cherele - vi$ions

the internet is calling this some neptunes realness, and i'm also getting vintage kelis realness.

THE VOICE REPORT FINALE AND WINNER EDITION

i hope that you haven't tired of my voice reports. this is probably the first time i've watched a full season all the way to the end. and i worked late monday which means i watched all four hours of the last two episode in succession last night. so i am going to hit you with all my favorites in a row, and there's a bunch, so buckle up.

jicyww, the first of two finale episodes included each finalist doing a traditional performance of a song selected by the coach, one duet with the coach, and one original songwriter-written song picked by the coach (matt wrote his own).


boyfriends chris jamison and adam levine do robin thicke's maybe-best-song "lost without u".


here's what damien as an actual solo artist might look like, singing a max martin-penned original song "soldier". boring.


more falsetto in matt's duet with adam singing an adam levine song from some movie?


we were also treated to chris jamison doing some timberlake.

on to the second part of the finale, which was an amazing collection of guest performances, some including contestants. there was so much to see here.


if you've never seen hozier do "take me to church" live, you should check this out. talk about the VOICE.


watch bruno mars do that funk song in CURLERS!!!!


damien joined j-hud for one of her songs and omg she looks incredible!


and i absolutely loved this performance by jessie j with chris j.

you may have noticed that nowhere in this post was craig wayne boyd mentioned. despite my complete lack of interest in his brand of musicianship, he won the voice. so WHATEVER. #teamelyjuh

i did love his "bring back" performance with fellow contestants danica, taylor brashears, and sugar joans. worth a watch.

also, please do not miss gwen vamping in this little christmas diddy by the coaches.

see y'all next season!

pharell debuted a new gwen stefani song about feminism

he played it off of his cell phone! i think it sounds awesome.

i wonder if they'll perform it tonight on the voice.

the voice report

so last night, you'll never believe this, but elyjuh kind of sucked it up. he decided to sing an unimpressive chris brown song, and here's what i'll say. the lyrics were all about a boy who really loves a girl, and all of the coaches basically had the same criticism: "this is not your story. you need to sing your story." so.

pharell still picked him as the winner, keeping him on his team for reasons of "unfulfilled potential"................................................................................


the loser of the knockout, despite clearly winning, was ricky who killed "wrecking ball". he received some admittedly excellent performance advice from taylor swift, and it really paid off. gwen stole him right away and declared "i feel like i just won the voice!"


my fave performance of the night was taylor john's rendition of "mad world".

gawker recap here.

the voice report

well last night was GREAT. and i have three favorites this time.


the first performance of the ep was this team adam pairing of energetic damian and really-good-but-a-little-too-meek kelli. they performed it pretty flawlessly, but she really didn't stand a chance. pharell was all "YAAAAASSSS".


i also really loved this version of "yellow" by matt and ethan. matt's a poor kid who chokes up when he says he just wants to be able to take care of his mom, so i am always rooting for him.


and if you only watch one performance from the night, you're going to want to watch toya and danica go to TOWN on "halo". the magic of this one was when, once again, alicia keys solved the riddle of how to make the performance great, by asking them "whose halo do you see?" and they both ended up having dead dads and started sobbing. then pharell said things like "sing it like you're in the bathroom" and "you're both standing there like backup singers but YOU ARE STARS." and then they killt it.

last round of battles tonight. gwen has one steal left, even though she keeps trying to last-second-steal adam's steals. not really working for her. and at this point i'm kind of glad because she is making interesting (terrible) choices with her team and i don't usually care for the results.

gawker recap here.

oh and you guys.... gwen stefani has a new song!

UPDATE: and a new video!

more voice battlez

there was another hour of the voice last night, and things were just fine. but i'd rather show you a second fave from monday night (also team pharell). what you don't see in the clip (which is why you should just be watching all of it), is when the two singers are doing everything perfectly, but no one's really feeling it. and alicia keys has an idea. she asks the band to play the "aretha franklin version" of the song. luke exclaims that he didn't even know that existed, to which alicia replies "we just invented it."

then everyone let their souls shine and it all came together. thx AK.

side note: griffin is from nashville and designs bowties. luke got his eye shot out by a paintball when he was a kid.

monday recap
tuesday recap

the voice report

THE BATTLE ROUNDS HAVE STARTED. this is all you need to know from last night!

second night of battle rounds TONIGHT!

#teamelyjuh

the voice report

well all the teams are set. last night didn't have really any contestants that i got super excited about. no elyjuhs, iykwim. i guess if i had to pick a best, it would be this southern white girl who murdered a beyonce song.

my favorite would probably be this teenager who had the good sense to sing some macy gray, which we all know is a crowd pleaser.

now that it's all said and done, i think that pharell has the most talented team, and will have a great chance at winning. i will be pulling for gwen, of course. she pulled out the "you like clothes?" bribe on another woman just because she's a woman last night, and that gag never gets old for me.

next week, we start the battle rounds, and the coaches bring in helpers! gwen trots out her husband gavin, which. and there was a preview of what happens when elyjuh (#teamelyjuh) sees pharell's guest coach, alicia keys. he lets out the highest pitched scream i've ever heard and my heart just soared! also, STEVIE NICKS IS COMING!!! this is a perfect time for you to start watching if you haven't already.

read the gawker recap here.

read about stevie nicks making HAIM her moon sisters here.