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.
