<p>Agree about Christina’s comments…towards the end I just wanted her to be quiet. There is good natured ribbing that the guys engage in and they had such nice things to say about all the contestants, but Christina was annoying, inappropriate at times and could barely spit out any compliments about Blake’s team. Team Blake!!! Can’t wait to see next weeks episode. Before tonight’s live show, Adam’s team was my favorite and Cee Lo was my next favorite.</p>
<p>I think this show is awful. The singers can’t sing. The stage production is distracting. The judges don’t say anything valuable. The twitter plugs are worthless. This is just terrible.</p>
<p>Boy there were some awful elements to this show tonight: the stupid twitter “V room” stuff, Christina’s outfit and rude comments, some unnecessarily off-color.</p>
<p>That said, there were some good performances: Dia, Xenia and Lily (who surprised me in a good way). Jared and Beverly were okay, not as good imho. Raquel did nothing for me. Did not like Patrick’s rendition of that song.</p>
<p>Re comments from the other “judges”–WHY? Why do they bother? Those comments added very little and really slowed the show down. Comments from your own judge–OK–so that he or she can give you strokes for listening to advice and doing a great job.</p>
<p>And we have to get out of the Patrick-pants-soiling thing, Adam and Christina. It’s really stupidly X-rated and gross. That is the downside of live TV–people just wing it and fling it…and not all of it is entertaining.</p>
<p>All in all, great, great entertainment value tonight! I’ll have to get y’all’s opinion on how to vote…I am torn.</p>
<p>Christina did a great job coaching her team. I was a little leery of the people she had on her team (Scary Bev? Lily over Cherie? Teeny Raquel? Bald Frenchie?)–these are the people you picked, Christina?! But I was impressed with each of the performances of her team–Christina really did help them–she knows what needs to be done and can articulate it to each of them. Great musical instincts…she picked great songs for them that really showcased their talents…what a pro. </p>
<p>Blake’s coaching wasn’t bad, mind you…but I didn’t see as much value added.</p>
<p>But as to the group numbers: the two group numbers were so different in character. </p>
<p>Christina’s group (Lady Marmalade) was done as in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame/diva method (with Christina as Cher-Diva) and her giving her teammates chances to shine. It was marvelous–I really hadn’t appreciated how fun Christina Aguilera is to watch when she performs. [But seriously, how does she get all of that cleavage? Her breast must be taped together or something.] </p>
<p>Blake’s group’s number was done in a way to let each performer take a good chunk of the time alone without Blake even coming into play until quite a ways into the song. Nice touch to use a Maroon 5 song…</p>
<p>Team Christina performances:</p>
<p>Raquel–what a great start to the night! My 87 year old neighbor/watching buddy loved her outfit–loved her dancing–loved her spunk–loved her voice. She says that I’m to cast 10 votes for Raquel for her. I thought that of all the performers, she made the best use of the dancers and excelled in choreography. In watching her, you could a see a little Beyonce coming out!</p>
<p>Bev–her odd outfit… a pleated skirt, knee high boots and a USAF jacket? Weird, but it did soften her looks a little bit. All she needed was a little tam-o-shanter on top of her head to complete the look. (Seriously, I wish she would wear a hat) Her running in place choreography was a little strange, but her voice and stage presence were fabulous–in previous performances, she came out TOO aggressive. Christina did a great job getting her to tone down without losing her edge.</p>
<p>Lily Elise–for me, she was the big surprise! She didn’t react well with the dancers, but Blake was right that once “the mimes” left the stage, she took over. Inspired song selection–really gave her a chance to show off her range, her volume, but also her soft stuff. Well coached…and listened to her coach’s advice. Agree with Snowflake that she could well be a star in the making…if she improved that much with a little coaching, just think what she will do when she really gets to work.</p>
<p>Frenchie–I love her arm and hand motions–so graceful and she makes it look so natural. Of all of the performers, she seems the most comfortable on the stage. Her voice sounded a little “pitchy” (American Idol term) in places. Her dancers really added to pump the crowd up. And listening to her makes me want to jump up and down and pump my fist…except that I’d probably sprain something.</p>
<p>Very impressed with Team Christina–great song selection, great outfits, good use of choreography for the most part, great coaching–great job.</p>
<p>Tentative votes: I’ll cast 10 votes for Raquel for my neighbor, 10 votes for Lily Elise and 10 votes for Frenchie.</p>
<p>Team Blake performances:</p>
<p>Jared: That guy has charisma—definitely “sex on a stick” (a DWTS term)! Wow…and at the end of his number when he takes that blonde woman’s hand, looks into her eyes and smiles—I thought it might be his wife or something, but it was a complete stranger, right? She couldn’t keep her hands off him. If he becomes famous and goes on tour, I would keep a very close eye on him if I were his wife…Great shades of Tiger Woods!</p>
<p>Xenia: I LOVE Xenia’s voice and I am not sure that a voice contest is the best way to showcase her talent and bring it along. Blake is so cute how he sings along with her—every parent can identify with that. She looked great and seemed a lot more comfortable on the stage than I’ve ever seen her. I can only imagine what experience and seasoning will do for her. I suspect that if the public vote doesn’t carry her through to the next part of the competition, Blake could well use his judge’s choice on her. He doesn’t have any kids, but I think he’s getting a little feeling for the pull that kids can have on you.</p>
<p>Patrick: What a great looking guy, and if Scotty’s success on American Idol is any indicator about how America votes, this guy will get lots of votes. I wish he had done an upbeat C&W number. I wasn’t enamoured with his song selection, although I think he did it well.</p>
<p>Dia: Leaving the best for last—by far the BEST number of the night! You can’t really appreciate how good a job Dia did until you listen to Kanye West singing this song (youtube Kanye West Heartless). How she could make this rap song into an absolute delight to listen to is nothing short of miraculous! Obviously, this is a song she has been working on (I do NOT think that Blake Shelton would have come up with THAT inspired a selection)…Adam’s right in that it was refreshing and unique. And Christina is right that Dia really brought some fire from within in performing it. </p>
<p>Bottom line: Probably will cast 10 votes for Dia and 10 votes for Xenia. Blake’s girls really outshined the boys for me.</p>
<p>Can hardly wait to hear what Adam and Cee Lo’s teams will bring to the table. There are some great singers on those teams…</p>
<p>As usual, love all the insight the morning after, especially my cyber-couch-watcher, ellemenope. I did try to cast votes online for Lily, but after going thru the process to cast 3, I became bored and didn’t want to keep typing my email and clicking 7 more times. I don’t usually vote at these things, but I like that there is a limit of 10 for each person so that gave me encouragement that my vote counted. Next week I’ll try just plain texting to see if that’s easier/faster.<br>
p.s. I’m embarrassed to say that I did like the live tweets … I got hooked on that during the Grammy’s this year … part of the now culture of instant news and feedback.</p>
<p>Did anyone else think that Christina’s comments were weirdly inappropriate? Telling Patrick Thomas that she just wanted to see him with his pants off?? I think it would be nice if the other judges would give constructive hints. For instance, Xenia has a pleasant voice but (IMHO) she sings very tentatively, and I don’t mean that she has to belt her songs out, but more that she just didn’t know the lyrics well enough.</p>
<p>I think Dia was the most unique artist but she was hiding behind the piano. Half the time she wasn’t playing anyway. I loved her voice and her song choice.</p>
<p>Yes, Christina’s comments were inappropriate! He’s 20 years old. If Cee Lo was telling a young woman to get undressed, I don’t think it would be aired.</p>
<p>Tough choices here in north Texas…whether to watch homeboy Patrick or the Mavs. I do think Patrick was a little flat last night…pitch wise. Wonder if his sister really feels like she’s in his shadow. He’s smart but she’s way smart. She also has a good voice but chose a different EC in HS so as not to compete.</p>
<p>i personally think christina sucks. her voice is awful and she fails at being funny(pants comment). the judges are trying too hard to make it funny. they also try to stir drama (“fights” b/w judges) even though there is none. they need to replace the judges next session. anyways, tia and xenia have great voices. the african american woman who is kinda bald is amazing. the show has lots of potential if they just change some of the judges.</p>
<p>Dia was definitely hiding behind the piano. That was one of Blake’s suggestions to help her get over her nervousness. It would have been a great idea to have left the piano when the song was half way through and she wasn’t playing much anymore…kind of like Steven Tyler when he performed on the American Idol finale. </p>
<p>There have been lots of artists that can play at the piano and still give great performance value–Ray Charles, Elton John, Lady Gaga (although her performance at the piano can get downright weird), etc.</p>
<p>The voting online was tedious, Snowflake–I have to agree. It was like a 7 step process. Click to vote for a person on Christina’s team, click to vote for a person on Blake’s team, type in the first letter of my email address, click on the drop down menu that had my full email address, click that I’m over 13 years old, click on vote, click on vote again. </p>
<p>And add in extra steps I had to go through because I cast 10 votes for only Raquel for my neighbor without picking anyone from Blake’s team.</p>
<p>Next week, I’m going to control V and paste my email address in to see if that can’t help cut down on the number of clicks. Unfortunately, I don’t have an unlimited texting plan so texting is out of the question for me. And buying their songs on iTunes? 10 times? NOT happening…</p>
<p>[Note: I did buy the songs that Lily, Xenia and Dia sang this week–hey, just in case they become big stars…]</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Definitely! Her pants comment on the blind audition (“You’re cute, Patrick. Can you take your hat off? Can you take your pants off? Just kidding!”) was dumb at the time, but it was just a one liner. But to bring up the whole “pants” thing again and going on about the “bro-mance” Adam and Blake were having with Patrick–just plain weird, weird, weird. </p>
<p>I wonder if her blood sugar gets low…I would have an intern sneak in during commercial breaks and make sure that Christina stays hydrated and carb fueled…</p>
<p>Christina ought to rethink her outfits. I just watched the judge’s performance from last night, and when they showed her, all I could see were two giant disembodied legs walking towards me.</p>
<p>LOL, blankmind! No really sure what I would call those bottoms that she wore. Shorts doesn’t work because even the most skimpiest of shorts is longer than what Christina had on. They looked like the bottoms that a super hero might wear as part of their super hero crime fighting outfit…</p>
<p>I have to bite my fingertips on what I really want to type about Christina’s top and the fact that she was wearing anything that showed her legs. When she was younger, I think her handlers simply didn’t let her wear skirts or shorts … they magically poured her into tight green leather pants or something. Her legs are just not proportioned in a way that makes them an asset. But between the hair, the over-floweth-cups and the weird shorts, I still can’t believe it. I think she’s forgetting the Brittany Spears is making a comeback, that Beyonce always looks good, and that she is 40-something (or close to it). If she doesn’t go back to a more real look I’m going to think she joined the Housewives club of DC or NY. I hope she reads tweets about her so she can get a heavy dose of reality feedback. I’m still fans of Adam (Maroon 5 guy) and Blake, but I didn’t know either of them before. Cee-lo Green was quiet this week … I hope it was just an off week because he cracked me up a few times in the earlier rounds. Until next week, Cee-Ya!</p>
<p>Looks like Christina has gained a bunch of weight since filing for divorce last fall. I’m willing to cut her lots of slack–because she can really blow the roof of any venue with her performance skills and you could probably fit two Christinas into one of me…</p>
<p>ellemenope,
That is dead on - they did look like that!</p>
<p>I thought she and Ceelo both looked quite different last night. And speaking of outfits, I wish someone would dress Ceelo. He looks like one of those “before” pictures in a make over. Back to the music portion of our thread…</p>
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</p>
<p>On the first episode where Cee Lo was coaching his team, he was wearing a red top, red shorts, red glasses, red watch. D said, “He looks like a toddler who has dressed himself.”</p>
<p>Ceelo definitely looked and acted a little edgier–maybe it was the 'stache…didn’t act as cute and cuddly as he did during the blind auditions and the duet battles.</p>
<p>LOL, MP! Cee lo’s outfit was atrocious. Those LONG shorts and HUGE
t shirt made him look like he was wearing a red sack. But somehow he carried it off. Talk about charismatic…</p>