Shakira, Usher and Blake share a laugh while filming “The Voice: Season Six” Blind Auditions. (Photo property of NBC)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
Adam, Blake, Shakira and Usher are back and hungrier than ever to build their perfect teams of 12!
So far this season, Adam scored both Christina Grimmie and Dawn & Hawkes while Shakira picked up potential frontrunners Jeremy Biggs and Kristen Merlin. Usher collected three powerful artists in the forms of T.J. Wilkins, Biff Gore and Bria Kelly. Unfortunately, three-time winning Voice coach Blake Shelton, only convinced returning contestant Jake Worthington to enlist with his team.
Which artists successfully got a coach to turn their chair around for them? Did Blake get his groove back? Read on to find out….
After Delvin Choice failed to win over a coach last season, the Starbucks barista came back more determined to get a chair turned. He sang “A Song For You” that caught the attention of all four coaches. I thought that Delvin showed off beautiful runs and I thought that his performance of this song was equivalent to Elliott Yamin’s cover back on American Idol: Season Five. While Shakira “solemnly swore” that she would take him to the top, however…Delvin picked Adam as his coach.
16-year-old Madilyn Paige wanted to step out behind the scenes and into the spotlight as a vocalist. Despite her age, I think that her vocals need a lot more work! In addition, I thought that Angie Miller and Adam Lambert delivered a powerful version of slow-tempo “Titanium” a year ago on the American Idol finale. Anyway, good luck mentoring her, Usher!
22-year-old Noah Lis dedicated his performance of “Me and Mrs. Jones” to his late grandfather. I was impressed with his vocal delivery and superb falsetto and he almost got away if Adam and Blake did not turn their chairs. Blake was able to convince Noah to join his team after Adam was left tongue-tied. I hope that Noah watches Chris Mann’s performances because he could learn a lot from him.
A very determined Deja Hall wanted to get a coach to turn around. When I first heard the primary notes of “True Colors,” I was worried that she would butcher the song. But, I loved the way she put an R&B twist on the Cyndi Lauper standard and the way she told the story. Blake, Shakira and Usher all turned their chairs around and pleaded to that they would be the perfect coach. Deja decided to go enlist in Team Shakira.
The final artist of the week was 28-year-old Cary Laine. I loved her powerhouse take on the Band Perry’s “Better Dig Two” that caught the attention of all four coaches. All the coaches pulled out all the stops to convince Cary to join their teams…in fact, they even let Cary sit in their chairs. While Blake and Usher tried their best to get Cary to join their team, it was Adam (who turned around first) that won her over.
Next week, the Blind Auditions continue!
