The Voice of the Philippines - The Live Shows Batch 1 REVIEW

The Voice of the Philippines

The Live Shows

REVIEW

Batch 1 - August 25, 2013

Team Lea

1. Darryl

The lucky first guy to perform. It was a plain and simple performance. A song within his comfort zone. A genre he does best. With a song that simple and easy, he can't afford to make any fault. And he didn’t. Lucky for him, his fans were not shy in voting him, which was quite surprising. Do I agree with the public? Ok lang. Middle ground. Well as they say it, the middle ground is a dangerous place to be in.

2. Radha

People's expectations are as big as she is. Well, she's a pro. There's nothing I can comment. Pro’s like her clearly have an edge in singing competitions like this. Belting out your voice, with technical excellence and manufactured emotions, are what judges and public typically choose. But do I like Radha to win? If TheVoicePH is going to compete in TheVoiceWorld (if there’s such a thing), then she should. Otherwise, I’m not a fan of pros in singing contests. Will I buy her album if she releases one? Generally… No, unless she manages to put in beautiful songs. I ain’t gonna play River Deep Mountain high and RESPECT in my ipod during my chillax time.

3. RJ

Lea said it… he is the one that has the most to prove. Yes, for me RJ is among the bottom 3 of the remaining artists. But that doesn’t mean he’s not good. It’s just that TheVoicePH has unbelievably gathered a good number of quality talents. The best talents in a single season in the Philippine singing contest history. I love RJ’s voice, so easy on the ear. He’s got the right emotions, singing from his heart, and he hits the high notes. Well, I would actually rather listen to this guy’s music than Christian Bautista. Too bad, he will never be able to compare with the pros in the competition. But guess what, RJ’s fans need not sob. His career doesn’t end here. With his pleasing looks, American twang (yes, this matters coz we still have some level of colonial mentality), connections (he’s a Valenciano relative), and proven singing skill, he could be guesting in ASAP every now and then.

On Coach Lea, I appreciate her frankness and honestly in giving comments. It helps the artists... a LOT! Of course, this attracts more Lea haters.

Overall, the result was surprising. Darryl was saved by the public. And need I still say this? Radha was saved by Lea. If she weren’t, Lea would be swamped with hate tweets for months. J But I’m sure Lea doesn’t care.

Team Apl

4. Cora

Sorry Cora, yours was the worst performance on the Lives (batch 1 and 2). She was trying so hard to give an attitude. Facial expressions and body movements – annoying. Vocals – irritating. Countless flats and sharps (whatever is applicable). This was painful to watch, as well as painful to listen to. I’m glad she’s out. And thank God there’s no VOTE OUT in TheVoicePH. Otherwise, I would have spent a fortune texting her name. Sorry Cora, this is too harsh. I’m just exaggerating.

Coach Sarah and Apl like her circus. Really?

5. Thor

One of my early favorites. Audience expects nothing less than a thunderous performance. And he gave it with little effort. But he’s oversinging Narito. For me, if he wants to belt it out, just sing a song that calls for it. Sing Whitney or James Ingram, rather than force those high notes in every line in a rather simple song.  See, some netizens (on Youtube) think you were off-tune in doing so. For me, you seem like in tune though. But I didn’t like the performance. It sounds telenovelish. But who am I to tell you this? You’re a vocal coach, and I can’t even sing. Haha. I’m glad the public saved you, as I am a fan. I still have a copy of your album released in 2007.

 6. Jessica

Gorgeous lady. Nice vocal tone. Soulful. Elements of a diva. And Jessica has them all. But please… don’t always over sing. I still can’t forget the massacre and sapawan that you and Emmanuelle did to a nice song during the battle. Look at how Sarah and Bamboo did it on ASAP. I hope Sarah was not sarcastic when she said, “wow, di ko alam pwede pala ganung areglo dun?” Anyway, going back to the Live, Jessica has not been hitting some notes in her performance, and in her past. It’s just not obvious, because her soulful tone and emotions can hide them. She’s young. I’m sure she can work it out later on. She could be the next Jaya, only more gorgeous. But TheVoicePH competition is fierce; she can’t afford another fault. Otherwise, Penelope will eat her alive.

Team Bamboo

7. Talia

As expected from a Bamboo artist, she’s got character, originality and tone. Nice performance.

8. Myk

Oh My Myk. One of my favorites in the Lives. True blue artist. Does his own arrangement. Smart mashup. Nice tone… sounds a little bit of Bamboo actually. I just love this performance. I downloaded it from Youtube, and put it in my ipod. I’m glad he has other songs in SoundCloud.com. I want to hear more of you. Bamboo’s comment “dinala mo Palawan dito” described it all! J I’m just afraid that pinoys won’t choose you over the power belters of the competition. I’m guessing, Myk will be in the Final 4.

9. Lee Grane

An early favorite that easily trended on twitter during the Blinds. Her Arms of an Angel made Bamboo cry, and me as well. I keep playing it on Youtube, and it’s now on my ipod. In her live performance, we feel her voice and heart again.

Too bad she has been lambasted on social networks, because Bamboo chose her over Dan during the Battle. I kinda agree, that Dan was a better performer there. And Bamboo was a strategist when he chose Lee. But is this not allowed by the Voice? Who said that the Battle performance should be the sole basis for judging? Too bad, this put Bamboo, Lee and the even other Camp Kawayan members in bad light. Netizens have been attacking them, some even on the personal level. This made Lee a Kris Aquino (it’s either you hate her or love her).  Haters will always see fault in all her performances. They’re blinded by their angst. As for me, she really did well on the Live. Yes, she can only sing one genre. Is that a problem? She’s like a Paolo Santos? Do we expect Paolo Santos to sing a Justin Timberlake? In comparison, can you imagine Mitoy singing Arms of an Angel and make listeners cry? Yes, there are enunciation issues as pointed out by the haters. But what the heck? Just close your eyes, hear her voice and feel the emotions. Even if her words were incomprehensible, you could feel her soul here. Just like Fredie Aguilar’s ANAK. Other nationalities didn’t understand what the song was all about, but they were crying when he sang it.  Then again, Lee will never win in The Voice. First, because for Pinoys the peaceful birds will never outshine the Airbus jumbo jets. Just max out your exposure on TV. And hope you, together with some Team Bamboo artists collaborate on an album. It’s gonna be a sure hit. Can we expect a hit album from a compilation of songs from Mitoy, Junji, Janice and Radha? I’m not sure.

Poor Lee. Good artist, but now has a lot of haters. At least you now have 13,000 followers on SoundCloud.com.  

By the way, Lea and Bamboo said it. They saw the Lee Grane in the Blinds again in this performance. Among the 4 coaches, the comments of Bamboo and Lea are the only ones that really put much weight. They’re like Simon Cowell. If they say bravo, you’d feel it as an achievement! As for the other two coaches, they’re like Paula Abdul, giving out too many WOWs and Congratulations sparingly, making these words less sincere when they came from them.

Result: Myk was saved. Thank God, the public appreciates his music. At least one of my favorites in Camp Kawayan has a little possibility of winning The Voice. Lee was saved by Bamboo (I like as well). But netizens are outraged! They want Talia over Lee. Poor Lee.

Team Sarah

10. Junji

Junji had an excellent Blinds piece. And fans expect he exceeds if not match it all throughout the season. For me, his audition piece was his best. His Battle and Live did not match his Bon Jovi song.

11. Eva

I’m not a fan of Mommy Eva. I was annoyed by her forcing the high notes during the Blinds and Battles. Just like Jessica and Emmanuelle’s performance during the Battle, Eva and opponent’s performance in the Battle was awful, but not as bad as Give Me a Reason, which was a total massacre. Why am I not a fan of Eva? She always forces to infuse her whistles and high notes (seems like off tune sometimes, but I’m not sure). But surprisingly, Eva went for the calmer piece in the Live, but again forced that super high note toward the end, thus the infamous Lea’s comment of “It doesn’t mean if you can, you should!” I kinda agree with Lea, but that comment would have been more appropriate for the past two performances of Eva, since Eva’s gigil to whistle and birit was more controlled (but not totally) this time.

  

12.  Morrisette

Beautiful performance. It’s sad when she said she feels insecure to tisay competitors. She’s not as pretty as the others (some netizens even said, she’s a combo of Sarah and Eugene Domingo). But don’t worry morri girl, you’ve got talent. If you win, ABS will make-over you. Outer beauty can be bought. Look at how pretty Angeline Quinto and Regine V now, very far from how they looked way back. Going back, she did well. But I don’t want her to be The Voice winner. She’s another Sarah G. Do we need another Sarah in the industry? Certainly not. Sarah is young and alive. She’s doing well in her craft; why do we need a clone? Unfortunately, she could be the winner. The public voted for her. Her Youtube live performance has the highest views. She’s a belter, which impresses pinoys a LOT! She’s a Sarah lookalike, and Sarah has fanssssss.

Result: I’m glad that among the 3, Junji was eliminated. I would have wanted Yuki over Eva though. Many others disagree for sure.

Next blog: Batch 2 of The Live Shows...