NBC hosted a premiere for The Voice Season 4 in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, and pretty much everyone from the past three seasons joined the coaches on the red carpet. Scroll down to see pictures of familiar faces, from coaches Blake Shelton and Usher to Dia Frampton, Terry McDermott and Pip, just to name a few!
Todd Kessler may not have made it past the battle rounds in Season 3 of NBC’s The Voice, but he left the audience wanting more from the soulful singer. Thankfully, Todd and his band The New Folk are busy in 2013, and Todd recently connected with BFTV to reflect on his time as a member of Team Cee Lo and tell me what’s in store for the future – including whether or not he’ll reunite with Nicholas David.
Todd made a huge impression on Voice fans when he teamed with eventual third-place finisher Nicholas for an outstanding version of the Hall and Oates classic “She’s Gone.” If you need a reminder of Todd’s time on the show – or just want to relive that fantastic duet – you can check out the performance in full below.
How did Todd get to that moment? He earned his degree in Music Theory and Composition in 2005, and immediately got started on his career. “The day after graduation I was in the recording studio starting week on my first album [2006's We Are The Musicmakers],” he explained. “Right after school I really hit the ground running. I had been playing for quite awhile professionally on and off, and then about a year after I graduated, right around the time I finished my album, I went full-time.
“The Voice happened because I had some friends tell me about the show after the first season. I was a little skeptical because I never liked American Idol and never saw myself going down that path,” he continued. Todd was eventually persuaded to try out for the show’s second season, and “I made a couple callbacks but didn’t end up making it to the blind auditions. But then I went out again for Season 3.”
“I went into it really knowing that I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” he said of his experience on the series. “I went into it with a completely open mind and with the mindset that I’m just going to enjoy the ride. That being said, you definitely hear stories from other shows. You hear the nightmares of reality TV. You think ‘I really hope it’s not like that.’ And it wasn’t. Everyone from the PA’s to the casting to the producers, they treat everyone with such respect and treat everyone as artists. I was actually very plwasantly surprised at how well we were treated.”
Although his time on The Voice was relatively short, Todd has benefited from the experience both professionally and personally. When it comes to his career, “I’ve definitely seen a difference,” he said, even though he was also montaged during the blind audition phase. “I had released an album right before I was on The Voice [2012's Sea Fever], so I already had that going for me, but I have noticed a difference – more fans at my shows, definitely a lot more press. What The Voice did, it kind of gave me a story if you will. It gave something for people to latch onto.”
While he says the show’s producers did a “really good job” of getting his personal story out during the battle rounds, there’s one part that he wishes would’ve made it to air. “I’m an identical twin,” he revealed. “I think it would’ve been cool for people to see us together and see our relationship. One day on set during the blind auditions, we were doing some preliminary reality filming and my brother and my wife were kind of waiting around [while] I was over in hair and makeup, and one of the main producers walked by my brother and said,’”Todd, what are you doing?’”
What is Todd doing? He and his band The New Folk are hitting the road, and they’ve launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise the funds to buy themselves a van for their touring. They hit their $3,000 goal yesterday, but fans can still contribute until noon PST on Tuesday, and every pledge helps the band with other expenses. “Whatever money we raise is really going to help us out,” Todd said.
That’s not the only way his fans can support this tremendously underrated performer. “Just as an artist we appreciate so much when people share our posts or our videos. Any support we can get is so huge because there is so much competition out there and so much noise out there on the Internet,” he continued. “Any help we get from our fans is what makes us better artists and gets us out there to more people.”
You might even hear that much-requested collaboration between him and Nicholas in the future. “We talk about it every time we speak on the phone which is pretty regularly considering we both have new babies at home,” Todd said. “He’s still kind of working out what his obligations are being a finalist [on The Voice], and what he can and can’t do in terms of playing and recording music. I’m going up to Minneapolis this summer for some gigs and so we’ve been talking about doing something. It’s just a matter of logistics.” Fingers crossed that we’ll be hearing a lot more of Todd’s amazing voice in the future.
Todd and The New Folk are heading out on tour. You can find more information at their official website, follow Todd on Twitter (@toddkessler), and visit his YouTube channel. You can also give the band a listen by checking out the music video below.
(c)2013 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Excerpts appear at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.
More The Voice artist updates: Season 3′s Devyn DeLoera – the member of Team Christina who famously earned her spot by impressing her coach with a rendition of Christina’s own song “Ain’t No Other Man” – has released her new single, “Paralyzed,” on the heels of a recent music video with Ready Revolution.
You can download “Paralyzed” on iTunes here.
In early February, Devyn was also the featured artist in the Ready Revolution video “Don’t Forget About Me,” which you can watch below.
Next month, Devyn will be performing at Hollywood’s Boulevard 3. Tickets for her Friday, April 26 show are available here. Doors open at 7 PM and the show begins at 8 PM. The set is part of “Rock Now for Autism,” a benefit event for Generation Rescue sponsored by Los Angeles Magazine. Also participating is another Voice Season 3 artist, Team Blake’s Charlie Rey.
During Season 3 of The Voice, Devyn spoke with Big Red Chairs about the experience of working with Aguilera, who inspired her to consider singing in the first place. ““I didn’t expect her to be as invested as she is,” she said in the October interview. She would be emailing and all of these things to us. She’s always writing back right away. I didn’t expect her to care that much – she’s going above and beyond.”
For more information on Devyn, you can follow her on Twitter (@DevynDeLoera). For more on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs.
(c)2013 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Excerpts appear at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.
Photo credit: VC Photography
We’re just shy of a month from a brand-new season of NBC’s The Voice, and only about two months removed from America crowning Team Blake’s Cassadee Pope the winner of the show’s third cycle. What’s been happening with the show and its artists since Cassadee won the title?
As has been heavily publicized, Season 4 will be the first with new coaches Shakira and Usher, who were introduced in the fall. You can read some of their early thoughts on joining The Voice here. This may also be the only season for the new arrivals, as previous coaches Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green – who are on a break this time around – have expressed interest in returning for Season 5 this fall. However, it’s worth noting that nothing has been finalized yet beyond Season 4.
The guest mentors this year will be Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum (Team Adam), Sheryl Crow (Team Blake), Joel Madden (Team Shakira) and Pharrell Williams (Team Usher).
Season 3 winner Cassadee Pope officially signed her recording deal with Universal and has been hard at work writing and recording ever since, according to her Facebook. Universal released a CD version of her Voice performances here. Cassadee posted a video update on her progress here.
Runner-up Terry McDermott hasn’t slowed down since leaving the show, either. In fact, he recently released a new single “Pictures” via SoundCloud, which he co-wrote with Dave Burman. His performance of “Baby, I Love Your Way” with Peter Frampton from the Voice finale was retroactively released on iTunes here.
Here’s a short list of major developments with other Voice artists, past and present.
Team Adam: Season 3′s Amanda Brown appears on the soundtrack to the recent Universal release Identity Thief, starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy. Her teammate Bryan Keith brought some new music to his live show at the Gramercy Theater; you can watch the video here. Season 2′s Pip released his EP No Formalities; you can get it here. Tony Lucca is hard at work on his new album, and performing some new originals on the road, like “Reckless Love.” Kim Yarbrough is preparing for the release of her single “Brand New Day” (here’s a teaser video), guested on CBS’s Vegas, appears in the March 6 episode of TNT’s Southland, and her Nickelodeon project has been ordered to series. Katrina Parker is working on new music of her own after the successful funding of her Kickstarter project. Season 1′s Tim Mahoney released his next CD, Shine Through, which includes his Voice-related tune “Hey Adam Levine.” Casey Weston has a new album on the way; you can pre-order it here and stay tuned for an upcoming interview.
Team Blake: Season 3′s Suzanna Choffel released her new single “Guardians.” Season 2′s winner, Jermaine Paul, postponed the release of his post-show album Finally until sometime later this year; you can pre-order it at Amazon, although there’s no specific street date listed there. Season 2 alum Jordis Unga is in the home stretch of putting together her new album, and also won a Grammy this year for her work on Jimmy Cliff’s Rebirth, which took the trophy for Best Reggae Album. Erin Willett has recently posted a new cover.
Team Cee Lo: Season 3′s MacKenzie Bourg has dropped his debut single. Season 1′s Nakia is releasing his next EP, Drown In The Crimson Tide, and is playing a few tour dates in his home state of Texas. His battle round partner Tje Austin put out his new CD, Dreamin’ Big. Also, Paste Magazine wants to help you make your own Cee Lo Green.
Team Christina: Season 3′s Devyn DeLoera released a music video with Ready Revolution that you can find here, along with several covers on her Facebook page. She has new music coming your way on March 4. The busiest Voice alum by far is Season 2′s Chris Mann, who recently taped Chris Mann in Concert for PBS to be aired in March. Also next month, Chris will be announcing tour dates, one of which is New York’s Highline Ballroom. Lindsey Pavao put out her new single “No Revelation.” Moses Stone released new music; you can find “Beautiful Nightmare” here.
Season 4 of The Voice begins March 25. For the latest on all things related to NBC’s hit singing competition, you can visit Big Red Chairs.
(c)2013 Brittany Frederick. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.
Howdy, The Voice fans! You might have noticed things got a little quiet around here in January, and for that I apologize. As some of you know, I work as a full-time TV reporter, which means I had to go off and cover all the new shows coming out this month. On top of that, I got sick. So, I’ve condensed all the news from January into this one handy post.
Here’s some of the important stuff that happened this month:
Is there anything that I missed over the last month? Shoot me a comment and I’ll get it added to the site!
NBC has crowned its third ‘The Voice’ in just over a year – and on Tuesday evening, the winner, the runners-up and the coaches joined Big Red Chairs on the red carpet to give their final thoughts about the junior season of the hit series.
Team Blake’s pop-rocker Cassadee Pope was named the winner of the competition at the end of Tuesday night’s season finale, joining previous winners Javier Colon from Team Adam in Season 1 and Jermaine Paul from Team Blake in Season 2.
Her win was expected by most of America – and also by her fellow finalists, teammate Terry McDermott and Team Cee Lo’s Nicholas David. “Absolutely,” said Terry when asked if he had thought Cassadee would take home the title. “I think the biggest reason we had that feeling was because her songs had been reaching such a large cross-section of the public. Her continually crushing iTunes speaks volumes for itself.”
“She deserves it,” he continued. “The right person’s won.”
Added Nicholas, “I had a feeling i was going to go a long time ago – but I never looked at it like a competition. I’ve always just been blessed to be here.”
Even Cassadee, who previously stated that she tried not to be affected by the buzz, said she felt confident in her chances. “At one point I felt like ‘Okay, this could become a reality,’” she said. “I actually felt that back when ‘Over You; got to number one. I was like, ‘If this keeps happening I might have a shot.’”
It proved to be just one of her many charting iTunes hits that helped deliver her the title – as those iTunes downloads which were in the Top 10 singles chart at the close of each round of voting had their total number of downloads (which then translated directly into votes) multiplied by ten.
Her coach, Blake Shelton, had plenty to say about Cassadee’s victory and how he would continue to support her after the show, as he has done with many of his artists throughout the history of The Voice. “She knows that this doesn’t end with the finale of The Voice, [our] relationship,” he told reporters. “I don’t want to make one dime off of her in my life, but i do want to see her go on to be a superstar and end up in relationships in this business that are the best for her.
“If I’ve got to get in the way of something that she doesn’t like or she doesn’t agree with, then I will because I’m her friend,” he continued. “I’m her friend, I’m Terry’s friend, and I will be until the day I die. I just want to see them do whatever it is they dream of doing because they’re good people and they deserve it.”
His fellow coaches Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera – who celebrated her birthday on Tuesday – also weighed in on Team Blake taking the title for the second straight season. “It’s not about did the right person win,” said Christina. “I just think that she kept improving week by week and I think we all recognized that.”
Agreed Adam, “It was her moment. Cassadee excelled at the best times. We’re really happy, even though it’s not our team, we’re happy for Cassadee.
“We chose Cassadee, too, she just didn’t choose us,” he quipped. “We all chose the winner, damn it.”
The coaches closed the season with one final performance reflecting on their three seasons together. As previously revealed in September, Christina and Cee Lo will not be part of The Voice Season 4. They will be replaced by Shakira and Usher respectively.
However, both Christina and Cee Lo are on record as saying they want to return for Season 5, as the series has been renewed through that fifth cycle, which is expected air in the fall of 2013.
What’s next for each of the three finalists? “I’m going to release something quick,” said Cassadee, who asked her fans to support the new music she’ll put out.. “I have to, and it’s going to be great.” You can keep up with her on Twitter at @CassadeePope.
“I’m going home,” said Minnesota native Nicholas, who has family time and Christmas shopping on his to-do list, as “I haven’t really had time to do anything except the show.” He can be found on Twitter at @thefeelin.
“I’ve always been motivated by new music and being part of it and creating it,” said Terry, who added that he has “an idea and direction” for what he wants to do next. His Twitter handle is @TerryMacMusic.
All three artists reflected on the many accomplishments they’d achieved through being part of The Voice‘s third season. “There’s so many, from the chair turning to meeting all the people,” said Nicholas. “Meeting Cee Lo, to sing with Cee Lo, meeting Bill Withers, to sing with Smokey Robinson. it’s a freaking adventure of a lifetime and that’s the truth.”
“I’ve been lucky enough to meet some wonderful people along this ride and really form relationships with some great people,” concurred Terry. “It’s made it such a pleasurable journey. there’s been nothing negative about this experience.”
Cassadee was able to perform with her musical idol, Avril Lavigne, and remarked that “I met her and she just blew my mind with how nice she was and how thankful she was to have me there.”
Still, she added, she’s ready to see what the music world has in store for her next. “I’m absolutely happy to move onto the next chapter,” she added.
The Voice returns in just over three months – Season 4 premieres on March 25, 2013.
For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).
(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.
The Voice is less than 24 hours away from crowning a Season 3 winner. As they waited for America’s votes, finalists Terry McDermott, Cassadee Pope and Nicholas David joined Big Red Chairs on the carpet to share their thoughts.
The evening started with a touching tribute to the victims of the recent Newtown, CT school shooting, as the Voice coaches joined their live show finalists, host Carson Daly and social media correspondent Christina Milian for a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” while holding placards with the names and ages of the victims. If you missed that opening performance, you can view it here.
The tragedy also affected Cassadee later in the evening, during her repeat performance of Blake Shelton’s hit “Over You,” as the artists were asked to reprise their top renditions of the season. “I connected with it even more now because I was thinking about Connecticut and how horrible that is and losing people,” she said afterward. “I was thinking about that.”
The show had to go on, however, and the artists made the most of it with a trio of new performances as well as duets with their coaches. “[The night] started off on a somber note but we’ve got to celebrate life while we have it,” said Nicholas. “I was excited to end [my run on] the show like that. [A] piano was on fire, things were blowing up, people were hanging from trapezes, there’s a mini Cee Lo. It was too cool.”
Going out on a big note was definitely his intention. “After last week’s performance being so stripped down and emotionally raw, I was like ‘Let’s just blow some stuff up,’” he continued. “Let’s go for it.”
Another surprise on Monday night was Adam Levine guesting on Blake Shelton and Terry’s performance of Aerosmith’s “Dude Looks Like A Lady” – with the shirtless Maroon 5 front man channeling Axl Rose. According to Terry, Adam’s wardrobe choice (or lack thereof) wasn’t part of the plan.
“I have no idea,” he said when asked where it came from. “All the way through rehearsals, he had a shirt on. There was no headband. There was nothing. So that was a surprise to us. That’s why when I looked over, Blake is laughing his ass off, and I’m like ‘Really, what the hell’s going on here?’”
“We had great fun with that,” he added. “It was just a nice little touch. we were having great fun in rehearsal but that just finished it off.”
Terry was shocked when Blake revealed that his father, Terry McDermott Sr., had flown to Los Angeles to support his son in the finale. “To have him in the room to feel the atmosphere, to see the action, it was wonderful,” he said, though he added that his heart might be a little weak after all the surprise appearances from his loved ones over the season. “I was like, you could just put me through an assault course or an endurance test, you don’t have to keep wheeling out family members,” he quipped.
With their final performances in the books, all the three artists can do is wait for America to vote and crown a winner. Cassadee is the favorite to win if you listen to Internet buzz, but not necessarily if you ask her. “I try not to let it affect me because I feel like the moment you get comfortable in this situation, the moment it bites you in the ass a little bit,” she explained. “It’s been a great encouragement and it makes me feel good, but I’ve always kind of been my worst critic.”
Never having looked at the series as a competition, Nicholas was just enjoying the experience. “This has been the adventure of a lifetime,” he reflected, “but I’m excited to close the chapter on this adventure and start a new book. I felt this was a good way to end it.”
Teammates Cassadee and Terry are now head-to-head, but Cassadee added that it’s not an uncomfortable experience to compete against her friend. “It’s not weird at all because we’re individuals,” she said. “Our coach makes us feel very special individually. He doesn’t do favoritism or anything like that. There’s never been a weird moment.”
“Frankly, we’ve never really been that competitive,” agreed Terry, who could have summed up the entirety of the Voice season as he said, “We get on so well, and the way we’ve always viewed it is you just leave it on the stage and then other people decide. Nobody’s trying to sabotage or be negative. We want the best for each other and if you win, it’s because you deserve to.”
The season 3 winner will be revealed as The Voice wraps up its two-night Season 3 finale Tuesday at the special time of 9 PM ET/PT on NBC.
For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).
(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.
After a shortened semifinal performance show on Monday, The Voice sent one more contestant home on Tuesday.
Team Cee Lo’s Trevin Hunte – who had been an early favorite to take the title – was the unlucky man out, and both he and Voice host Carson Daly joined Big Red Chairs on the red carpet after his elimination was revealed.
“This has been the best experience for me in my whole entire life,” said Trevin. “I always say that I didn’t expect to make it this far, even past the blind auditions, so to have made it to the top 4 has been a great accomplishment for me.”
“I would have to say that I prepared myself for something like this,” he continued, adding that he wasn’t brokenhearted about leaving the competition. “I’m definitely super, super excited. I have an opportunity to relax and to see how things go on the other side as far as watching my fellow team member Nicholas [David] perform. I can’t complain. I’ll be here for the week and I’ll get to see Cassadee [Pope], Terry [McDermott] and Nicholas perform at the finale.”
He also had some parting words for his fans. “I just want to thank my fans so much,” he said. “Words can’t even begin to thank them. They’ve been so strong and they’ve been so passionate about me. I definitely thank them and I appreciate everything they’ve done for me.”
You can keep up with Trevin Hunte on Twitter (@Tamor_11).
Was Carson Daly surprised by Trevin’s dismissal? “A little bit,” the host admitted. “I didn’t know how it was going to all come down. I might have thought that Trevin was going to get saved, if I’m being completely honest with you. I’m not surprised that Nicholas is in the top three because he’s awesome, but just thinking about the fact that an R&B artist won these last few years, I was kind of thinking that maybe Trevin would have it.”
As far as what he enjoys most about being the master of ceremonies for the show, he said that “Just to be with regular folks is nice – people who I can relate to who love music like I do. I was a radio DJ not that long ago and made $18,000 when I was 24. I still can relate to the common person so I think for me to do the blind auditions where I’m in there with the families and grabbing the moms’ arms is what I love about the show the most. The journey of being with them, making them feel comfortable on a red carpet and a fake environment in Hollywood is something that I actually really enjoy about the job.”
In addition to being the host of The Voice, Daly is also known for using his radio show and late-night NBC talk show to help artists who have appeared on the series, no matter how far they advance in the competition. “I just had Jamar Rogers on my show to try and give him a little help with his promotion. He’s doing really great. He lives in LA now. It’s great to have Juliet [Simms] and RaeLynn and those guys are obviously doing well. Chris Mann is doing well,” he explained.
“At this point with Fallon and Kimmel and Leno and Letterman, there are so many places in late night where all the arrived celebrities can go and chitchat,” he added. “I really like my show to be about trying to help people still make that pursuit. My door is always wide open.”
He also pointed out something that stood out to him about The Voice‘s Final 4. “We’re not talking about somebody that stood in line at the Staples Center because they wanted to be on a singing competition to become famous,” he said. “We’re talking about people that care about music.”
Cassadee Pope, Terry McDermott and Nicholas David remain in the running to be named ‘The Voice’ for Season 3. The final performance show airs next Monday at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC.
For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).
(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.
We’ve now reached what previously were the finals for The Voice, but is now being billed as the semifinals: the Top 4. For the first time in the show’s history, only two coaches – Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green – have artists in the mix. Team Blake’s Cassadee Pope and Terry McDermott, and Team Cee Lo’s Nicholas David and Trevin Hunte, are singing to find out which three of them will go head-to-head next week for the title of ‘The Voice’ of Season 3.
Perhaps owing to the reduced field, Monday night’s performance show is only an hour long, and Carson reveals that it includes the Final 4 being sent back to their hometowns, similar to what American Idol did this past season with their finalists. Trevin reunites with his family at a homecoming party, then visits his middle school to speak to the kids there. Trevin’s performance this week is another ballad, “Wind Beneath My Wings”, which Carson says is dedicated to his middle school.
Adam tells Trevin that he’d coincidentally said “out loud, with witnesses” that Trevin should do that song. Christina relates her history with that song before saying that Trevin “took it to a whole different level.” Blake is skipped over before Cee Lo reminds his artist how “amazingly beautiful” his voice is. Warm and fuzzy moment: accomplished.
Next to be featured is Trevin’s teammate Nicholas David. First, audiences get to see him head back to Minnesota to check out his new house and be reunited with his family. After that, he and his wife head to the doctor to hear the heartbeat of their impending child, and as if that wasn’t enough, Nicholas gets a huge reception at the Mall of America including the gift of a golden microphone before heading off to play a hometown gig.
Nicholas’s song is “You Are So Beautiful” which he dedicates to his family. If you were moved by his past rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” this is even better – and a little bit surprising given that it’s his first performance on the show without his trademark sunglasses. Because this is still a TV show, the camera is sure to pick up multiple shots of Nicholas’s family as he sings, too.
Adam calls the performance “all I ever care about with any kind of singing” and says that he likes Nicholas as an individual. Carson then passes over Blake and Christina to get feedback from Cee Lo, who calls the rendition “so heartfelt, so beautiful” and it’s hard to disagree.
With that, the focus shifts to Team Blake, and to frontrunner Cassadee Pope. She heads back to her native Florida, where there’s a surprise party waiting at her mom’s house. After that, she is greeted by a crowd of supporters at a local radio station before she gets a key to the city of West Palm Beach and delivers a live performance for plenty of adoring fans.
Cassadee sings “Stupid Boy” by Keith Urban to try and secure her spot in the Voice finale. It’s another country song that proves that if she ever wants to step beyond pop-rock, there’s a whole second genre waiting for her. Her rendition gets another standing ovation from her coach.
Christina comments that “sometimes your voice sounds so right on that you almost sound Auto-Tuned.” Carson moves directly from her to Blake, who explains that the reason Cassadee has done country songs on the show is because of her ability to connect with a lyric, which lends itself toward certain country tunes. It’s an explanation that makes perfect sense, though I wonder: who was making that big of an issue of their song choices that he felt the need to publicly comment on it? It doesn’t seem like a big deal to me.
Terry McDermott gets to close out the hour. Fans get to follow Terry not back to Scotland, but to his adopted home of New Orleans. His return is a surprise to his son, who is overjoyed to see dad. Also on Terry’s to-do list is a trip to the local Hard Rock Cafe to dedicate some memorabilia from his time on The Voice and a performance at the Crown & Anchor Pub, where he’s shocked to see his aunt and uncle, who have flown all the way from Scotland to support him. “The look on his face was just absolutely brilliant,” says his aunt afterward.
Terry’s song choice is another classic rock tune by the most iconic of bands: The Beatles’ “Let It Be”. Carson prefaces this by calling it one of the most loved songs of all time. No pressure, Terry! But if he’s intimidated, our Scotsman doesn’t show it. With a minimal set design that rightly places the focus on the music and some support from yet another choir, he goes out there and sings his heart out. It’s a simple, heartfelt song and he doesn’t overdo it. He’s even got Adam singing along with him.
Carson calls the rendition “awesome” before throwing the discussion to Adam, who says “Thank God for you, Terry. You’re so wonderful.” There’s no time for Christina or Cee Lo, so it’s right to Blake, who says that Terry is one of only a handful of singers who should ever attempt that song. “In my heart, I believe that was musical perfection,” he adds. Can’t get a stronger endorsement than that.
Other than the four performances by the finalists, the rest of the shortened show is filled by guest appearances by Team Blake mentor Michael Buble (whose Christmas special airs later Monday night), Howie Mandel (promoting his new NBC game show Take It All, which broadcasts between The Voice and the Buble special), and the entirety of Team Blake Season 3, who are welcome faces, every one. If you didn’t know already, they sung on the version of “White Christmas” which appeared on Blake’s Christmas album. Oh, and there’s a commercial for Christina Aguilera’s new fragrance.
Monday also marked the arrival of Team Blake alumnus Erin Willett’s new EP, which includes a guest appearance from Team Cee Lo’s Jamar Rogers. You can purchase it on iTunes.
Which three artists do you want to see in the finale? And have you set your DVR for another shortened performance show next week as that finale ends a half hour earlier at 9:30 PM ET/PT? Most importantly, have you voted yet? Voting for The Voice is open until 10 AM EST tomorrow morning and the results will be revealed tomorrow night at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC.
For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).
(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse, Examiner & Fanbolt with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.
The Voice may have only one coach standing by the time the show reaches its December 17-18 finale.
Tuesday night, Big Red Chairs talked with the two artists who were eliminated from the NBC singing competition, and with their dismissal another coach was also knocked out of contention. Adam Levine saw both his remaining artists – Melanie Martinez and Amanda Brown – sent home after the results of America’s vote were revealed.
Coaches Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green each have two artists still up for The Voice grand prize, but with two more singers being eliminated next week, it’s possible that either of them could also be left without anyone in the race.
For his part, although he has half the competing field on his team, Shelton isn’t taking it easy. “Even though two coaches are eliminated, I’m not changing anything,” he said Tuesday night. “It’s listening that got Team Blake here and that’s what’s going to keep us here hopefully, is communicating with each other and being sure that when we do pick a song, it’s for a really good reason. It needs to be something that they’re passionate about every time they go on that stage.”
Melanie Martinez said afterward that she wasn’t surprised by her elimination. “Me and Amanda are really close, so we kind of felt it today. We felt that we were both leaving, and we felt really bad because we’re like ‘we’re both on Team Adam and he’s got nobody left,’” she said with a laugh, but added, “I think it’s not really about that. I think it’s just genuinely about being yourself and just showing who you are as an artist on the show.”
She added that she benefited from having The Voice come along at such an early point in her career. “I think that this is an amazing opportunity and I’ve grown as an artist because of the people like Amanda who’ve been through so much,” she said. “They’ve definitely taught me a lot.”
You can continue to keep up with Melanie via Twitter (@MelanieLBBH).
“I don’t feel any kind of negativity in regards to this entire experience,” reflected Amanda Brown. “I made it to the Top 6 and I feel like it was just a tremendous accomplishment for me. There’s nothing but love and positivity and hope for the future.”
“I feel really proud of those performances and really proud of the decisions that I made. I really left my all on the stage last night and so I don’t think I would have changed anything,” she continued. “I’ve definitely learned a lot about myself along this entire journey and I feel like the lessons that I’ve learned I most definitely will take with me.”
What will she take away personally from The Voice? “Definitely being able to work with Cee Lo and Adam was an amazing opportunity,” she said, “and just to be in the company of such talented young artists. I feel both honored and excited for their journey and excited for mine.”
You can continue to keep up with Amanda via Twitter (@Amanda__Brown).
Their coach was philosophical about Tuesday’s results. “You know, you win things and you lose things. If you win everything all the time, then you wouldn’t be human. It’s kind of how you respond to the losing and tweak things and change things and come back that much stronger for understanding the dynamics of whatever failures you make,” Levine said.
“No one failed. That’s what’s really crazy,” he continued. “So they didn’t get the $53,000 after taxes and the really crazy weird record deal that they are already going to get anyway. Those six people are winners and every single one of them should be proud for however much further they make it in the competition.
“I think actually, there are so many amazing allegiances that have been formed on the show that are so great that, that is the saddest thing to see end – the camaraderie amongst artists.
“It’s on to a new chapter for these guys,” he added. “Listen, the winner has to go home too. People don’t realize that. The winner probably experiences the biggest culture shock when they say to themselves, ‘Now what?’ The winner still has to go home. Don’t forget that.”
Cassadee Pope, Terry McDermott, Nicholas David and Trevin Hunte remain.
The Voice continues next Monday at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC.
For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).
(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.
