BWW Recap: THE VOICE Auditions Get Better, Judges Get Pickier in Episode Four

Hellooooo everyone! It's your neighborhood BroadwayWorld Recapper, and I'm here to tell you about the second day of the second week of the blind audtions. This one was IN. TENSE. Seriously! There were a lot of no's, the judges are definitely getting pickier as the blinds continue. The judges continued to gang up against Blake, saying that they want to dethrone him (Adam the most), but there were also some sweet moments between the judges. When Christina acknowledged she couldn't play the guitar, both Adam and Blake jumped to say "You're Christina Aguilera! Who cares??" I love when the boys look out for their girl!

This was definitely a tough episode, with more performances shown with no turns than I'd seen in awhile. Jason Kertson, a sixteen year old singer who gained Youtube Fame by playing two guitairs at once didn't sway the judges. Jennifer Newbury, who came from Sweden to America to pursue a better future in music didn't either, nor did Macey Estes, who was told that she sounded too youthful, and needed to progress. There was even a montage of more singers who didn't get chosen. It's obvious the coaches are looking for the best of the best, which will make this season even more interesting.

But where there were no turns, there were also plenty of contestants that made the cut, and even a few four chair turns!

The first contestant was Will Champlin, who came from a musical family, his father part of the 70's music group Chicago. Will charmed the judges with his rendition of "Not Over You", causing three chairs to turn: Blake, Adam and CeeLo. CeeLo starts off by saying that he'd "obviously taken an interest by turning around", while Blake congratulates Will on his passion in his singing, but it's Adam that sways Will's vote. Score one for team Adam.

The next contestant was Stephanie Anne Johnson, a classically trained singer who made her living singing on cruise ships out of Alaska. She sang "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" (one of my favorites!) and completely rocked the house with it. CeeLo and Christina both turned around, much to the despair of Christina. It didn't matter though, CeeLo's persuasion wasn't enough for Stephanie, giving Christina her ninth team member.

Sam Cernigila went next, and got two chairs to turn, Blake and CeeLo. Both of them congratulated Sam on how he sounded and looked, saying he looked like a "ladies man" and was very proper. With both judges vying for his "gentlemanly voice" on their team, Blake was who Sam eventually went with.

Everyone loves a comeback kid, right? Well, that's exactly what we got tonight. James Irwin, who came on the show last season and didn't make it, came back again this time, with an even more will to win. After working for a year on his technique and taking the advice of last season's coaches, he was ready to come back. And thank goodness he did. Within the first verse, Christina and CeeLo had turned, followed quickly by Adam and Blake. Adam added to the victory by saying he was pretty sure it was the first time someone had come back to a four chair victory. When finally asked to pick his coach, James chose Adam, bringing Adam's team up to nine people.

The next contestant started off a bit funny. As Olivia Henken walked on, Blake yelled "Be good, whoever you are!" It seemed like the judges may have been annoyed that day with the lack of turns as well. Luckily Olivia didn't disappoint, a country girl who sang a Carrie Underwood song got a turn from Christina and CeeLo, but surprisingly not from Blake. I don't think the fight's over yet, though. Olivia chose Christina, bringing Christina up to ten people on her team.

R. Anthony, coming all the way from Tampa, Florida, had decided to stop singing in order to support his wife and two girls. It wasn't until his wife told him to get back out in the world that he started singing again. His rendition of the song "Hall of Fame" got Christina and CeeLo to turn, but R. Anthony eventually went with CeeLo after some very persuasive words, speaking about how he enjoyed experiencing the performance.

This time, we got a montage of people who DID get picked, Kiara LaShae got picked by Cee Lo, Amber Nicole got picked by Christina, and Emily Randolph got picked by Blake.

If The Voice ever needed a classic country artist, they found it in Justin Chain. Singing "She's Country", he wooed Blake with his performance. All the judges agreed that Justin was "more country than Blake was" and that it was a match made in heaven. Single chair turn, easy pick!

The final performance of the night was single mother Ashley Dubose, a programmer analysis wih a love to sing. Singing Rihanna's "Diamond", she got all four chairs to turn within seconds of each other. Each coach brought out their best Car Salesman speech to give to Ashley to try to get them on their team, but eventually it was Adam that Ashley chose.

This episode left only one more opening Christina's team, two on Blake and Adam's, and three on CeeLo's. Looks like next week will be the last week of auditions. I can't wait to see how picky the judges are next week! See you guys next week for The Voice recap!

Photo credit: Photo by: Tyler Golden/NBC

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