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Song of the Day #1,118: ‘Love is a Battlefield’ – Cee-Lo Green & Vicci Martinez

One of the neat aspects of The Voice was seeing the coaches and contestants perform together. During the first few weeks of the series they performed as teams but once they were down to the final four, we were treated to duets by each coach and his or her one remaining singer.

Dia Frampton and Blake Shelton delivered a charming but mostly forgettable rendition of Tom Petty‘s ‘I Won’t Back Down.’ Adam Levine and Javier Colon traded falsettos while singing Michael Jackson’s ‘Man in the Mirror,’ a song they both love but I hate. And Christina Aguilera and Beverly McLellan performed a lovely acoustic version of Aguilera’s moving ‘Beautiful’ with Linda Perry, the song’s writer, accompanying on guitar.

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Song of the Day #1,117: ‘Heartless’ – Dia Frampton

Dia Frampton, the wispy-voiced Winnie Cooper lookalike on Team Blake, was my pick to with The Voice. She wound up coming in second to Javier Colon, who without question has a much better voice than she does. But there’s something about Frampton that drew me in each and every week.

Part of it is that she performed the kind of music I like to listen to, covering artists such as R.E.M. and Tom Petty. Much of it has to do with her coach — it was touching to watch Blake Shelton take Dia and fellow contestant Xenia under his wing like a protective older brother.

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Song of the Day #1,116: ‘Creep’ – Devon Barley & Rebecca Loebe

I spent last week on songs by the four coaches of NBC’s The Voice, and this week I’m featuring performances by the show’s contestants.

Of the few dozen songs performed on the show over its 2 1/2 month run, not many really stood out as exceptional. Untested amateurs and semi-pros singing without the help of studio trickery in a high-pressure situation is not exactly a recipe for success.

But that air of uncertainty is what made these clips work. You can tell these are real people trying to fulfill a dream, and every note is weighed down with that drama.

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Song of the Day #1,115: ‘I’ll Take You Back’ – Brad Paisley

For a guy who is so good at writing earnest love songs, Brad Paisley sure has fun taking things in the other direction.

After I discovered Paisley through his 2009 album American Saturday Night, I started buying up his previous albums. Time Well Wasted was either the first or second record I picked up, and ‘I’ll Take You Back’ was an instant favorite.

I don’t care if you don’t like the simple constructs of a typical country song (like some of my frequent commenters!) — I defy you to listen to this track and not have a ball. Apart from the funny lyrics (the “waa waa waa” chorus is my favorite), just listen to his guitar playing, and that instrumental jam that makes up the last minute-plus.

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Song of the Day #1,114: ‘Time Well Wasted’ – Brad Paisley

Brad Paisley’s fourth album, Time Well Wasted was released in 2005 and marks the point where he really hit the stratosphere.

Starting with his second single release from this album (‘When I Get Where I’m Going,’ a duet with Dolly Parton), he sent a record 10 straight singles to the #1 spot on Billboard’s country chart. That streak ended with a #2 single, and he released three more #1’s and two more #2’s after that. And in the past eight years he’s put out six #1 albums.

Now that’s a lot of numbers to crunch, but the point is Brad Paisley is the Will Smith of country music (minus a misstep like Seven Pounds).

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