Jewel starts the show saying she had a cool week hanging with the finalists. She introduces Grammy-nominated group Little Big Town, who perform their latest single, "Good As Gone." Karen's mic sounds good, but the other three are too low, and you can't hear the harmonies very well.
Troy says that America voted in record numbers for their favorites last week. We meet the judges, Blake Shelton, Anastasia Brown and Randy Owen.
Jewel asks Blake who he thinks will win. He says Angela Hacker. Anastasia says Whitney Duncan. Randy Owen says Angela was the one to beat in the first episode, and David made it a two horse race in the second episode.
The first finalist to perform is: Meg Allison.
In her pre-recorded video, Meg had this to say:
"(Meg is talking to Jewel.) Meg: When I lived in Chicago, I felt I was too country for Chicago, but I'm not country enough for Nashville. Jewel: Yeah. Meg: So, I'm trying to find the balance. Jewel: How do you take the criticism of the judges? And, how do you balance that into your game plan, and how does that work? Meg: I don't ever really know what they're gonna say. So, I think I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing, and hopefully, it just comes off as just me. Jewel: Such as song selection is so important, about getting your personality across. We're at week 3 now. What song do you think you're going to do next? Meg: Well, since Randy didn't really like my song selection last week, I'm actually singing an Alabama song this week. So, I hope he likes it. And, I know he knows it, so that's good. Jewel: Well played."
Meg performs "Take Me Down."
Randy: Meg, it's great to see you smile. You've got a beautiful smile. Use your smile. And, I'm gonna do something a little different. I wanna say something about the man that wrote that song, Mark Gray. I want everybody to extend their prayers to him. I thought you did a remarkable job. I love the way you dressed tonight. I thought it was very, very unique. Very showy. And very suited to what you're about.
Meg: Thank you.
Anastasia: Meg, your arrangements and your vocals are spot on. I think you do the best arrangements of the entire crew. But, your performance was just about as alive as overcooked pasta. And that's not going to work.
Blake: Man, I'm a little bit protective of Meg, because I think she gets better each week. And, I don't think anything we say... she's doing it on her own. And for some reason... And I got a question for you... Is it possible to make me feel like a proud father, and turn me on at the same time? Is that weird? Ok, that's kind of sick, isn't it? I'm sorry. She's getting better every week. I'm proud of her.
Meg: I don't know how to take that.
Jewel: So, ok.. something I really struggle with in the music business is genres. Everybody's like, are you folk, are you country, are you pop? How do you think you fit in? What do you think about the whole genre discussion?
Meg: Um, you know, I think I'm kind of something different to country. So, I'd like to add something different. And, I think I've got a lot of folk in me, and a lot of blues, and I think I would be a good addition.
Jewel: You already are. Meg Allison, everybody.
My thoughts: I really like Meg's voice, but she started out a little shakey, I thought. Actually, maybe it's just that she doesn't do as well with her lower register? Much better song choice than last week, but still undecided what I think.
The next finalist to perform is: David St. Romain.
In his pre-recorded video, David had this to say:
"(David is talking to Jewel.) David: Thank you for hanging out with me. I appreciate it. Jewel: Not at all. I'm excited. It's just been a fun process to watch. Everybody's so different, and so unique. David: Oh yeah. Jewel: You obviously are really comfortable on stage. Comfortable with selecting songs and all that. What was kind of unexpected about the show? What surprised you about it? David: My heart was racing last week. Big time. But, once I felt the comfort, and just relaxed, and just kind of focused on what I was doing... Jewel: People are fascinated in seeing who you are, and how you respond to situations. So, if you're nervous, you kind of just accept it. David: And then you can enable it to do work for you. Jewel: Yeah, people, they don't feel like you're hiding something. And so it's kind of cool. You can take a beat before you sing, and be like, 'it's mine.' From here on out, it should just be like 'bring it on' exciting, because you've got it."
David performs "Life is a Highway."
Blake: David, you should remember this. Women really love you. I can tell that, which makes me jealous. But, don't forget to sing to them, as much as you can. That's a great song, but your strength is singing to the girls. (asks the crowd) Don't you girls agree?
David: They love you too.
Anastasia: You know, Blake is all about the girls (to Blake) I tell you. You've got to focus on the music, man. (to David) No, I do agree with Blake that that song choice, I was really confused by. Because your voice is so beautiful and rich, and you can woo the women. And that song does not. But you rocked it out. And, I want you to take the glue off your shoes, because you didn't move a minute, and you could have. So, come on, move around.
Randy: David, that performance reminded me of a basketball game in double overtime, that started out with you twenty points behind, and when you finished, you won the ball game.
Jewel: Ok, you are such a ball of energy. You guys should see him, like day after day. This guys like a little terrier. Energy. So, I'm gonna give you 20 seconds. You can say anything you want to your fans, just go.
David: Well, thank you all for sending all the encouragement and taking care of the website. We appreciate all of that love and encouragement, and all the prayers that are going out. And thanks for showing all the love to the family, because they are the focus in this life.
Jewel: Ok, you got five more seconds. That was like 15 seconds. Keep going.
David: Bailey, I love you baby.
Jewel: Ok that was up. David St. Romain, everybody.
My thoughts: I love David's voice. No guitar, just David and the mic. Really energetic performance. You can tell he's having a blast. I loved the harmonica too.