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"Just because I’m country you think I roll around in pig (expletive) all day?" - Blake Shelton

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Ahhh, The Voice. How I love watching thee and thy five million commercials. Week 3 of The Voice was ripe with tears, attitude and show stopping performances. The coaches have almost filled their teams and they're showing a bit more restraint in pushing their buttons. This means it's getting down to the wire and the contestants start pulling out the big guns… which means this viewer was literally blown away.

The Gunslingers

Susannah Choffel
This music teacher reminds me of oatmeal, fireplaces and Grandma's quilts. What I mean is her tone is cozy and comfortable. Singing Fleetwood Mac's Landslide, her rich, velvety texture had me transfixed. Her command of the stage lured Adam and Blake to hit their buttons. In her pre-package, Susannah said that music was the "freest expression" for soul. Not only do I believe her, I want her to keep expressing her soul as long as possible on this show. She chose Blake.

Dez Duron
Since I've known Dez for about a year now I may be a bit biased. But who wouldn't agree he killed Hall and Oats' Sara Smile? Dez has always been a panty magnet, so it's no surprise girls lost their heads over him. But I wanna talk about this boy's voice for a minute. His runs are smoother than a black womans in a southern Pentecostal church (and those ladies can saaang). His riffs are a little jazz and a little gospel, which I can definitely subscribe to. What I really respect about Dez is instead of giving up after he didn't make the second season; he perfected his craft and earned a spot on Christina's team this season. Dez, my brother, I couldn't be prouder.

Lelia Broussard
The Voice showed about five seconds of her performance of We Can Work It Out and in those five seconds I heard something special. So I went digging and fell into a YouTube rabbit hole of her videos and original songs. Her voice moves me -- it really does. This indie singer moved to New York from Louisiana at the tender age of 17. Six years later, she's performed at Bonaroo, on Jimmy Fallon and has been a SXSW showcased artist. Now, she’s on Blake's team. Go support her…she most definitely deserves it.

Cassadee Pope
Cassadee is ready to stand on her own. She's toured the world (her band opened for Fall Out Boy), but she's anxious to show what she can do as a soloist. Singing Natalie Imbruglia's Torn, her breaks from her chest voice to her head voice were flawless. I'm a personal fan of her vibrato (either you have good vibrato or you don't) and she was the only artist to get four chairs this week. I'm ready to put money down on how far this girl is going to go. She's Team Blake.

Special Shout Outs

Yolanda Barber
Representing for the grown and sexy folks, Ms. Barber (my mom would slap me if I called this woman Yolanda. We're still kind of old school.) has been singing for 40 years. Yes, that's right, 40 years. She looked and sounded incredible. I'm a big fan of raspy, smoky voices and Ms. Barber knew what she was doing with hers. Though I loved her voice, I am not a personal fan of Oleta Adams' song, Get Here. There's this line that says, "You can reach me by caravan. Cross the desert like an Arab man." Am I the only one that feels this particular line is dated and maybe a little stereotypical? But, I digress. Ms. Barber didn't get any chairs, but she made an impression on me. Saaaang, mama!

Please Go Away

Nerves
Nerves were out and in full effect this week. I can completely sympathize since I know firsthand that singing to the backs of chairs is not ideal. But, I personally think that you gotta get a hold of the nerves before they get a hold of you. There were lots of artists this week I had high hopes for and I watched nerves get the best of them. I cringed, horrified, as pitches were shaky, notes were flat and control was lost. I'm not an expert in this or anything, but I'd like to encourage my brothers and sisters who are still in the competition to breathe, relax and have fun! This is just another gig. Don't think about the coaches or the cameras or the stakes. Just go out there and do what you were placed on this planet to do: sing. I'm hoping by the Battle Rounds, some of these artists have learned to pull it together. If not, we won't be seeing much more of them on this show.

The Voice has its perks

I'm sending this in to my editor right at the razors edge of my deadline. I'm a pretty decent steward of time (sometimes) but this week kicked my brown behind.

In addition to finally moving my stuff out of my apartment in the Bronx (it only took four months) I had the pleasure of sharing my story of addiction and redemption at NYU's Open House hosted by Move the Crowd and had an amazing time singing at Soldier Field for Chicago AIDS Walk 2012.

If you've been looking for music of mine, I have two high octane songs, Where Would I Be Without You and Far Way Off available of iTunes and Amazon. Also, I plan to drop my epic single, High, December 1st which coincides with World AIDS Day. If you haven't heard this song, YouTube it. And if December 1st is just too long to wait, never fear, I'll have another song to give away before then.

Thanks for reading and responding at @Jsquidward. Now, go live your passion.