The Voice (US) - The Final

Each act sings twice- one cover duet with their coach, and one original solo song.

TEAM ADAM
1. Javier Colon - Stitch By Stitch.
Rodney Jerkins is a pop/RnB legend, and a wise choice as Javier's songwriter. Adam's vocal direction during the recording session was excellent, as Javier lacks vocal discipline (à la Xtina). The song itself is very good, if a little bland, and Javier did a decent job with what he had to work with, keeping it nicely restrained- but it wasn't the OMFG performance I was expecting from him. Even the judges seemed disappointed. I'd buy the single though.

TEAM BLAKE
2. Dia Frampton (with Blake Shelton) - I Won't Back Down (Tom Petty).
Their voices blended nicely, but when Dia went solo, her voice sounded very feeble. Whilst I acknowledge that her voice is something different, it still isn't working for me.

TEAM CEE-LO
3. Vicci Martinez - Afraid To Sleep.
The song was okay, it suited her well, but did little to showcase her vocals. You could feel a bit of the P!nk vibe, as the song was written by one of her collaborators. Vicci's stage presence was phenomenal, however.

TEAM CHRISTINA
4. Beverly McClellan (with Christina Aguilera) - Beautiful (Christina Aguilera).
Hmm. I love this song and I love Beverly. But this is exactly the kind of thing I feared from getting Xtina to coach a vocalist's performance. The melody was all over the place, and it just felt self-indulgent to me, rather than the emotional ride it should have been. I cannot stand singers who put their own vocal gymnastics above the song they're singing. It's like someone belching the alphabet. "Look what I can do!" "Yeah but it sounds shite." Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. No, Xtina. No, no, NO.

TEAM BLAKE
5. Dia Frampton - Inventing Shadows.
Her songwriter has worked with Adele, and the song's melody was strong- but Dia's vocals dragged the song down, particularly on the chorus, when it should have soared. I really hope someone covers this soon.

TEAM ADAM
6. Javier Colon (with Adam Levine) - Man in the Mirror (Michael Jackson).
Nicely done. Javier came close to overdoing his vocals at times, but credit to him for paying both Adam and the song their due respect.

TEAM CHRISTINA
7. Beverly McClellan - Lovesick.
Gutted that Beverly didn't sing a new Linda Perry song (especially as she was RIGHT FUCKING THERE) but it was a style that certainly suited her, even if there wasn't much of a song there. Beverly is a consummate performer, and owned that stage. A big improvement on the duet.

TEAM CEE-LO
8. Vicci Martinez (with Cee-Lo Green) - Love is a Battlefield.
Wow! They both turned it up to 11 for this one. Reminding me more of Ruslana's Ukrainian Eurovision winner "Wild Dances" than anything see on this show before, it was the perfect song and delivered perfectly.

Final thoughts (before results).
It's a tough one to call. It sounds like Dia has gone down very well in the US, apparently achieving an iTunes #1, and she has one of the better original songs (though all were surprisingly strong). But she is hands-down my least favourite. Javier probably has the best song and (potentially) the best voice. But you can't rule out Vicci and Beverly, despite them having the two weakest songs. Whilst I hated Beverly's duet, she smashed it on her original song, whereas Vicci's vocals sounded out of her depth on her original song, and amazing on her duet.

RESULTS SHOW

TEAM CEE-LO
1. Vicci Martinez (with Pat Monahan from Train) - Drops of Jupiter.
Another perfect match, Vicci did a great job again. She really thrives in a duet situation.

TEAM ADAM
2. Javier Colon (with Stevie Nicks) - Landslide.
Beautiful. Simple, with gorgeous harmonies, their voices melded beautifully. Surprisingly emotional.

TEAM CHRISTINA
3. Beverly McClellan (with Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic) - Good Life.
A strange choice- not only to put these two together, but this of all OneRepublic songs. The vocals- and song- were terrible. Thankfully the voting lines are closed. Xtina is really pissing over Beverly's career.

TEAM BLAKE
4. Dia Frampton (with Miranda Lambert) - The House That Built Me.
Nope. Still don't get her. It's a lovely song, and the performance was quite similar to Landslide... and yet SO different.

So the results are in, here we go... I'm curious to see the manner of the reveal as much as the result. These performances have certainly closed the gap.

The top two are Dia and Javier. They were #1 and #2 respectively on iTunes last night. And yet the winner is... Javier. Fair play. And congratulations to the best coach, Maroon 5's Adam Levine.

Can't wait for the UK version... Watch this space!

The Voice (US) - Semi finals

Okay, so it's the next round of live solo performances...

TEAM CHRISTINA
1. Frenchie - Like A Prayer (Madonna)
Inspired choice, crossing the pop lead with the gospel backing in one person. Unfortunately, it didn't entirely work, and at times she sounded like she was struggling vocally. Bits of it were great, though.

5. Beverly - Thrill Has Gone (B.B. King)
Not my kind of music, but that was fantastic.

TEAM CEE-LO
2. Nakia - Whataya Want From Me? (Adam Lambert)
A great stage performance, and the vocals were great- but no, Adam (Levine), the original is sung better.

8. Vicci - The Dog Days Are Over (Florence & The Machine)
Top job. Nice to hear the song sung in a very different voice to Florence's screech.

TEAM BLAKE
3. Dia - Losing My Religion (R.E.M.)
In terms of unique vocal identity, it's Team Blake all the way, Dia and Xenia each having very distinctive and recognisable voices. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of either, but Dia was definitely better this week than last week's snoozefest. She is a talented musician, but her voice just doesn't do it for me.

7. Xenia - The Man Who Can't Be Moved (The Script)
Blake knows he has a unique voice here, but is really missing the mark with his song choices. This is not a pop voice. Give her some Norah Jones or something. Xenia's voice does even less for me than Dia's, but even I can tell she isn't being served well by coach Blake.

TEAM ADAM
4. Casey - I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton)
Wise words from Adam, in terms of AVOID WHITNEY AT ALL COSTS! She may have overcompensated by leaning too Dolly instead, but it was a sweet and vulnerable performance of what can be a real dirge.

6. Javier - Fix You (Coldplay)
More props to Adam for insisting Javier sticks to the melody. It was an oddly rocky arrangement that drowned out Javier's vocals slightly, but definitely his best so far for me.

RESULTS

Each coach has 100 points to split between their acts, and the American public get 100 points per team, giving each team 200 points in total.

TEAM CEE-LO
Cee-Lo gives Nakia 51, Vicci 49, but after watching it back, regrets not giving 50/50.
America gives Nakia 25, Vicci 75.
Vicci is through with 124 to Nakia's 76.

TEAM ADAM
Adam gives Casey 35, Javier 65. He says Casey is 18, so will have plenty of chances in the future; Javier's already had a few, and this might be his last.
America gives Casey 27, Javier 73.
Javier is through with 138 to Casey's 62.

TEAM BLAKE
Blake gives Dia 50, Xenia 50.
America gives Dia 56, Xenia 44.
Dia is through with 106 to Xenia's 94.

TEAM CHRISTINA
Christina gives Frenchie 50, Beverly 50.
America gives Frenchie 43, Beverly 57.
Beverly is through with 107 to Frenchie's 93.

I can't say a single result was a surprise, and it looks like it could be a decent final!

The Voice (US) - Quarter finals

Thought I'd chuck in a few thoughts about the new US talent series, The Voice.

Firstly, I love the format. The blind auditions, the duet battles, the judges' brutal decisions of which of "their" contestants go through. X Factor this is not.

However, the biggest problem and success of the X Factor is the judges' rivalries. On The Voice, the critiques of each others' acts are far too nice for my liking. So here are my honest thoughts on the first round of live songs.

TEAM CHRISTINA

1) Raquel Castro
Song: Ke$ha, "Blow"
Frankly, terrible. I don't know what the judges heard.

2) Beverly McClellan
Song: Melissa Etheridge, "I'm the Only One"
Excellent, but very copycat. She needs to find her own identity.

3) Lily Elise
Song: Fergie, "Big Girls Don't Cry"
Very good, mostly. Nicely restrained, but it all went a bit wrong at the end when she attempted the runs, and failed spectacularly.

4) Frenchie Davis
Song: David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland, "When Love Takes Over"
A brave choice, and she pulled it off.

TEAM BLAKE

1) Jared Blake
Song: Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"
Very good, but very copycat. Great stage presence, he performed like a pro.

2) Dia Frampton
Song: Kanye West, "Heartless"
Stood out in that it was nicely stripped down. She sang it well, but my god it was BORING!

3) Xenia
Song: Jessie J, "Price Tag"
Ouch. Xenia has a very infectious voice, with something oddly unique and familiar about its cosy tone. But this was the completely wrong song choice for her voice. Terrible.

4) Patrick Thomas
Song: Lee Ann Womack, "I Hope You Dance"
Scotty McCreery 2. 'Nuff said.

TEAM CEE-LO

1) Tori & Taylor Thompson
Song: Beverly Sisters, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"
Given these girls have limited talent, they actually did a decent job. Doing Bananarama vocals, rather than their previously poor attempts at harmonies, worked in their favour. No way they're going through though.

2) Vicci Martinez
Song: Dolly Parton, "Jolene"
An unusual choice, but her voice and the arrangement melded beautifully, bringing out the melancholy of the song effectively.

3) Nakia
Song: Kings of Leon, "Sex on Fire"
He gave it his all, and his voice was more than up to the job. Personally, I think he deserved better.

4) Curtis Grimes
Song: Robert Palmer, "Addicted To Love"
A great idea- a country version of Addicted to Love. Unfortunately he didn't have Patrick Thomas, he had Curtis Grimes, and his vocals were not up to the task. Dreadful.

TEAM ADAM

1) Casey Weston
Song: KT Tunstall, "Black Horse & Cherry Tree"
Very good. Glad she listened to Adam and went up-tempo.

2) Devon Barley
Song: One Republic, "Stop and Stare"
Much like Xenia, I think it was not a good song choice for Devon's voice, which has a smoky tone, rather than a belter, which this song requires. I still hope he gets through though.

3) Jeff Jenkins
Song: Carrie Underwood, "Jesus, Take The Wheel"
Yet another poor song choice. Either that, or Jeff isn't as good as we thought he was. The low range was too low, the high notes were not what they should have been. Oh dear.

4) Javier Colon
Song: Sarah McLachlan, "Angel"
He has a fantastic voice, and is surely the favourite to win. But only bits of this were recognisable as "Angel" as he warbled his way around the melody, rather than sang any of it. We have one David Archuleta, we don't need another one. Or the one we have, for that matter.

RESULTS

TEAM CHRISTINA
America saved Beverly.
Xtina saved Frenchie.
Good result!

TEAM BLAKE
America saved Dia.
Blake saved Xenia.
Not so good a result.

TEAM CEE-LO
America saved Vicci.
Cee-Lo saved Nakia.
Awesome result!

TEAM ADAM
America saved Javier.
Adam saved Casey.
The two best performances went through, but poor Devon.