THE FULL MONTY CHRONICLES

Season 10 brought on some change. It seemed like a brand new show at times. 2 new judges in Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. The semi final round was a one shot performance. The talent seemed to be of all different genres and talent level. Overall, just a good season. THE FINALIST ASHTON JONES Fresh take on R&B that seemed to fit the current state of music. She came off as a diva but I saw her as confident. KAREN RODRIGUEZ Soft fluid vocalist with a latin flair. She struggled with song choice. THIA MEGIA Young lady with a different type of voice. Most of the time she was under pitch but her tone was so beautiful. NAIMA ADEDAPO She was jazzy. She was funky. She struggled with vocal consistency but left everything she had on the stage. PIA TOSCANO Polished singer with vocal range and control. She chose amazing ballads and even showed that she could go uptempo. There was no denying her vocal excellence. PAUL MCDONALD Interesting voice who just didn't push eno...

On to my favorite part of The Voice is the Battles. It is interesting to see the contestants sing the same song. Some people really push each other. Others just sink and get swallowed whole by their competitor. I think the best Battles come when they compliment each other and work as a team. I will break the Battles down. Giving my thoughts on who should have won the battle and if I would have stolen the defeated contestant. At the end, I will give each Battle a letter grade based on overall flow and vocal quality. Ryan Quinn Vs. Katie Basden - Maybe I'm Amazed Both have very clear vocals that are strong and enjoyable to listen to. Wow. They are really singing with each other. When Ryan goes for notes, he tends to lean forward or to the side. I don't know where he got that habit from but he needs to break it. He is pretty amazing. Now Katie, she SANG. Her range was fully expanded here. Her ease and confidence really stood out here.  My Winner : Katie Basden Actual W...

Well they were able to squeeze 10 songs in this week. Why couldn't Sonika sing last week??? Okay I had to get that out. Just puzzling. We get three songs from the contestants.  A hometown dedication, Scott's choice, and judge's choice. Very interested to hear how they do with each song. As always, I rank the performances from least favorite to favorite. Dalton Rapattoni - Everybody Wants To Rule The World : The vocal just suffered so much with the performance quality. The key was too low and the dramatics overshadowed the vocals. He tried to work with what he was given. The beginning in the audience was so odd. It frightened me a little. Dalton Rapattoni - Calling You : I was with in the beginning but things got out of hand quickly. He is out of his league here. His vocals are no where near polished or ready. It was breathy and just not my cup of tea. I am trying to get on board with him but just not a fan of his singing. He doesn't pick songs that allow him to real...

Another season that I tried to enjoy. The talent came off as lackluster at times. This is where I think that the show lost it's way. The internet was ablaze about one contestant, Crystal Bowersox. She got to the finals and lost???? This was pretty much the season that I completely disagreed with many of the end results. I discovered Blogger and started making blogs about American Idol with this season. Also the season where we had Ellen. I love Ellen but not as an American Idol judge. Season 9 was Simon's last season. I really think that the draw of the show left with him. And don't get me started on Angela Martin!!!! What more did she have to do? She sang her face off and got to that green mile twice. I loved her. I loved her story. I loved her voice. AHHHHHHH......okay.....calm down. Let's get into it. THE FINALISTS LACEY BROWN Quirky vocals but not a lot of substance. PAIGE MILES I wanted to like her. I really did but I never got on board. I am still perple...

With American Idol drawing to an end, I figured that I should probably get hip with blogging about The Voice. I am little behind but hoping to catch up soon! Let's start with the auditions. Instead of ranking each audition, I am going to list my top 20. As with my American Idol blogs, I will rank them from least favorite to favorite. 20. Peyton Parker - Dreams : Very nice pretty vocal. She had me at Fleetwood Mac. She just needs a quality that separates her from the pack. 19. Brittany Kennell - Strong Enough : Her tone is different and it fit this song perfectly. I liked the lift that she had to her voice. 18. Hannah Huston - Unaware : Nice vibrato. I love that she can control it. Her held notes were beautiful and grew with each second. I liked the confidence that she has. It made the performance a lot more enjoyable. 17. Caroline Burns - So Far Away : So pretty. Her voice told a very nice story. I could listen to her a lot. So soothing. Such amazing control. 16. Mary Sar...

I am very excited about the performances tonight. I am a huge Sia fan. Lots of treasures in her catalog. Very curious to see how the contestants do. As always, I will rank the performances from least favorite to favorite. MacKenzie Bourg - Titanium : Bland. Boring. Monotonous. This song is not meant for that. It didn't go anywhere. I wanted more energy and power behind it. Just blah. MacKenzie Bourg - Want You To Want Me : On paper, I thought that this would have been amazing. I never got to a spot where I felt any connection to it. It was almost like a throw away vocal. Just stayed soft throughout. Because of the arrangement, it lost the umph and energy. Dalton Rapattoni - God Only Knows : He tries to emote and it comes off okay but I still don't feel connected to him yet. It is probably his vocals. They just don't linger enough for me. With that being said, it was probably his strongest vocal since the finals. Dalton Rapattoni - Bird Set Free : I loved the emotion...

Finally, we are at single eliminations. Double eliminations felt like they were trying to rush through the season. They probably were but let us have something/someone to hold onto lol. 2 songs from each contestant. Well 5 out of the 6. And why do the fans get to choose songs for the contestants??? If I were on the show, I would be curious about the choice but wouldn't want to live by it. The contestants have had no say in a lot of this season. Duets and now song choice. Thank goodness that this is the last judge's save. Think about it....24 contestants and 19 of them have gone home at the hands of the judges. In previous years when we got to top 24, only two went home based on judge's save. Final season....no wonder. Now that I am out of my grouch stage of the blog, let's get to some thoughts on performances. As always, I rank the performances from least favorite to favorite. Trent Harmon - Counting Stars : Oh boy.....well you had energy. Manic energy but it was ener...

Well since I could never audition for Idol again, this season was when I really just enjoyed it. I stopped saying "That could have been me" or "I am better than him" lol. What a great season! Great talent in all genres. Lots of changes this season. They went back to group semi finals instead of gender. A top 13 instead of 12. We witnessed the judge's save for the first time. Now we also have a 4th judge. Jam packed with all sorts of surprises. THE FINALISTS JASMINE MURRAY Sweet and solid vocals. Never had much of a fanbase. The judges believed in her but America didn't get her. JORGE NUNEZ He had a very nice voice. When you have talents like you had in this season, it was easy to get swallowed up in the mix. ALEXIS GRACE Spunky but never quite picked the right songs. She had a lot of voice for her little stature. MICHAEL SARVER His voice was good at times but it never excited me. Big guy with a nice voice. MEGAN JOY This was where all of t...

This season was the last time that I could audition due to age restrictions. I remember hauling up to Philly with one of my students and his dad. Honestly, I wanted him to make it more than me. Needless to say, we both got cut. Great experience for both of us. Some really good singers came out of Season 7. I had a difficult time picking a favorite. THE FINALIST DAVID HERNANDEZ Nice vocals. Tended to sound like he was screaming at times. AMANDA OVERMYER Had such a unique grit to her voice. I feel like the show put a lid on her true potential. CHIKEZIE Smooth vocals. His personality never sat right with me. RAMIELE MALUBAY Nice tone but was never really confident. Just wasn't ready. MICHAEL JOHNS Voice was so sexy. Very much a throwback to 70's rock. KRISTY LEE COOK Bland vocals. Picked up the country vote for the season. CARLY SMITHSON This lady had one of the most powerful voices. Her tone was beautiful. BROOKE WHITE I loved her vibe. She made me fee...