The Voice Season 3 Premiere Part III

Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about. Wednesday night’s episode of The Voice really had it all—some phenomenal highs and some hilariously catastrophic lows (Schadenfreude central!). So let’s just dive right in.

Far and away the best audition of the night came from hippie-commune-chick Nicole Nelson. Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” has seen many interpretations, but Nicole’s heartfelt, unapologetic, beautifully melodic rendition was not only refreshing (in light of some almost laughably bad auditions), but incredibly memorable. She joins Bryan Keith and Trevin Hunte as the third audition I went back and watched again this season. And like most contestants who find themselves in front of all four judges, she picked Adam as her coach. Check out Nicole’s blind audition below and let me know what you thought:

Poor, dear, Chris Trousdale. This 27-year-old was once a tween heartthrob you might recognize from the maybe sort of kind of successfulish boyband Dream Street. Wait, you remember him?! No no, you’re thinking of Jesse McCartney. This guy works at a sushi restaurant. Regardless, one would think a person with vocal performance experience would knock this thing outta the park, right? Oh so terribly, terribly wrong. Since NBC doesn’t post the failed auditions on their website, here’s a link to the video elsewhere in the cyber realm:

http://www.rickey.org/chris-trousdale-glad-you-came-the-voice/

And then we had Domo. I don’t think I can adequately or appropriately express in words just how much I wanted to push Domo off a cliff and into oncoming traffic in the middle of rush hour while repeatedly having Chuck Norris roundhouse kick her in the face. And it wasn’t just because her personality was sucktastic. Her “singing,” if we can abuse the term so, consisted of weird moans, wails, and breathy exhales that were perhaps related to pitches. But it was mostly a lot of grinding and hip popping in Cee Lo’s face. Please excuse me while I go vom in the corner.

So here’s the team breakdown: joining Team Adam are Rasta-but-not-really-mon Samuel Mouton,Loren Allred, and the ever-dazzling Nicole Nelson. Blake Shelton snatched up the country mother-daughter duo 2 Steel Girls, while Team Xtina almost doubled with the additions of Lisa Scinta,Marissa Ann, and Nelly’s Echo, the Nigerian refugee with a million-watt smile. Team Cee Lo now has… Domo.

We continue with The Voice Blind Auditions next week on Monday and Tuesday at 7:00pm—see you then!

Thanks for reading, and as always, thanks for watching KPRC Local 2!

Baidu launches mobile web browser, wants a bigger slice of China's mobile Internet

Being the biggest search engine in China just isn't enough for Baidu, which has revealed its new mobile internet browser. 

The Internet company already dominates desktop-based internet search but has to spar with the likes of UCWeb and Tencent for attention on smartphone platforms. Baidu says its new browser will improve browsing speeds and offer access to its other web-based apps.

 The program will also augment Baidu's own mobile OS, which launched back in May, with the company aiming to get its browser pre-installed on 80 percent of smartphones sold in China by the end of the year.