Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | 24 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Join Together with the Band
By M. Giant | Season 13 | Episode 22 | Aired on 03.26.2014
C.J. discusses his life in Jasper, when he prayed daily for something to happen with his music while playing bars and street corners in between giving guitar lessons. Tonight's he's doing "If It Hadn't Been for Love" by the SteelDrivers, and he's doing it as if he were still on the street corner, only with a few bluegrass musicians at his side. He's focusing on the soul and energy as usual, and has wisely chosen a song without any long notes that might showcase his habitual sharpness. Keith agrees with me that it was a clever choice, and warns C.J. not to confuse "the sound of expressing with the feeling of expressing." C.J., I think Keith might have just called you a poseur. Jennifer likes listening to his voice, though she says it got off a little in the middle. Harry talks about all the balls one has to keep in the air while performing, and says the best piece of advice he's heard is what Keith just sad, but again insists that C.J. needs to work on his pitch. C.J. talks after the ads about how he's going to take the advice of the judges every week. And yet he still keeps singing sharp.
Caleb talks about how this is an improvement over playing empty bars back home in Asheville and working as a cater waiter. Tonight he gets to sing "Dazed and Confused" by another one of his favorite bands, Led Zeppelin. This is a slow, heavy song, and the band is getting way into it. So is Caleb, though a little eye contact with the audience would be nice. Jennifer seems more into it than anyone, though, which is a little unexpected from the person who recorded "I Luh Ya Papi." In the end, the Zep goes down great like it always does on the rare occasions when we hear it on this show, earning a standing ovation from Keith and Jennifer. Not to mention the longest and loudest screams of the night from the audience. Jennifer says it was a sexy performance, which she hasn't seen from him before, and gives a shout out to the band. Harry also gushes over the band before talking about the song itself, making sure we all know it wasn't a Led Zeppelin original, and saying that Caleb couldn't have sung it any better. Though he did pick up on something that happened near the end that didn't quite work. Keith says Caleb turned the theme of the night upside down and compares the performance to an airbag in slow motion. He means both of these as compliments. Caleb is still pumped about it even after the ads, and being called "sexy" by Jennifer Lopez has him ready to buy her flowers.