The Voice Elimination: Who MAKES These Rules?

Tonight we said goodbye to two contestants on The Voice. At least I think we did. There was a stupid Twitter save, and maybe an online save, but not a coaches' save...oh hell. I don't understand how this elimination worked at all and I'm not sure the coaches did either. Here are the highlights from the hour. 

Adam performed Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" with his team and Team Blake (featuring Blake) took on "Put Some Drive In Your Country." The real treat of the night though was Shakira's performance of her new single, "Empire," complete with fire, wind, and some barely there attire. She's a total badass though. Sitting through all of the filler was totally worth it to see Shakira do her thing. 

Results! Josh, Kat, and Kristen all made their way to safety first, though they all could have grown old and died in the time it took Carson to read the results. Audra, Delvin and Jake also moved on to the Top 10, and they were not so quickly followed by Bria, Christina and Sisaundra. This left T.J, Dani and Tess in the bottom 3. There was an instant save up for grabs, but not really instantly because all three contestants performed again. 

T.J. went first, choosing a very dramatic, very awesome version of "I'll Be." Dani hoped that "Turning Tables" would be her ticket to the instant (but later) save...and poor Shakira had tears in her eyes the whole time Dani performed. The best "save me" song though had to be Tess' rendition of "Dark Side." Yes, I actually enjoyed this cover even though I am typically unreasonable when it comes to critiquing Kelly Clarkson songs on these shows. 

When it's time for the stupid instant online Twitter save thing, Tess "wins" and T.J. and Dani were eliminated. We were barely able to say goodbye to them though because the credits had already rolled at that point. The way this hour was drawn out is down right ridiculous. I actually counted 20 seconds during one of Carson's "America saves....from Team...." announcements. Dare I say it? They should take a note from American Idol and make this episode 30 minutes. It's the best change FOX has made since announcing Glee's final season.

Worst time management ever. 

Next week the Top 10 will compete again with all of Team Blake and Team Adam still in tact. Usher and Shakira are each down one contestant now, so our rotating coaches are once again the underdogs. Can they even out the numbers next week? Will Tess be able to win over American now that she's been able to momentarily win over Twitter? We'll find out during the next round of performances. Til then!