. Sam Behymer (551)
17. Biff Gore (602)
18. Caleb Elder (645)
19. Ddendyl (656)
20. Kristen Merlin (688)
21. T.J. Wilkins (714)
22. Sasaundra Lewis (740)
23. Jake Barker (754)
24. Cary Laine (755)
25. Ryan Whyte Maloney (917)
26. Megan Ruger (1131)
27. Deja Hall (1190)
28. Brothers Walker (1259)
29. Cierra Mickens (1262)
30. Noah Lis (1373)
31. Lindsay Bruce (1482)

Like I did my Power Rankings, here is how the teams stack up based on iTunes

Adam – 165
Usher – 133
Blake – 114
Shakira – 84

Despite have the most singers in the top 1500, Blake is a distant third (Paula being the only non-montage singer not to make it on the chart) but Adam (who had one more montage contestant this season; Patrick was his only non-montage not to chart) did have three ahead of Blake’s top charter. No one, on the other hand wanted to buy half of Shakira’s team as six of her twelve failed to chart (three were montage). Of course all you need is one to win and Clarissa was the third best charter this season. But keep in mind last year’s champion, Tessanne Chin failed to make the top 200 once in the three pre-show (she ranked 7th, 14th, and 10th overall in those initial rounds) which is probably why her debut single flopped. People may have voted for her, but had not much interesting to buy her music when it did not count as a vote. But anyway. Unlike last season, there were a few singers that did not get anyone to turn that are worth another (blind) look at next season, here is how I would rank them.

Second Chance
1. Allison Bray
2. Karina Mia
3. Keith Shuskie
4. Brendan Ryan
5. James Caveron

Now it is prediction time, here is an extremely premature prediction of who will make the Live Shows (I was 16 of 20 last season). I am assuming there will be a top 20 again like last season (but supposedly; we are getting a big twist this season). There could very well be less since they have already announced there will be less live rounds this season. But we do not know if they are just going to eliminate more singers each week. I have ranked them by how confident I am in my prediction. Just for fun I will bold those who I think will be the final three and put a dark horse in parentheses.

Adam: Josh, Christina, Delvin, Patrick, Dawn and Hawkes (Sam)
Blake: Sissandra, Ryan, Audra, Jake, Megan (Ria)
Skakira: Clarissa, Kristen, DeShawn, Ddendtyl, Deja (Emily B.)
Usher: Bria, TJ, Morgan, Jake, Melissa (Madilyn)

Now I am going to get a little spoilery as I predict how the next round plays out. Last year most of the Battles were revealed prior to the start of the round, this season, all of them were revealed. So if you do not want to know who is battling who, you will want to stop reading right now. I have listed each Battle with who I think will win listed first and ordered them in how confident I think I am right. Even though each season since season two has featured a montage contestant make it to the Live Shows, I cowardly did not pick any of them. But this season I am going to predict some Steals which will be designated by an S (although these usually really hard to pick because most coaches seem to purposely waste their Steals as for fodder in the next rounds; although last time, Shakira took both of her Steals to the Live Show and Usher did the same for one).


Adam
Josh K. vs. Austin
Christina vs. Joshua
Dawn and Hawkes vs. Josh M.
Delvin vs. Caleb
Patrick vs. Kat
Sam vs. Carey (S)

Blake
Jake vs. Lexi
Ryan vs. Cali
Kaliegh vs. Noah
Sissandra vs. Paula (S)
Megan vs. Ria
Audra vs. Alaska and Madi (S)

Shakira
Deja vs. Music Box
DeShawn vs. Dani
Ddendtyl vs. Lindsay P.
Kristen vs. Lindsay B.
Clarissa vs. Jeremy (S)
Emily B. vs. Ciera (S)

Usher
Bria vs. Tess
Madilyn vs. Tanner
Melissa vs. Brittnee
Morgan vs. The Brothers Walker (S)
Jake vs. Stevie (S)
Biff vs. T.J. (S)

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/9/14

Shameless: The show has really gone out of its way to make Frank hit rock bottom, only to go even lower the next week, but Fiona seems to be sinking even lower every week two. But she may have bottom out this week ending a day in an empty house with all her siblings finding a new place to lay their heads for the night. Things may finally be on the upswing for her waking up to Liam’s face at the end of the episode. Of course being Shameless, something will probably still go horribly wrong next week.

The Walking Dead: When did Beth become the most interesting character on this Show? Didn’t she smart out as the other Greene sister who spent most of the second season comatose? Now she is a drunken pyromaniac who is smart enough to grab shards of glass and a broken side mirror to make fire starting easier. But I have to disagree with Daryl that Moonshine is a great starter drink. You might as well give her rubbing alcohol as a first drink. Yeah Peach Schnapps is not very good, but it is a much better starter drink than moonshine. You only give someone moonshine as their first drink to make sure they never drink ever again in their life. Maybe that was the point.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Switched at Birth: After the failed I’m Sorry Bracelet, it was obvious that John would try to woo Katherine back with a dance, but I did not see that elaborate cheesily entertaining family hoedown coming.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Switched at Birth on iTunes.

The Voice: One of my biggest complaints of the last two seasons was that, unlike the first three seasons that raided my musical library for contestants, not one of the singer from the past two cycles were lurking on my iPod. Last week I did recognize YouTube star Christina Grimmie (but never downloaded her music before and remained less impressed than the coaches by her Blind Audition) despite not owning any of her music. This week there was an actually a auditioner who I actually had a song by. Sure Lindsay Pagano got montaged and Everything U R is one of the more embarrassing songs in my library but it is actually there.

Last week I suggested that Shakira should start taking fliers on contestants that are overlooked and this week she snatched up De'Shawn Washington who I thought gave one of the better auditions this season. Hopefully that works out for them. Granted there were a few no chair turners that she also should have picked up Allison Bray gave one of the better performances this week, yet no love (Allison was much better than the country singer Shakira picked up the previous week). I thought she could have gone far. If Shakira is out of contestants first again this season, she is going to regret not giving her a shot.

The producers really put a quick one over on me Tuesday, they were really pushing hard that Adam did not pick up any artists, or even bothered to push his button the whole hour. So the person who watches too much television in me said, of course Adam is going to get the last, and probably best singer, of the night. Naturally he turned around seconds into it and everything looked to be going towards him. But shockingly Audra McLaughlin went with Blake. So if Usher won week one, Blake seemed to be the clear winner of week two picking up the two best singers. Adam still has a solid team while Shakira pull up the rear two seasons in a row. It does not help that she half of the six montage contestants this week. Never a good sign. But she did pick up Clarissa Serna who is on my very short list of contenders this year.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.

How I Met Your Mother: Oh yeah, I completely forgot that Aira Montgomery was Robin’s sister. I vaguely remembering everyone thinking she was the mother but then never showed up again (or possibly even mentioned again) until this week. Oh yeah, and then apparently Robin’s I do not remember ever being mentioned before mother turned out to be Tracey Ullman. What?!?
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Blacklist: So they finally revealed something that was hinted out going all the way back to the premiere, that Tom Keen is not who he says he is. And his mission is to love Lizzie. And he is loosely associated with the faux substitute teacher who we also learned this week has been stalking Red. But who do they work for? Is Alan Alda too obvious?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I figured Quinn shooting Sky in the stomach and walking away was a little Bond villainy of him and there was a reason why he did not make sure to hit an organ that would kill her or at least stick around to watch her die. Nope the Clairvoyant wanted Coulsen to lead him to wherever he was revived and do the same for Skye. And that thing that kept alive was… um. I do not know. My first thought was Dr. Manhattan but that is the wrong comic universe. Then I was wondering is maybe it was one of those aliens from the attack on New York from the end of The Avengers.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: So let me get this straight. Alison disappears and turns out to be dead a year later when the Liars started getting harassing texts from “A”. And now we think that Spencer “killed” Allison and her mom is “A” and is harassing the Liars to find out which one tried to kill Allison so she can return home safely. Somehow “A” recruited Mona to torment the Liars and Ezra is just an enterprising writer looking for a big scoop. But why kill Ian, Garrett, and presumably Wilden? The Allison tells all episode at the end of the season better actually tell all.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

About a Boy: The Lil’ Jon party had a tiger on a gold leash. Natch.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download About a Boy on iTunes

Justified: Raylan really has gotten soft after becoming a dad. How do you give your ill gotten radio winnings to a Crowe? It does say something that he would give that money instead spending it on visiting his daughter (with his new trophy girlfriend in tow). That girl is going to have some serious daddy issues when she grows up. Of course the trophy girlfriend is no longer in play. Raylan is not going to cozy up the Wendy now is he?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Cagayan: This was a pretty uneventful episode for the third hour. I am most interested with the promo where the monkeys suggested that the Brawn Tribe is debating on throwing a challenge. What a horrible idea. Every tribe that has thrown a challenge has never produced a winner (with the exception of Cochran; but when you fear Brandon Hantz is probably going to go on a murderous rampage, it probably is wise to throw in the towel to get him away from you). Presumably the Brawn will do this to get rid of Cops R Us, but this will end up even more disastrous considering he has the Hidden Immunity Idol. Though it would be highly entertaining if twom people go home in one season with Idols in their back pocket (or wherever Garrett left his because he did not bother to bring it with him).
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Cagayan on iTunes.

Nashville: As I predicted a couple episodes ago, Juliet would end up on Rayna's record label. I guess the fireworks will start next week when Rayna has to start dealing with the diva and Juliet has to deal with no longer being on a label that can shower cash down upon her. So basically it looks like we are going back to the beginning of season one. I do hope there is room on the label for Layla, I liked the Juliet vs. Layla fued more than than when she was butting heads with Rayna.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

King of the Nerds: Oh wow, Zack got booted from the house. I wonder if they are having the finals with the last four because he comes back next week and kills everyone, announcing him to the world as the newest evil supervillian. I am also slightly disappointed that they did not incorporate an flying objects into Nerdiocart. Zack got mad just by people spinning him out. Image how more angry he would have gotten had he been hit with a turtle shell multiple times.
You can download King of the Nerds on iTunes.

Hannibal: She has been vague since the beginning so I have long wondered what exactly does Agent Scully know about Hannibal. I think we learned this week that she does not know anything as fact but pretty much has assumed the worst (most, if not all are true) including that Will is right to think Hannibal set him up. She was also smart enough to leave town before Hannibal came to chop her up in his clear murder suit (I love how he still wears a full suit underneath). And there have been plenty of disturbing images on the show, but the dude ripping himself out of the human eye may actually be the grossest.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.