Two thirds through the blind auditions of the fourth season of the “The Voice, ” I’m wondering why the contestants bother dressing up for the occasion at all. After all, the whole idea is that they are judged by their vocals alone, why bother putting on a killer outfit and going through with hair and makeup.
For one ex-model who sang Tuesday, it was a relief for once not to be judged on her looks. Another thought his voice was so unusual, they’d turn around to see who was behind it — and he’d surprise them with his long hair (though, by singing a Joe Cocker song, what did they expect him to look like?).
Certainly the judges don’t care about what they’re wearing. They wear the same clothes every night, probably to expedite editing. And maybe too much of the episodes are spent with the judges luring singers, crowing about their mentoring skills and insulting the others in the most good natured way possible.
It only left time in the hour-long episode for only about six full performances, five of whom were picked up by judges for their teams.
First up was Audrey Karrasch, 20, of Reno, Nev., whose mother says, “I’m so excited I could pee.”
Karrasch is the former model, who kicks off singing Jesse J’s “Price Tag.” Blake Sheldon is first to turn around, and then Usher, but she quickly goes for the R&B star.
Next up is the long haired dude, Brandon Roush, 19 of Louisville, who works with autistic kids. He does the Joe Cocker version of “With a Little Help from My Friends” (apparently nobody does the original Beatles version) and Shakira is the only one who turns around He says he wouldn’t want any other judge, and we’ll just have to believe him.
A street performer from Minneapolis, Betsy Bara, 22, sings a credible version of Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain,” and though she’s as good as anybody, none of the judges turn around. They seem to act as if doing an Adele song is trying the impossible. She goes back to the streets with tears in her eyes.
Yet another longtime rocker, Patrick Dodd, 35, says he’s had to be a landscaper for a decade to support his family, but with dreadlocks grown, he says he wants to give it another shot. He sings a song about his hometown “Walking in Memphis,” and Shakira and Adam Levine turn around to claim him; he “goes with my gut” and chooses Adam.
When it looks as if nobody will turn around for Orlando Dixon, 24, of Washington, DC when he’s singing Ne-Yo’s “So Sick,” Usher finally does, and backstage Dixon’s mother and sister scream as if they’re being attacked.
The final contestant, Savannah Berry, 17, of Houston has all but Usher pressing buttons for her after she sings Taylor Swift’s “Safe and Sound.” Blake stresses his country footing and the fact that one of her influences, Miranda Lambert, happens to be his wife and easily wins her over.
Some of the auditions were covered in quick montages, which is fine for the ones who were not picked, which in the Tuesday show included Jewl Anguay, whose vocals on Jordin Sparks’ “Battlefield” are called shaky; the transitions and runs in Ginette Claudette rendition of Alicia Keys’ “No One” and Chris Johnson’s rocking version of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” starts off sounding lost.
Fine. But when they summarize singers who were actually chosen for judges’ teams, it does them a great disservice since the the behaved Trevor Davis, who is heard only singing the four words of the title of his song “Keep Your Head Up” is on Blake’s team; C. Perkins (apparently not Carl) is heard doing seconds of “Because of You,” is chosen by Shakira; and Adam Levine is the only one to turn around for Aagina Alvarez after she sings a Shikara song, “Beautiful Liar.” As with other returning singers, Adam says “I’m so happy it was you again” and generally pretends he remembers who she is. How could he recall her? We certainly don’t.
And it’s not clear whether viewers will remember any of the auditions this year either, even if they go on to win.
At the end of Tuesday’s show Shakira is closest to filling her 12 slots, with nine; Adam and Usher both have eight artists and Blake Shelton has seven. It will take only two episodes next week to complete their rosters, before chairs stop spinning and the next phase of the competition begins.