Believe it or not, we have already reached the semi-finals on this season of The Voice. Yup, going into tonight we have eight contestants remaining...but when the elimination hour ends tomorrow only four will move on to next week's finale. Why are they continuing in this format you ask? Why not do one or two double eliminations in the Top 12/Top 11 weeks rather than a massive cut just before the winner is announced? Beats me. Maybe that's something for the show runners to think about before next season begins, you know, in a few months. Anyway, the stakes are high for the Top 8 tonight as well as their coaches, so let's get to the performances.
Team: Adam
Artist: Shalyah Fearing
Song: "And I am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls
This week's guest mentor is Pink and I looooove her. Aside from being funny, she also gives the contestants great advice. She tells Shalyah, for instance, to cut back on the rasp and "use it as a weapon." Makes total sense. Shalyah of course kicks the rasp into high gear instead. Like, ridiculously high gear. Like, I'm terrified for her throat high gear. It's so distracting that I'm having a tough time appreciating how hard she is trying to kick this song's ass. I'll hand it to Shalyah though - she's not leaving this competition without a fight. Rasp or no rasp, this was an explosive way to open the show.
Coaches Say: All four coaches are on their feet. Xtina, by the way, has moved on from The Addams Family and is channeling a Men In Black/Anchorman combo tonight instead. She says Shalyah was singing for her life and it took guts to take on a song like that. Pharrell drops the "16 year old" fact twice and thinks Shalyah displayed amazing endurance during the song. Adam is so overjoyed that Shalyah got to have this moment. "This is the first moment of the night." Yup. It's the first performance of the night.
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Team: Blake
Artist: Paxton Ingram
Song: "I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meatloaf
Remember how Paxton redeemed himself in his quest for the Stupid Twitter Save last week? Consider that redemption revoked. He starts off with a super slow intro that's actually kind of working, then attempts to tackle the angry, angsty rock song that Meatloaf put his signature on. Everything stops working then. Shout out to whoever did the pyrotechnics though. That was neat.
Coaches Say: Xtina never expected this song choice from Paxton but says he pulled it off. Pharrell agrees, complimenting the theatrics. Blake doesn't think he's ever been more proud of an artist as he is of Paxton. Really? Out of everyone? Even the Team Blake contestants that have won?
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Team: Adam
Artist: Laith Al-Saadi
Song: "One and Only" by Adele
Adele huh? Adam's other remaining contestant knows he has to put his own spin on this song, and he (dare I say it) makes me hear this song in a whole new way. His version isn't an improvement on the original because that would be impossible, but I seriously love his take on "One and Only." Laith's guitar playing was an added wonderful bonus.
Coaches Say: Blake tells Laith the performance was amazing and he loved the guitar solo. Pharrell wants everyone to pay attention to Laith's success story and support him. Adam would be the most proud if Laith made it through to the finale. Ha! Sorry Shalyah. I guess you'll be living without him after all.
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Team: Xtina
Artist: Alisan Porter
Song: "Desperado" by The Eagles
Yes! This song is in my top 5 songs ever (yes, I do keep those kinds of lists High Fidelity style) and I go into Alisan's performance praying that she nails it without screeching. This is the first time anyone has performed a tune by The Eagles on this show and Xtina was able to get special permission to use "Desperado." The good news? This is amazing. The bad news? There isn't any. This version is powerful, emotional and best of all...not over the top. If Alisan is not in the finale I will be inconsolable.
Coaches Say: Adam says Alisan can do everything and Blake tells Alisan she's awesome. Xtina is bursting with pride and admiration of Alisan's talent and calls the performance beautiful and "epic."
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Team: Blake
Artist: Adam Wakefield
Song: "I'm Sorry" by Blake Shelton
Blake loves Adam so much he passed along his own song to him this evening. This is a great move. During rehearsals Adam goes back and forth between wanting to do the song with a guitar or piano and ultimately he chooses to go solo on the piano. Pink says his voice is "heaven" and tonight Adam sounds as close to perfect as he's ever sounded. Love this.
Coaches Say: Pharrell doesn't even feel like Adam is competing - he's just sharing these couple of minutes with America. Coach Adam agrees, saying the audience was so moved by the performance, you could hear a pin drop. Blake tells his contestant that while he has had several "breakout moments" on the show, he's never had a moment like that.
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Team: Xtina
Artist: Bryan Bautista
Song: "Hurt" by Xtina
Speaking of coaches saying "use my song," Xtina bestows her power ballad on Bryan and this too was a smart choice. I know I've been saying the guy keeps getting better and better each week, but I think this is his best performance. The vocals are there, the emotions are there, and the audience is captivated. Bryan may very well be a contender when the votes are tallied tomorrow.
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Coaches Say: Xtina, Blake and Pharrell are all on their feet and rightly so. Not sure what Adam's deal is. The audience stays super loud as he starts his critique and he says he is impressed by Bryan's courage to put his feelings into this performance. Bryan had related this song to not hearing from his dad this entire team he's been on The Voice. Xtina agrees with Adam, saying Bryan's version of her song was beautiful. She knows how hard it is to deliver that song live (citing her performance on the VMAs in 2006) and she's very proud of him. Xtina wants to hear it again and again and will be downloading it. I should hope so! It's time your team got a damn win!
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Team: Blake
Artist: Mary Sarah
Song: "I Told You So" by Randy Travis and Carrie Underwood
Okay, we get it. There have been Carrie comparisons all season and I don't think we needed another Carrie song thrown in here. Mary Sarah also doesn't do anything different with the tune, though her voice really does soar with each chorus. She struggles a bit with her lower register (still) but overall the performance is lovely. Finale worthy? No. But she's had a good run.
Coaches Say: Xtina really enjoyed the performance and thinks she's seen Mary Sarah become a woman on the show. Blake wants people to understand that Mary Sarah's performance is "what's good in country music."
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Team: Pharrell
Artist: Hannah Huston
Song: "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge
Wow! Hannah gets the closing spot tonight and man does she bring the house down. Team Pharrell's lone contestant has absolutely proved herself as a finalist in my opinion. Pink encouraged her to "dig" in this performance and Hannah takes that advice to heart. Her vocals are insane and the back bend with the big note at the end? Unbelievable. I just wish she had dropped the mic after.
Coaches Say: Adam has to wait for the crowd to stop going crazy then tells Hannah we've been taking her for granted. He calls her "the weird, stealth assassin" of the show. Pharrell agrees, saying it's been a slow build, but he proclaims that Hannah definitely deserves to be here. I couldn't agree more.
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There were also some filler duets this evening as Mary Sarah and Bryan delivered a not so great version of Arianna Grande's "Break Free," and Shalyah and Paxton delivered an absolutely not so great version of Jessie J's "Masterpiece." If people were voting based on those performances alone, the elimination tomorrow would be a no brainer. On the flip side, Hannah and Laith fared much better with their take on Eddie Floyd's "Knock On Wood," but Adam and Alisan completely nailed their rendition of "Angel From Montgomery" by Bonnie Raitt and John Pine. Two out of four ain't bad I guess.
Going into tomorrow's elimination I am definitely pulling for Alisan, Hannah, Adam and Bryan. A couple of weeks ago I would have put Laith and maybe even Shalyah ahead of Bryan, but he has really won me over at this point. It's going to be close though. Will they be the Final Four? Will all of the coaches keep a horse in the race? Will there be an upset? If so, I hope Xtina brings an MIB neuralyzer to make me forget the details. We'll see what happens during the results show tomorrow. Til then!
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