HOUSTON – Two coaches down, two to go.
Team Xtina
Devyn Deloera was paired up with Laura Vivas for some more Team Xtina female power belting. Devyn chose Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" because, and I quote, "without this competition [she] would have nothing." That's like, super poetic. Laura gave a spicy, salsa-filled performance of Marc Anthony's "I Need to Know," complete with a Spanish breakdown. While I felt Devyn's melodramatic drop to the knees was a bit much, I do have to hand it to her. She out-sang her opponent and earned her spot in the live shows.
Devyn Deloera and Laura Vivas
Continuing on, Adriana Louise took on "Already Gone" by Kelly Clarkson, and Celica Westbrook tackled Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never." This was hands-down Adriana's best performance to date, while I felt Celica kind of watered herself down with a Bieber number. It wasn't really even a contest, and we'll be seeing Adriana rock it out in the live shows.
Adriana Louise and Celica Westbrook
I've never liked Alessandra Guercio. So it was clear when she was paired up with heartthrob Dez Duron that he would be moving forward, but we still had to sit through a pretty mediocre karaoke attempt at Rihanna's "Take a Bow" while Dez delivered a slightly less blah (but not that much less blah) performance of Lionel Richie's "Stuck on You." Overall, one of the weaker Knockouts, and I hope Dez brings it in the live shows.
Chevonne and De'borah duked it out in the battle of the single word names. Once again, Chevonne was all bark and no bite, as she threw herself around the stage in a tornado of gold and glitter while kind of scream-singing Billy Idol's "Dancing with Myself." She truly was… dancing… with herself. She made it easy for De'borah to come in and just be her awesome self to the tune of "You Found Me," allowing her to melt and reshape those vowels into her own particular brand of groovocity. You go De'borah. I can't wait to see her parents go nutz during the live shows—am I right?
Chevonne and De'borah
One would expect some epicness from a match-up like Aquile and Sylvia Yacoub, but quite honestly this was not either of their nights. Aquile totally whimped out on Bruno Mars' big note in "Grenade" and Sylvia was all OVER the place during her rendition of Xtina's own "Fighter." Sure, Aquile was pleasant enough, and sure, Sylvia hit an impressive note or four, but both struggled a bit. It was no surprise that Xtina chose Sylvia to move on—she did sing an Xtina song, after all.
Aquile and Sylvia Yacoub
Team Blake
I just really love how real Blake Shelton keeps it. If he wants to see a country artist win this thang, it's best not to split the vote. So pairing up Gracia Harrison and Liz Davis made total sense. Unfortunately for Gracia, she had some weeeeeeird pitch stuff throughout her performance of Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," while Liz pretty much nailed all the ferocity and bad-assness that is required of Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder and Lead." Let's hope Liz Davis can fulfill Blake's country dreamz in the lives shows.
Gracia Harrison and Liz Davis
Now if you want to hear something awesome, listen to Terry McDermott's Knockout performance. I think it was probably one of my favorites, if not THE best one I've heard over the course of the Knockout Rounds. He might actually be the second coming of the Beatle-esque British rock movement of the 60's and 70's. But maybe I just think that because he absolutely slaughtered Paul McCartney's "Baby I'm Amazed." Either way, he is now HUGELY on my radar as a dark horse in this competition. Oh yeah, and Rudy Parris looked creepy singing a Chris Brown song, and I, along with the coaches and the entire live studio audience, was uncomfortable watching it. But seriously, watch Terry McDermott slay that number. It's so worth it.
Rudy Parris and Terry McDermott
Whaaaat is the big deal with Collin McLoughlin. He's been overrated from day one, and his performance of "Breakeven," THE most overdone song in the history of singing competitions except for anything by Adele or Whitney Houston, was consistently mediocre. So he lost to teenage punk queen Michaela Paige who pretty much killed Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield." All is right in the world.
Now the pairing up of Marissa Ann and Julio Cesar Castillo was confusing at first, but they're both these kind of pop, high-register adorable things, Julio obviously being WAY cuter than Marissa, especially since she won't stop with all the gross sexual moves that make me feel weird. Julio sailed through Justin Bieber's "Somebody to Love," being all precious and cute—I just want to eat him UP. That's really all there is to it. Marissa Ann, who could have been crazy awesome, kind of went off the deep end with "Lady Marmalade." Her youth and lack of experience really came through during this performance, and she just needs more time to harness that insane instrument that is her voice. She'll be a serious force to be reckoned with after a few years of training and experience. In the meantime, Julio will be moving on to the live shows!
Marissa Ann and Julio Cesar Castillo
Finishing up the Knockouts were Suzanna Choffel and Cassadee Pope, two of my favorites on Team Blake. This really came down to song selection, and Suzanna made an unfortunate choice of Bob Marley's "Could You Be Loved." I'm not knocking the song, but it was neither the place nor time for that kind of number and it cost her the competition. All of which isn't to diminish Cassadee Pope's performance of Maroon 5's "Payphone," which had some super awesome moments but overall, wasn't her best. Suzanna did look fabulous with that hair, though. A+ for The Voice styling team!
Suzanna Choffel and Cassadee Pope
And that does it for the Knockouts! Two nights, no fussing about, just how I like it. Each coach has a very distinctive team, and these live shows should be very interesting…
Be sure to check back in with the KPRC Prime Blog for more tidbits, recaps and video highlights.
Thanks for reading, and as always, thanks for watching KPRC Local 2!