can tell you what he loves the most"
-- The White Stripes
Eventually we will have judges taking turns sexing up contestants they have turned their chairs for.
It was fun! Well, mostly fun. I'm sort of surprised to realize that the auditions might be my favorite portion of the show, that or the battle rounds. We watched both episodes back to back though and either I or the show was dragging towards the end.
Some of the banter was sharp, some of it was old out of the gate. I'm trying to remember if Christina usually starts out like she is enjoying herself or if this is a slightly different version. When she visits people backstage I always have the feeling that she is slightly disappointed that they don't seem happier that she is there. I started out pettily gleeful that Adam was not getting people on his team but as I slowly realized how much they were playing me became more and more irritated. Little Manchild indeed. Blake was Blake with maybe just a touch more sense that he would be the drunk asshole at the party, which is warranted when you are 4 of 7. And Pharrell, God, Pharrell.
This is where I admit to you that I watched (and quite enjoyed) a series this winter called The Taste on ABC. It involves four chefs (Bourdain, Nigella, Marcus Samuelsson and some French guy who is always on the verge of a stroke), they pick teams from auditions and compete against each other in challenges. The main gimmick of the game is pretty cool, the judges all blind taste so they could basically vote their own people out. Anyway the point is that Nigella Lawson is absolutely hilarious in this. She is a disaster. She pits her own team against itself and never fails to make the wrong decision and really has no idea she is doing either of these things. Both seasons her team has been the first eliminated. She isn't horrid at all, she can be quite nice and funny but she doesn't know how to play the game.
Pharrell seems a geniune sort of artist. I have a degree of faith that he means what he says, even though sometimes what he says, literally, does not string together a logical sequence of words, but understand what he is getting at. I loved how he sang with Bryce Wicklow even as I was a little eww about the bit as a whole. But I'm still not sure how much he understands how to win this game or even if he cares which is pretty great. He makes this show fun.
I took notes of course and for some reason am writing more than I used to because of the past two seasons of the TSAVFL -- there are now traits that apparently are notable enough to jot down. I WON'T APOLOGIZE. Couple of examples (I write in all caps and feel that is the best way to present them, I am not yelling):
I HATE THE ORIG LOVE HURTS BUT I LIKE WASHED UP BLAKE OPENER BETTER, THOUGH I DONT KNOW HOW MUCH MORE - B? B-? MEGAN LINDSEY - PHARRELL
YOU CANT FOOL ME AGAIN BRIA KELLY I MEAN BROOKE ADEE SKINNY LOVE WAS AWESOME BUT SHE IS BRIA KELLY PAT. SHE LOVES TIPS! - A BUT SHE IS REALLY BRIA KELLY - BLAKE good choice
Cantelope Girl was adorable. I hate cantelopes.
It was a super cool move to do a blind for the audience. Neither Deb or I would have voted for him.
Deb: "I want him on my team just because I want him on my team". I'll not say who.
Hey! There's a blog! I've not started one before so I'll be fiddling with the controls and stuff as we go along. The TSAVFL IS BACK, baby! The posts will be here.
Everything I say this season is with love,
Pat
I propose we all pick Rainbow Gathering names for our teams... Really, I'm serious.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree! Brilliant recap.
ReplyDeleteFantastic, a blog!! I'm so excited. Yes, Rainbow Gathering names, yes!! Erin and I were already texting some ideas, while we were catching up with the show last night!
ReplyDeleteI will admit without shame that sitting with my The Voice spreadsheet and taking notes made me blissfully happy. Drayson refuses to officially play, but see if you can match his comment to the auditioner:
"his butt is too sad"
"his dad is Larry Byrd!"
"his eyes are almost too close together"
"that kid can sing! I don't like him"
Yay, Pat's blog!!
I am going to go through my notes this weekend in order to try and figure these comments out. And I totally get the "I am not playing but I'm kinda playing on the side" Drayson thing.
ReplyDeleteIf you play Santigold’s "Disparate Youth”, the gif runs perfectly at that pace. Coincidentally.
ReplyDeleteI don’t have my notes on me, but:
ReplyDeleteThat was an awesome version of Don’t Think Twice Babe It’s Alright. Personally never got that song the way Dylan sang it. Wolfchild really made me connect with it. Not a sentence I anticipated typing.
Pharrell singing Happy with A Cappella Girl made me really uncomfortable.
When the final Bald Corrections Woman sang, her kids made me cry.
I felt bad for the Cantaloupe Family. They were total working class, can’t afford to take time off let alone fly to LA, can’t afford to send Cantaloupe Girl to auditions in NY. I hope they a compensated. Or is that naive.
X-tina already bugs me. Carol thinks she got butt implants. I’m no expert but I think their hers.
I think Pharrell realizes he is on a whole different plane than the other 3. He just smiles and tries not to upset them. I’m not saying he can’t be a shallow as the rest. I just think he can also be other things, and they cannot. If I were to hang out with 3 infants, I would know I was way smarter than them, but would be careful not to rub it in their faces. Like that.
I like the blog. It’s classy.
I liked Bald Corrections Woman. She struck me as a character straight out of Treme.
ReplyDeleteCantaloupe family made me want to reconsider cantaloupe! I'm not generally a fan of melon.
ReplyDeleteI love that description of Pharell so much, Jim!
I'm not sharing any of my opinions yet, because I'm working on my new (losing) strategy this year. However, I did watch Monday's episode, and there's already a person that, if the last two seasons are any indication, will end up on my team. #MusicBoxxSugahJoanzzzz4ever
I have to confess that at one time I was thinking of starting a pool on "who will Gina's first round draft pick be?"
DeleteI am worried about draft timing based on the episode descriptions coming up next week but we will discuss that more once I watch last nights show and put another post together.
Also if you are talking about who I think you are talking about oh my god I hated everything about that particular person.
DeleteBut I did end up loving our Sugar so hate is probably a strong word.
DeleteStrategy.
ReplyDeleteI gave that up a long time ago. I gave it up again just a little bit ago. I’ll give it up again, I’m sure.
Maybe that’s my strategy.
I'm serious about this season, so serious that I am even going to watch the Blind Audition Best of... I was fully prepared to hate on Xtina, but I find myself having moments of fondness for her. I don't know how many times I have uttered the phrase "I love Pharell" but I do, and Pat will just have to get used to me saying that because I'm sure it will come up, again and again. I am confused by the Adam schtick.
ReplyDelete