Tag: will terry mcdermott win?

Questions for Terry McDermott

Published on by Madeline Iva3 Comments

terry & casideeI wish I could ask Terry McDermott from The Voice these questions:

1)People constantly mention that success on The Voice depends on connecting to a song emotionally–how hard is that for you? Do you feel you’ve gotten better at it during your time at The Voice? Did you feel connected to the duet you did with Casidee?

2)How do you feel you’ve grown during the time you’ve been involved with The Voice? Do you think your singing has gotten better? How?

3) You quoted your father as saying that you can’t have success without sacrifice—and you said you’ve finally learned that lesson.  What were you reluctant to sacrifice before starting the show? What have you been sacrificing lately–and has it brought you more success?

MY FANDOM TRAJECTORY:

My own journey in becoming a Terry McDermott fan has been riddled with some embarrassment.  I’ve liked The Voice since it first started, but I have never rooted for a fan this much before. The fixation is on the level of a tween sighing over some random Jonas brother.  So embarrassing.

BLIND AUDITIONS: I thought Terry McD was a serious contender.  I thought he’d make it to the end for sure.  Yet I liked others singers just as well.  But it was Terry I kept looking up on the internet.

BattleBATTLE ROUNDS: Terry crushed it.  Then the battles went on and on and on.  I kept thinking: But they’re forgetting about Terry.  He was on a million years ago.  When do we get to see Terry again.  It’s also sad that they don’t sell the duets on itunes anymore.  His duet had to be the best, next to Amanda and Trevin’s.

KNOCK OUT ROUNDS: Even Terry’s opponent Rudy seemed to recognize that Terry had come out to obliterate him quickly and painlessly.  You can see Rudy nodded approvingly at one point during the knock out round. Yes, he’s wiping the floor with me. Knock out 

LIVE ROUNDS: First there was the embarrassing/obsessive phase where I couldn’t believe that I was hooked on wanting Terry to win as much as I did.  That blog post is here at Lady Smut. (Terry, it’s not completely 100% admiring, and I’m sorry for that. Sort of. It’s the squirmy embarrassment talking.)

Then I wrestled with the fact that while my heart was still for Terry, my head had to admit Casidee Pope was killing it.  I mean, putting aside the mysterious magical properties that makes Terry into Scottish catnip for grown women, is he really the best voice on the show? Could he really win The Voice–or at least be in the top two? That blog post is here.

terry4Finally knowing he sailed through the semi-finals with a little help from Sir Paul McCartney and is safe in the top three–I’m not sure how I feel.  He probably has the top two spot all sewn up.  Today I looked around the web and found out–wow–people on the internet really like him.  Yet like Terry’s son Liam, I’m over it.  For the semi-finals Liam gave dutiful, somewhat apathetic applause.  Maybe he was tired—Terry’s wife seemed tired.  Terry’s said he’s exhausted—the whole journey seems to have been just as exhausting for his family as well.

terry & trevinThe Voice really needs a Kelly Clarkson or Jennifer Hudson.  Casidee seems poised to become that break out star that takes things to the next level for The Voice. Meanwhile, on Tuesday Terry’s duet with Casidee was perfectly pleasant, even if the song seemed a bit low in range for him.  They seemed to be watching each other closely at the close of the song. If you looked carefully, however, it’s not that they were connecting so strongly, they were just looking at each other’s mouths to make sure they were singing the words together.   Perhaps it’s the fault of live shows–yet I wanted to see Terry pushing his boundaries in connecting to the lyrics and connecting with Casidee.

Classic Terry, he always leaves you wanting more.  Sure, I can live with him not winning the show. I can even live with him going back home to his family to rest and be happy after his moment of glory.  Never before though, have I wished so hard for someone to go out and leave his blood and guts on the stage.   My biggest hope is that Terry does this so he can walk away with no regrets that he didn’t sacrifice enough to win.

terry & casidee2That’s the sign of a true artist.  None of this gentle “we’ve already won” shite they were talking about in the after-show.  You give what you have to give, and then you give some more.  Not because it’s a contest, but because you feel compelled to connect with your tribe–in their hearts or in their visceral gut.  Look at Terry’s face–you can see he wants it. I think Casadee’s got our hearts.  Next week Terry’s only hope is to go for our guts and bring it home.

Place Your Bets–Can A Hobbit Win The Voice?

Published on by Madeline Iva3 Comments

terry1As you all know, I’ve been obsessing about Mr. Terry McDermott a lot lately and how he’s doing on The Voice.  The Scottish rocker has held on with his classic 80’s mojo–not to mention his hobbit hair.  What will he do next? Is he peaking at just the right time? Will he stay classic or try another contemporary song? Will he emotionally invest in a song so that he wins over more fans? Could he actually win The Voice?

Terry HobbitMy guess is he’s gonna stay classic–though I would love to see what he could do with a U2 song or a Coldplay ditty.  Yet he sings “in a straight line” as Cee Lo Green has mentioned before, and perhaps just reaching the notes wouldn’t be enough to successfully fill the footsteps of Bono.  I’d die to hear him sing “Beth” –a stripped down ballad by the rock band Kiss.  Or Led Zeppelin–anything by Led Zeppelin would make me happy.

As far as winning goes…man, though he’s my absolute favorite, I wouldn’t want to be a bookie right now taking bets on Terry.  There are so many other factors to consider.  Let’s look at his competition :

Trevina) Trevin Hunt: So far two men have won the voice–two black men.  Trevin, can you really win given this history? I suspect the show might work against him in this regard somehow–mostly by having Cee Lo Green his coach give Trevin some kind of funky song to sing.  The other week Trevin sang ‘The Greatest Love of All’ —bleh. Who’s brilliant idea was that? I see him as a strong contender to make it to the final two, however.  He’s got 41,000 followers on Twitter and probably picked up some of Amanda Brown’s fans.  He’s a classic definition of ‘the voice’ and yet despite the killer voice, despite the breathy soft-spoken voice (luv it!) I just don’t find him that interesting.

casadeeb)Things look just right for Casidee Pope.  She’s white and female–so she’d add some diversity to the winner’s circle.  She’s so well groomed to win the whole thing.  The girl hits her marks–she’s very present in the moment, and yet never makes a wrong move.  She seems emotional, yet sincere.  She has a story to tell, and she is consistently very strong vocally.  Most of all she’s got 250,000 twitter followers.  She’s been hitting the itunes charts and staying there for a long, long time–and all those votes will be added to the grand total.  So to most TV bloggers, Casadee is a done deal and it seems clear to everyone that knowing this sucks some fun out of the show.

So just for the sake of adding back in the fun, let me play devil’s advocate.  If you look at season two of The Voice, you’ll see that it doesn’t pay to peak too soon.  Casadee seems like she’s peaked with “Over”.  That song was genius, but since then she’s holding on, not surging forward.  It leaves just an inch of hope–just an inch–for the others. [But when you consider how they rigged the voting–not really.] Definitely final two, probably the winner.

nicholasc)Nicholas David.  I don’t think he’s going to win.  I love, love, loved his duet with Melanie the other week, and yet, he’s perhaps the weakest singer in the bunch.  He had 21,000 Twitter followers–so he doesn’t seem to have as strong a following as Terry.  Yet you never know.  If he keeps getting stronger, and is able to pull in the alternative folks who were voting for Melanie he might get there into the final two.  For instance, since Melanie was kicked off, he’s gained another 8,000 Twitter followers. Yet, ultimately, I think Terry can take him.

terry 2d) Terry himself.  He’s got 54,000 Twitter followers–more than either Trevin Hunte or Nicholas David.  He’s getting better at emoting the songs.  He’s flirting more with the camera, letting those dimples show, and you just get the sense that everyone on the show likes him.  Since many of the “characters” have left–including Cody and Amanda–he’s the lively force during the after show videos.  I think he’s got staying power.

I just hope that  he doesn’t let visiting friends or some travel to performances between episodes of The Voice prevent him from getting enough sleep.  Not enough sleep takes a serious toll on one’s voice.  Ideally, he should be sleeping long hours and then spending the rest of the day not speaking to anyone and sipping orange juice.  So get some sleep, Terry!  My sense is that he’s still aware of how fleeting this all is, and that he’s enjoying the moment while it lasts.

NBCUniversal's "The Voice" Season 3 Red Carpet Event - ArrivalsWill he make it into the top two? If Trevin doesn’t pull out something like he did with ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’, if Nicholas doesn’t perform some amazing feat of wonder like he never has before, then Terry probably will.  Casadee Pope seems like a lovely young woman and I have nothing against her except that she’s in Terry’s way.  Yet my first impression of her was “here’s another girl singer, sounding like almost all other girl singers ” and in the last weeks since performing ‘Over’ I’m slowly going back to that opinion.  So if she holds steady and the rest of America starts thinking the same thing, while Terry surges ahead with continued brilliance, then there is a wee melting snowflake’s chance in hell he might pull it off.

The key seems to be sticking to songs that are stripped down so you can see just how good he is.  For instance, he did a track that was never released that you can listen to here.  It’s excellent–with just the guitar you see something of a blues influence on his rock voice.  It’s in the very best kind of American-blues-influences-British-Rock style.  You find the same thing with the Rolling Stones or Robert Plant.  Let’s hope that wise heads manage to put him in that space this week.  Look, even if Casadee wins, we at least want the chance to hold our breath up to the last minute thinking she might not.