The Voice US 14: Live Playoffs (Part 1) #TeamKelly

#TeamKelly was alright. There were clearly strong vocalists - and I have a feeling Kelly will prefer them over the others - but I did enjoy a couple who was more laid back, but showed finesse and fantastic vocal dynamics and not just belting unnecessary notes.

On with the show!

06. D.R. King
Home
The verses were a tad weak and monotonous, but things got interesting after that. The pulsating groove of the song meshed well with his vocals and that made for a good performance. He did come back to the less interesting cadence of the verse, which somehow cut the impact of the chorus, but I digress.

05. Alexa Cappelli
It Hurt So Bad
She had a couple of good moments, but she was way too clumsy with how she dropped some of her notes, which made her sound a tad pitchy. Plus, there was something about the performance that came off a little too forced. Was it just me?

04. Kaleb Lee
You Don’t Even Know Who I Am
The performance didn’t excite me one bit, but this was a terrific showcase of his strong country voice. His pitch was on point, he seemed very much connected with the song, and there was a good amount of dynamics to this number.

03. Tish Haynes Key
Nothing Less For You
Good soulful voice, but this was a pretty generic vocal performance from Tish. She did infuse some interesting vocal choices towards the end that made me take notice, but that was too little too late, I guess.

02. Brynn Cartelli
Unstoppable
Not so sure about the song choice. Yes, she was good for the most part - she sounded almost too exhausted towards the end with all those wailing - but I felt that she pushed her vocals way too hard on this. Don’t get me wrong, she still looked like a star and I appreciated that fact that she took risks with this performance, but I’d prefer her with a more subtle yet strong vocal performance - if that makes senses.

01. Dylan Hartigan
Come Pick Me Up
I seriously had reservations with the song choice as it almost seemed too laid back for something as intense as the Live Playoffs, but the way Dylan navigated the song with finesse and emotions was quite captivating. His phrasing was beautiful, the falsetto towards the end sounded lovely, and there’s a palpable charisma in his performance.

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Brynn Cartelli