Yep.
It might be time to officially cry foul. The Voice is pulling cards out their sleeves, playing with loaded dice and throwing chicanery into the mix.
Monkey business is afoot, courtesy of part three of The Battle Rounds.
It didn’t manifest itself with Raquel Castro and Julia Eason’s “bad audition” committal of Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In The World)” (where the “Mini Snookie” Raquel won out, despite my pleas at the television set neither should move forward) nor did it raise its ugly head in Dia Frampton and Serabee’s shellacking of The Supreme’s “You Can’t Hurry Love,” which should have been labeled a crime scene it was so poorly done. (Dia topped Serabee in that one, by the by.)
No. It stirred when Adam Levine decided Radiohead’s “Creep” would be his song of choice for his two dueling picks Rebecca Loebe and Devon Barley. It’s as if Adam pulled this song out his ass; it was that random of a choice. I mean, it seemingly came from nowhere, all of a sudden appearing as the feature of Battle #3 of the evening. And I’m certain Devon felt that way, too. I personally had my root on for him — the medical student with his career put on the back burner to see if this singing thing was worth its salt. But, having never heard “Creep” before himself, this shaped up to be an interesting contest between the two.
And then, the monkey business came to bear. Starting out shaky, Devon practically drug his feet through his opening solo. But come duet time, he and Rebecca committed some strange sort of magic that almost had you tilting your head in mock aural wonder. Thing is, it sounded oddly cool and it worked all the way through the song. I personally loved the duet, but Devon was weak tea during his solos. Then, the strangest thing of all came out of left field: Devon took the prize, Adam picking him to move on. Surprise? You betcha. I was shocked, though pleasantly pleased he was chosen. You watch the piece and call it: Did he deserve to win?
And then, all hell broke loose. Cee Lo’s choice of contestants — Kelsey Rey and The Thompson Twins — went head to head on ‘s “Unwritten” with Kelsey clearly the better of the singers. See for yourself below:
So I was dumbfounded when Tori and Taylor got the nod from their coach. Truth be told, I’m still at a loss for words why this happened. Young Tori (the blond) clearly fell flat on her part in the song and was propped up through most of the tune by sister Taylor and both were taken to the cleaners by Kelsey in the end. But still, inexplicably, they managed to gain Cee Lo’s approval.
My question is this: What in the world is going on at The Voice? We’ve hit more than just a bump in the road with this episode; it’s a major stumbling block that doesn’t make sense. Sure there’s going to be some ear torture throughout the show, but this outright affront to common sense is nothing less than baffling. It’s The Voice … !!! It’s supposed to be about the voice, right? Maybe Cee Lo knows Kelsey will have no problem with her future career and gave the twins a break … but does he really think they can stack up in the end when things go live?
Come on. …
Clacked by Michael Noble 
on May 25, 2011 @ 10:37 EST5EDT
Kelsey was my second favorite performer in the whole show (slighty behind Javier). Stupid decisions like this are one of the many reasons I don’t like the genre. Amazes me that an artist that 3 judges picked in the first round loses to vastly inferior competition.
Don’t get me wrong. The sisters’ audtion performances was in my top five, but last night plain sucked (the decision).
*POST AUTHOR*
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I right there with you, Ivey. There was a reason The Thompson Twins were picked to begin with – their audition. And I don’t have a problem with the sucking out when it comes to crunch time. That’s part of the attraction of reality programming, “the proof in the pudding” so to speak. But when a decision comes down to the better voice (because, after all, the show is called The Voice, right?) being award the win, this was a no-brainer. I understand people make mistakes, but there’s no way this was a mistake, no possibility Tori and Taylor snagged it from beneath Kelsey. Even my dog Bob could made that call.
And really: Was it a “stupid decision” … ??? Mayhap some weird sort of “strateege-ery” came into play we don’t know about. Doubtful, but who knows?
The same decision could be argued on the Rebecca / Devon match up, but there was an added bit of interest in that one with not so clear cut a winner. Still, I don’t have a problem Devon moved on. But I’m of the opinion Rebecca should have eked that one out.
I thought the Thompson Twins were NASCAR drivers :-)
You are absolutely correct that something is going on, but I can not get into the heads of the judges or producers enough to figure out what.
Strangely, I liked “Creep” from the beginning, and by the end completely agreed with Blake Shelton that these two should me forced into a duet act. Devon’s oddball nerdherd look doesn’t work for me, but it did on this song. I think Rebecca deserved more points for that performance than Devon, but I liked Devon’s audition more.
When it came to “Unwritten”, I wondered why the band had become the featured contestant. There were some serious mix problems on that soundboard last night. Too bad CeeLo couldn’t dump both of them and pick up Adam’s reject.
I agreed with the choice of Dia and Raquel, but think the judges should have been penalized for the song choices and pairings.
I’m glad there is only one more “battle” episode, and the more I see of this show the more I’m reinforced in my opinion that celeb coaches don’t get the job done.
I think the music all night overshadowed the singing, especially with “Only Girl.” And in that one, I disagreed with Xtina’s vote, even though I didn’t really care for either performance.
I didn’t like Creep at all, either.
I would have chosen Dia over the other girl if only because of the showboating. She took her strong voice just one step too far. If she had stuck to it and didn’t try so hard to overpower Dia, Serabee would have won.
And Kelsey was much better overall, but if the sisters tighten up their act, they’d sell well in the music biz.
The more I watch this show the more I dislike it. The only good part at this point are your reviews. So I guess I’ll have to keep watching so I’ll understand what you’re talking about. In other words, you are totally responsible for my enjoyment of this show. No pressure.
*POST AUTHOR*
. . . . .
“In other words, you are totally responsible for my enjoyment of this show. No pressure.”
Ladies & Gentlemen: My friend Lois.
Just say the word and she can be your friend, too.
Nobody is saying a word. High school all over again.
The Thompson twins being picked is absolutely ridiculous. The fact that Adam “couldn’t pick” was suspect, as was the fact that Christina like the twins better. Hmmm…can anyone say jealous??? Ceelo was playing the game. Perhaps they feel they can sell the whole cornfed twins act…this show is starting to BLOW.
Dunno … I like the twins … ALOT. But I don’t think they deserved to move on this week. Hopefully, though, they’ll live up to this decision. Javier and Kelsey were my favorites from day one, and still are. I’ll be a fan of Kelsey’s in the future no matter what.
most of the time they make a choice I wouldnt do, so what’s to think? are they chosing those who are going to improved all over the competition over those who actually can already sing… my daughter thinks they choose poeople “less good” so they wont ever get into competition with the judges lol good one
I actually preferred Devon’s performance as opposed to Rebecca’s. He has much more musical ability and I don’t see how he drug his feet… He sang and the back of the beat which gave it a “creep”ier feel to his solo portion which in my opinion, is what made him the winner in the otherwise flawless performance.
*POST AUTHOR*
. . . . .
I rewatched it … just to make sure, Travis … and I’m sticking to my guns: Devon drug his unsure feet through his initial part. I can’t tell if it was because of his unfamiliarity with the song or he was putting on a good show, but that’s the way I read it. To bolster my opinion, take a gander at the consternation on Adam’s face as he watched his performance: concern … wonder … a touch of anxiety. Was that editing on the producer’s part for our benefit? Don’t know.
But, come the duet with Rebecca as I stated, his nerdy self brought the shine in a weird sort of way, a good / odd way.
“Creepier” feel? Yeah. I see that. But I’m on the other side of the fence: I don’t think it was his solo that won him the round; I think it was his play off his partner / opponent that did it.