The Voice Recap: Night 4 of the Blinds Saves the Best for Last — Feast Your Ears On the Dazzling Performance
Night 4 of The Voice’s Blind Auditions was pretty much par for the course for Season 27 so far: Some OK performances and a couple of pretty good ones. But at the end of Monday’s episode, the sing-off ushered onto the stage a showstopper whose vocal was so ear-opening, she not only moved all four coaches to swivel their chairs, she wowed even me. What did you think? Read on, and we’ll discuss.
Kolby Cordell (Team Legend), “Never Too Much” — Grade: B | Kolby’s take on Luther Vandross’ smash inspired both John and Michael to turn their chairs for him. But, although I appreciated the grittiness that John noted Kolby had added to a vocal that’s usually delivered smoothly, the overall impression was appealing, not amazing.
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Hailey Wright (Team Kelsea), “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” — Grade: B | Blessed with a voice that Kelsea called “undeniably country,” this two-chair turn seems destined to follow the same trajectory as Season 24’s Ruby Leigh. I liked Hailey but didn’t love her — until, that is, Kelsea had her sing a few bars of LeAnn Rimes’ “Blue” to highlight her yodel.
Fran Posla (Team Adam), “What the World Needs Now Is Love” — Grade: B | At first I was really vibing on this two-chair turn’s warm and tangy vocal. But as her performance went on — maybe I was distracted by all the faces she pulled? — I became less sold and downgraded her from a B+ to a mere B. Did you, as John did, hear Corinne Bailey Rae in her voice?
Dimitrius Graham (Team Michael), “Get You” — Grade: A | This fantastically tatted opera singer performed Daniel Caesar’s ballad with a vocal that was as light and lovely as a dream from which you wouldn’t want to wake. Michael was so taken with the sexy performance that he said he expected a baby boom to hit nine months after this episode’s broadcast.
Olivia Kuper Harris (Team Legend), “Dream a Little Dream of Me” — Grade: A | Speaking of dreamy voices… Olivia’s was to die for, rich and airy and so beautiful that she could probably tell ya to [bleep] off and still make you feel like she’d just whispered a sweet nothing in your ear. Stunned that Michael, of all people, was the one holdout among the judges.
Kaiya Hamilton (Team Michael), “ICU” — Grade: B | From the jump, this two-chair turn impressed with her range and control; the wedding singer spun notes like they were ribbons on a stick. Maybe if her number had been a little more dramatic, she would’ve earned a third and fourth chair chair turn?
Antonio Ramsey (Team Legend), “Every Little Step” — Grade: B- | Bobby Brown’s hit was obviously the wrong song for Antonio to audition with. It allowed him to show off some fancy footwork, but the vocal performance was meh. Only after John asked him to sing something else — he chose H-Town’s “Knockin’ da Boots” — did he inspire the EGOT winner to use his Coach’s Replay.
Robert Hunter (Team Kelsea), “’Til You Can’t” — Grade: C+ | “Outta my way!” Kelsea exclaimed the minute she heard Robert’s country-through-and-through voice. I probably would’ve held out till the chorus; that’s when we really got to hear the power in the two-chair turn’s pipes. Of course, by the end, I would’ve regretted turning, because that last note was some kinda shaky.
Lucia Flores-Wiseman (Team Adam), “La Llorona” — Grade: A+ | Before the four-chair turn’s audition, she acknowledged that it was a risk to sing in Spanish. But the 22-year-old made the gamble pay off in a big way, delivering a nuanced and passionate vocal that was hands down the most exciting thing we heard all night. Adam marveled that Lucia had had it all, not just the voice but the precision. (Hear for yourself below.)
And in Monday’s dreaded abbreviated Blinds, Michael recruited Aaron Rizzo after what sounded like a pretty limp rendition of “Drops of Jupiter” and Kameron Jaso following a more promising take on “This Town” — though what could we really tell from the few seconds we heard of either of them? For his part, John was intoxicated enough by Nell Simmons’ soulful “Love Hangover” that he added the one-chair turn to his team.
The Voice’s 20 Best Performances of All Time, Ranked: The Good, the Badass and the Downright Amazing
Do you agree Lucia was, by far, the best of the night? Vote for your favorite performance below, then hit the comments.
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