The Voice Finale Part 2: A Dream That I Can Call My Own

Well kids, it's safe to say I haven't gotten one thing right this season. After many, many weeks of pre-taped episodes and live performances, American Idol alum Sundance Head has won Season 11 of The Voice. Team Blake has brought home yet another victory and Adam has to be wondering what possibly could have gone wrong with his totally different, rare, unique, special, one of a kind contestants. This was a jam packed two hour finale, but here are the highlights:

Guest Stars

Stevie Wonder, Arianna Grande and the Top 12 performed "Faith" from the new movie Sing and I'm not ashamed to admit I look forward to seeing that movie. Singing pigs and elephants? I'm in. Sting also took the stage tonight to perform his song "I Can't Stop Thinking About You." Dude still looks and sounds SO good. I was hoping he would somehow bust into "Roxanne," and least for one verse, but it was not meant to be. The Weekend was in the house as well, singing "Starboy" and Bruno Mars just about tore the roof off the place with his crazy awesome performance of "24K Magic."

The (Sometimes) Dreaded Final Four Pairings

John Legend teamed up with Wé to perform his single "Love Me Now" and the kid held her own for sure. Josh was lucky enough to duet with Cam on her song "Burning House." I was pleasantly surprised by how lovely his voice was in this performance. They complemented each other well. Kiss continued their singing competition finale tour and sang a combo of "Detroit Rock City" and "Rock and Roll All Nite" with Sundance. Remember when they did the same thing with Adam Lambert and Caleb Johnson on American Idol? Coincidence? Probably. Sundance looked like he was having the time of his life, but I honestly would have loved to see Miley up there with Gene Simmons doing that tongue thing. The duet I was most excited about going into the night (naturally) was Billy and Kelly Clarkson. I thought the choice of singing "It's Quiet Uptown" from Hamilton was odd considering 1) This really shouldn't be a duet and 2) Billy kinda ruined it. Whatever though. I got to see KC tonight and that always makes me happy. 

The (Usually) Dreaded Bring Backs

Josh brought back Austin and Brendan to collaborate on Jason Aldean's "My Kind Of Party." The performance was all over the place but it was nice to see the guys have a good time. They jammed on their guitars and looked completely free of the pressure this show has put them under this season. Wé went with "Love Lockdown" and she brought back Aaron, Darby and Brendan. This seemed like a very strange combo but it mostly worked. Sundance brought back his fellow teammates Austin and Courtney to sing a kinda rousing rendition of "You Ain't Worth the Whiskey," but the best "bring back" of the night was Billy's very tall order of "Proud Mary." He brought back Ali (yay!), Christian, Courtney and Sa'Rayah. Dayyyum. That's a lot of huge voices on one stage but it was awesome. The ladies in particular were amazing. 

Results! Josh finished in fourth place and Wé came in third. Bummer. It came down to Billy and Sundance and when the little cowboy's name was called, his reaction brought me to tears...well, his reaction and his dad's in the audience. He sang "Darlin' Don't Go" as the confetti rained down and Season 11 came to an end. 

The Voice will return again in a few short months with Gwen Stefani back in the coaches' chair. Adam, Blake, and Alicia will join her as Miley takes a season off (she has signed on to coach again in Season 13). Until then, have a safe and happy holiday season and I'll look forward to catching up again in 2017!

The Voice Finale Part 1: One Roll For The Whole Shebang

Tonight the Final Four contestants have their last chance to win over America in their efforts to take home a victory in this season of The Voice. Miley is just chillin' tonight as her contestants have all been eliminated, while Blake and Alicia have one contestant left and Adam is sitting pretty with two. Each artist will perform 3 songs tonight - an original song, a cover song, and a duet with their coach. Who will set themselves apart from the rest? Let's get to the performances. 

Artist: Billy Gilman
Team: Adam

Song: "My Way" by Frank Sinatra

Billy opens up the show with an iconic song from an iconic artist and his voice is damn there perfect in this performance. In the rehearsal package he says this song makes him think about the journey he's taken in his career and he wants to make a statement with this tune. I still think Billy is more worried about notes and arm lifts and head nods than he is with song connection, but I do appreciate that he breaks down at the end. That last sentence is actually my favorite part of the performance because I feel like it's the only non-choreographed line in his "My Way" production. I don't want to knock on the guy too much though. He more than deserves to be in this finale. 

Coaches Say: Standing ovation from all four coaches. Miley is wearing a veil tonight and it's rocking my world. She says Billy just sang her favorite song and then gives a shout out to her team who also did things their way. This gives me a giggle. Adam says never before has a song matched up so beautifully with a contestant. "He means what he says - he did it his way."

-----------------------------------

Artist: Josh Gallagher
Team: Adam

Song: "Pick Any Small Town" by Josh Gallagher

Josh wrote this song with the help of Season 10 contestant Nolan Neal and he's excited to debut it tonight. This is probably the most comfortable Josh has looked on stage all season, though vocally he definitely has his ups and downs throughout the performance. The tune is catchy enough and it was probably the right pick for Josh in terms of allowing him to choose his own original song, but it's not something I would hear on the radio and immediately want to download. 

Coaches Say: Blake tells Josh he wrote a cool song that he personally can relate to. Interesting. I think if Josh had been Blake's contestant we would have heard something like "you're gonna be such a big star in country music." Oh wait. Adam is going to go ahead and give us that undue praise, saying that when he watches Josh perform the song, he would believe Josh is a huge country song with 10 records. 

-----------------------------------

Artist: Sundance Head
Team: Blake

Song: "Darlin' Don't Go" by Sundance Head

Sundance penned his original song as well, inspired by a fight he had with his wife at one point - my guess is she heard this and forgave him quickly. Sundance's performance is soulful and heartfelt and I believe every lyric coming out of his mouth. I know he wrote this song, but dude never has a problem connecting with tunes and telling a story. His vocals are amazeballs in this performance as well. Love this guy. 

Coaches Say: Standing ovation from everyone! Sundance's wife and children are in the audience freaking out and it's adorable. He has said several times throughout the season that his wife is his angel and I love seeing the big smile on Sundance's face when he talks about his family. We go directly to Blake for comments on the performance. The resident cowboy doesn't understand how Sundance had not been "discovered" before The Voice, so obviously we're going to ignore Sundance's stint on American Idol. I know he didn't make it far on that show, but Sundance was definitely previously introduced to reality TV conpetitions. Blake then stands and thanks Sundance's wife for almost leaving him. Ha! 

-----------------------------------

Artist: Wé McDonald
Team: Alicia

Song: "Wishes" by Wé McDonald

Alicia asked one of her friends and fellow songwriters, Harold Lilly, to write a song for Wé and he came up with this tune about a young girl fighting to achieve her dreams. I think it's safe to say he hit the nail on the head with this song as it fits Wé's situation, her lower register, and her ability to tear the roof off a venue with her big voice. The kid gives everything in this performance and regardless of what happens tomorrow, I sure hope Alicia takes care of her. She's unbelievably talented. 

Coaches Say: Standing O again! Is this going to be a thing for every performance? Did they do that for Josh earlier and I missed it? Hope not. Alicia had been standing through most of the performance and she calls Wé  "the truth." She says Wé has unlimited potential and "I'm glad America is seeing what I'm seeing."

-----------------------------------

Artist: Josh Gallagher
Team: Adam

Song: "Jack and Diane" by John Mellencamp

On paper this song would seem like a good pairing for Josh. Vocally he's totally on point and I'm thrilled for him. Adam has him doing the "walk back and forth through the audience" thing on either side of the stage which is a bit awkward. I'm also not 100% convinced the sound on his guitar has been turned on. The (not so much) icing on the cake though comes when he tries to start one of those cheesy arm waves. None of this feels natural and it's a shame - this could have been one hell of a performance. 

Coaches Say: Adam encourages the audience to keep cheering for Josh and then says his contestant sang the song so well. He thanks Josh for the performance and the journey. 

-----------------------------------

Artist: Sundance Head
Team: Blake

Song: "At Last" by Etta James

Wow! I love, love, love Sundance's arrangement of this song and his vocals give me the chills from start to finish. At one point the camera cuts to Miley and she and I have the same expression on our faces - the "oh my god, listen to this guy!" mouth agape kind of look. Best of the night so far. Hands down. 

Coaches Say: Everyone stands well before Sundance has finished that last, amazing note. Blake is excited, happy, and proud to be part of Sundance's journey on the show. He mentions once again that Sundance was "undiscovered" and we're just going to roll with it at this point. 

-----------------------------------

Artist: Billy Gilman
Team: Adam

Song: "Because of Me" by Billy Gilman

This song was originally intended for Maroon 5 but Adam thought it would be well suited for Billy. I can definitely see why Adam felt that way but I guess I was expecting Billy's original song, essentially what's expected to be his first single after he wins, to be a big showstopper. This is a catchy pop tune and Billy sings it well, but opening with "My Way" and closing with "Because of Me" was a bit anticlimactic. For his sake I wish the songs had been flipped. 

Coaches Say: I can't with Adam. I'm tired of hearing how his contestants are more unique than anyone and "no one else..." and "this is the first time..." BS.  Let's move on. 

-----------------------------------

Artist: Wé McDonald
Team: Alicia

Song: "Don't Rain On My Parade" by Barbara Streisand

Yesssssss. I couldn't figure out why Sundance's performance was not the closer but now it makes sense. Wé takes on this "I am woman, hear me roar" anthem from Funny Girl and she SLAYS it. I have to watch it a few times because I keep forgetting to type as she goes. This girl is so young, but she navigates through this song with such confidence and grace, and she just warms my heart. Wé gave a finale closing performance here and I'm cheering loudly from my couch as the standing ovation begins for her. 

Coaches Say: Alicia just yells "woo!" for a bit and reminds us that Wé came on this show after several bullying experiences. She says that song shows everyyyyyybody that nothing can stop Wé. "You are the artist."

-----------------------------------

Wé and Alicia kicked off the duets with a version of "Ave Maria" that was soulful and gorgeous. Billy and Adam then teamed up for a pleasant (and kind of strange) rendition of "Bye Bye Love." Their voices were awesome together on the chorus but the verses seemed a bit awkward. Billy sure as hell was enjoying himself though. Josh and Adam collaborated on a less than smooth version on "Smooth," and Sundance and Blake sang a very enthusiastic duet of Roy Head's "Treat Her Right." This was by far my favorite of the four. 

Tomorrow we find out who the confetti will smother and who will be the next "I hope this person actually does something" winner of The Voice. I'm definitely rooting for Wé and it wouldn't surprise me if it came down to her and Billy. But could Josh pull off the biggest upset ever on this show? Will Sundance be Team Blake's fifth victor? Can we open the Stupid Twitter Save to everyone and vote for Ali? While the latter is unlikely, here's hoping Team Alicia can pull out a win tomorrow. I've been so impressed by Alicia as a coach and Wé has been a breath of fresh air all season. We'll see if the rest of America feels the same way during part 2 of the finale tomorrow. Til then!

The Voice Semi-Finals Elimination: I Wish You Joy And Happiness

I.... What? How did this happen? How is one of our new, awesome coaches going into next week's finale with no contestant left in the competition? Tonight's The Voice elimination hour boggles my mind and leads me back to WHY THE HELL DOES TWITTER DECIDE FINALE SPOTS?!? Sigh. Here's a summary of the episode. 

There were some guest performances but let's just get to the results...The first person to make it through to the finale was Billy and he was quickly followed by Sundance. Okay. So far so good. Wé took the third spot and I was thrilled for her. The way hear family freaked out in the audience was awesome. At this point 3 of the 4 coaches had artists in the finale and Miley sat waiting patiently to learn the fate of her contestants. Ali, Josh, and Christian were the 3 contestants in the middle tier who had the opportunity to sing for the Stupid Twitter Save, sending Aaron and Brendan home. At this point I was thinking: "It's okay. It's going to come down to Christian and Ali and Ali is going to kill this performance." 

Christian performed a very raw, emotional version of "I Can't Make You Love Me" in his efforts to take that 4th finale spot, and if I wasn't such an Ali fan I would have rooted for this guy. It's impossible not to love Christian. Ali took the stage immediately after Christian and SLAYED "Sledgehammer." Killed it. I was throwing pillows around on the couch this was so damn good. Josh rounded out the performances with "I Drive Your Truck" and he did well. He really did. But this was not a "put me in the finale" performance. 

In the end though....JOSH won the Stupid Twitter Save and two far stronger and more deserving contestants were sent home. Granted, maybe Josh did have more votes (last night) than Christian and Ali, but we'll never know because a five minute social media window determined who will join the top vote getters in the final week of the competition. Oh, and this whole 8 contestants become 4 contestants thing is ridiculous. Why not take away some of the many hours of blind auditions, battles, knockouts, and playoffs and give the Top 12 a elimination format that makes sense? 

Next week you'll find me rooting for Wé as the season comes to an end. Here's hoping Alicia's ringer can pull off a victory and sing and cry in a confetti shower at the end of the results show. But is Billy's big voice destined to win the title? Will Sundance continue his upward path of strong performances and beat the competition? Can Josh really take home this trophy? One thing is for sure....Miley's finale outfits are going to be epic! We'll see how it all goes down in the two part showdown. Til then!

The Voice Semi-Finals: Take Me As I Am

We've reached the Top 8 semi-finals on this season of The Voice and the stakes are high tonight as only four of the remaining contestants will make it to the finale.  Each coach still has a horse in the race and each coach is hoping at least one of their contestants will have their chance at the trophy next week. Will any of the front runners falter? Let's get to the performances and find out.

Artist: Christian Cuevas 

Team: Alicia

Song: "To Worship You I Live (Away)" by Israel & New Breed

Christian is coming off a pretty fantastic Top 10 performance and he's kicking off the night with this Israel & New Breed tune that I've never heard in my life. You can tell Alicia is a little worried in the rehearsal package when he says how he wants to bring the awesomeness of last week's performance into this song that "not a lot of people may know." It's a little risky to then sing a portion of the song not a lot of people know in Spanish. In the words of Randy Jackson, this performance is just alright for me. I love Christian's commitment to the song but I'm thinking he should have chosen a different one.

Coaches Say: Adam says there is no one else in the competition who allows themselves to wear their emotions on their sleeves. Blake agrees with Adam, saying Christian has an ability to make an audience feel what he is feeling. Alicia is proud of her contestant because he is a human being who wants to spread light to everyone he passes. Thanks Alicia...now I feel bad for not liking this more. 

--------------------------------------------

Artist: Ali Caldwell

Team: Miley

Song: "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton

Well here it is. I've been waiting for the Whitney, Mariah or Celine song and we have it in the semi-finals. I'm glad Ali has covered a variety of other artists and styles up until this point so we know she is not just a woman with a big voice, but she is really going to have to nail this song at such a critical point in the competition. She TOTALLY does and I seriously love her. I have chills and goosies and perhaps a few tears when this performance is over and I already wish this would have been the closing song tonight.

Coaches Say: Alicia loved everything about the performance and says that the restraint Ali showed tonight is the sign of a true artist. Alicia also notes that Ali blended both worlds (Dolly and Whitney) beautifully and I couldn't agree more. Miley is just so excited. She tells Ali that she sang as beautiful as she looks and calls the performance perfect. 

--------------------------------------------

Artist: Brendan Fletcher

Team: Adam

Song: "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan

Brendan follows up last weeks amazing rendition of "True Colors" with...a not so great cover of "Angel." I'm pretty sure he messed up the lyrics in the first verse and he never really got back on track. What was supposed to be another performance of Brendan showing off his soft side ended up being a few minutes he probably wishes he could do all over again.

Coaches Say: Blake starts off his critique with "it's been fun" and that's never a good thing. He compliments Brendan on his progress though and tells him he did a good job. Adam makes a plea for America to vote for him because he's different and keeps his message pure to who he is....Adam makes no mention of the performance whatsoever. 

--------------------------------------------

Artist: Wé McDonald
Team: Alicia
Song: "Scars To Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara

Wé and Alicia have such a great relationship and I think I look forward to Wé's rehearsal packages the most each week. It's always risky to take a song that's a hit on the radio right now and try to do your own thing with it. Wé doesn't really switch up "Scars To Your Beautiful" too much, but I do think she continues to prove herself as a young artist with a message to to spread. Also, shout out to those drummers behind Wé. They were awesome.

Coaches Say: Alicia and Miley both stand and Alicia is flipping out. Love it. Miley is excited too and feels like the way Wé (see how that works?) performed tonight shows what a Wé concert would be like. She loved the performance and would happily go to a Wé concert and wear a Wé t-shirt. Alicia says Wé is her own artist and she knows how she wants to make people feel. Alicia reminds everyone at home that they are witnessing the growth of a star on this show and says people need to vote for her. I absolutely agree with her. This kid deserves to be in the finale.
---------------------------------------------

Artist: Aaron Gibson

Team: Miley

Song: "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" by Brian Adams

I can't. I appreciate what Miley is going for here but Aaron's execution of this song is just the opposite. I just can't. Next.

Coaches Say: Carson only asks for Miley's thoughts (the other coaches are probably so relieved) and Miley tells Aaron she believed everything he was singing. She rambles a bit then asks everyone to vote for Aaron. In her mind once again I bet she's thinking "thank goodness for Ali."

--------------------------------------------

Artist: Josh Gallagher

Team: Adam

Song: "Danny's Song" by Loggins & Messina

Josh sits in one spot on the stage for this entire performance which seems to help him keep his breathing under control. I swear sometimes I don't know what's at the end of his sentences at all. Tonight is different though. Vocally this is Josh's best performance on The Voice. In terms of entertainment though...I started to feel sleepy about half way through the song.

Coaches Say: Adam tells Josh he nailed the performance and calls it the best of the night. I have to then fast forward through the rest of his critique.
--------------------------------------------

Artist: Sundance Head

Team: Blake

Song: "Love Can Build a Bridge" by The Judds

Oh how I love The Judds. For real. And this is one of their best songs. Wynonna even calls Sundance to wish him luck. She tells him "just be you, and I can't wait to watch you just go out there and let it rip." Awww. Sundance takes this Judds hit from 1990 and brings it right into present day awesomeness. He went into the night so worried about doing "Love Can Build a Bridge" justice and he had no reason to worry at all. The way he delivers "when we stand together, it's our finest hour" alone is grounds for Adam to shut the hell up about Josh.

Coaches Say: Blake has trouble coming up with any words for his contestant. He says Sundance has so much passion when he sings and says the performance could not have been better. 

--------------------------------------------

Artist: Billy Gilman

Team: Adam

Song: "I Surrender" by Celine Dion

Of course I need to start this critique by posting Kelly Clarkson's version of the song from American Idol. Have to. Billy gets the pimp slot tonight and he realllllly stretches his voice for this song. While I think Billy has come a long way in terms of connecting to songs and not just singing them, tonight is not one of the nights where I feel him emoting. I would have preferred Ali close the show, but I realize she can't get that chance every week.

Coaches Say: Standing ovation from everyone. Adam eggs on the audience to just keep cheering and then thankfully my Tivo cuts off. 

--------------------------------------------

We did have some duets to sit through enjoy as well tonight. Wé and Aaron took on "FourFive Seconds" which was pleasant enough I guess. Aaron actually looked more comfortable and sounded better with a partner. Maybe he needs to think about becoming a duo with someone. Additionally, Sundance and Josh collaborated on "Feelin' Alright" and the performance was entertaining as hell. These two guys seem to love competing against one another but then there's a lot of bro love there too. The third paring was Billy and Christian as they performed a fairly unsteady version of "Unsteady," and Brendan and Ali rounded out the duets with a badass rendition of "It's Only Love." I don't think Brendan has a hope of making it to the finale, but I do think he redeemed his earlier performance with this song. Glad he'll be exiting on a high note at least.

As for where these guys stand, for me Billy, Ali and Wé deserve spots in the finale. As for the that fourth spot, I'd go with Sundance...though I wouldn't be upset if Christian ends up making the final four. The first scenario allows all of the coaches to compete in the finale as well and I'd really like that, especially since we have two brand new coaches this season. Will my predictions be correct? Will there be an upset? Will freaking Aaron somehow steal one of the spots from my favorites?!?! We shall find out during the elimination hour tomorrow. Til then!

The Voice Top 10 Eliminations: If I Could Turn Back Time

Tonight's double elimination brought the competition down to eight artists as one coach lost two team members in one night. I can't say that I'm super upset with the results, but I do think there are some folks still squeaking by who should have gone home before one of tonight's casualties. Who were the unfortunate contestants to be sent packing? Here's what went down.  

Miley Cyrus seriously has the coolest godmother ever. The wonderful, amazing, hilarious Dolly Parton joined us this evening and she first took the stage with Jennifer Nettles and the Top 10 to sing "Circle of Love." Jennifer and Dolly are here promoting their movie Christmas of Many Colors and I for real can't wait to watch it. Last year's Coat of Many Colors tugged at my heartstrings for sure and I loved it. Dolly returned later with Miley and Pentatonix and they performed an awesome rendition of "Jolene." GREAT song. Great collaboration. 

Results! The first person to make it through to the semi-finals was Brendan and he was joined by Sundance, Christian and Ali soon thereafter. Billy was sent to safety next along with Wé and Josh. This placed Aaron, Austin and Courtney in the bottom 3 singing for the Stupid Twitter Save. Austin went with "Tennessee Whiskey" as his "save me" song and he was awesome. Courtney chose "Bless the Broken Road" and while her voice was still a little up and down, her emotions were all in and I wanted to give her a hug when the song was over. Aaron closed out the performances with "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and it seemed like he had a hard time with his breathing during the song. The performance itself was also kinda boring. Let's just save Austin, mmmkay?

In the end, Aaron was saved AGAIN and the mind reels. So Blake lost two of his contestants tonight and Sundance is his last man standing. Team Adam remains in tact with all three artists and Miley and Alicia were able to hold on to the two they had left going into tonight. Will next week's intense semi-finals elimination wipe out any team altogether? More than one team? Can Aaron really get a spot in the finale? And can I please get the phone number for for the guy who designs Dolly's costumes? I bet he has some stories to tell. That aside though, it will be interesting to see which of these eight contestants will prevail next week. With Christian and Brendan emerging as contenders last night, the presumed front runners (Ali, Billy, Sundance and Wé) should be put on notice. We'll see what happens when the semi-finals slaughter arrives on Monday. Til then!

The Voice Top 10: You Can Pour Your Soul Out Singing

Tonight the remaining ten contestants take the stage once more, as we are now nearing the inexplicable eight person "semi-finals." Miley and Alicia hope to hold what's left of their teams together this week while Blake and Adam have yet to suffer any casualties. Can Ali, Aaron, Wé and Christian outperform the trio of artists that remain in both Team Adam and Team Blake? Let's get to the performances and find out.

Artist: Billy Gilman

Coach: Adam

Song: "Anyway" by Martina McBride

Billy returns to his country music roots tonight and kicks off the show with with an amazing rendition of "Anyway." He looks emotional right from the start and based on the story he told in his rehearsal package, I can understand why. Seems he got his first opportunity at stardom when Martina heard one of his demos of one of her songs. Tonight it comes full circle and he has so much to be proud of. I'm a little sniffly myself when the song ends. 

Coaches Say: Standing ovation! Blake thinks Billy is great at country music and compliments his range and ability to connect with the lyrics. Miley says Billy makes her nervous as a coach and could definitely be the winner this season. Adam says what we just heard was incredibly special and he's blown away by his contestant. 

----------------------------------------------

Artist: Courtney Harrell

Coach: Blake

Song: "If I Could Turn Back Time" by Cher

Uh... I don't really know what to say about this. Courtney loves 80s music so much and wants so badly to do this song justice. She gets an 'A' for effort, but I don't have any kind of decent grade for her vocals. There are more bad notes than good ones and the performance just seems to go on forEVER. 

Coaches Say: Alicia says Courtney has such grace and beauty and calls her voice relentless. That's one word for it. Blake feels like a new Courtney just stepped into the Top 10 and he loved her stage presence tonight. 

----------------------------------------------

Artist: Josh Gallagher

Coach: Adam

Song: "Real Good Man" by Tim McGraw

Josh starts off the performance with his guitar and a mic stand at the top of a reallllllly high staircase which he then slowly walks down...while singing....but not playing the guitar...which is fine because the band is way louder than Josh is anyway. If I didn't know this song already I would wonder what the hell he's singing about. Not my fave. 

Coaches Say: Alicia says the performance was fantastic and thinks Josh was really in his element. Adam is so happy for Josh because tonight Josh became a country star. Did he really? That's some Blake talk right there. 

----------------------------------------------

Artist: Aaron Gibson

Coach: Miley

Song: "Rocket Man" by Elton John

Aaron tries to put his own spin on this song, and unlike "Hurt" where I was worried he might burn the whole building down, he goes all Dave Matthews for "Rocket Man." I wish I could say I like his rendition but he doesn't enunciate and this is another situation where if I didn't know and love this song already, I would only be hearing "it's gonna be a long, long time" and "I'm a rocket man." Almost everything else is swallowed up by the jam session going on around him.

Coaches Say: Adam says regardless of how far Aaron goes in the competition, he's establishing himself on the show. "You took what you had and made the best of it." Uh oh. None of that sounds good. I translate that to: "That wasn't a good song for you and you're going home tomorrow." Miley is a big fan of Aaron and says all he needs is his guitar and his voice because he just wants to be an artist. "Everyone respects you for being yourself." Translation: "Thank God I have Ali on my team because you're going home tomorrow."

----------------------------------------------

Artist: Christian Cuevas

Coach: Alicia

Song: "Million Reasons" by Lady Gaga

You know, as much as I like Christian, I always assumed his time on the show would be short lived once we got to the Top 12. That being said....he KILLED it tonight. Alicia had been working with him on his "head voice" and using restraint at the right times and man did all of that coaching pay off. Christian has a near emotional breakdown at the end of the song and I fell completely in love with him. This is his best performance yet and he's thisclose to beating out Billy for the best performance of the night...so far anyway. 

Coaches Say: The camera doesn't let me see if anyone else stands up besides Alicia but I certainly hope she was joined by her fellow coaches. This guy deserved it. Blake loves Christian and says he just gave a very timely performance based on  where we are in the competition. He adds that he thinks Christian had a "moment" tonight. Christian TOTALLY had a moment tonight. Alicia feels like an artist was born on stage just now because he took everyone on such an emotional journey. He most certainly did. I'm so happy for him. 

----------------------------------------------

Artist: Austin Allsup

Coach: Blake

Song: "Missing You" by John Waite

Blake thinks America needs a softer side of Austin, so instead of letting Austin play the guitar and lead the band, he's now putting Austin on a stool in what seems to be a carousel of lights...or something. He struggles in the first verse of the song, but once he gets through the first chorus and starts walking around a little bit, things do get better. I'm not sold on the song choice but Austin's performance is still better than a few of his predecessors tonight. 

Coaches Say: Miley got teary eyed during the performance because Austin believed what he was singing. Blake congratulates Austin on taking a classic song and making it his own. 

----------------------------------------------

Artist: Wé McDonald

Coach: Alicia

Song: "God Bless the Child" by Billie Holiday

Team Alicia is having a great night tonight. Not only did Christian just have a break though performance, Wé serves up this Billy Holiday song like she's been performing it for 20 years (which is impossible given how freaking young she is). During the rehearsal package Wé says she wants to channel some of Alicia's swag, and she doesn't quite do that (it's a little forced at times), but I feel like this kid could do just about anything else. Apparently she's studied opera? Wé throws that in there too and I'm wondering when Alicia's just going to toss the kitchen sink on stage.  

Coaches Say: For whatever reason Carson only asks Alicia to speak and she is SO excited. She stands and yells "there's nobody like you!" Alicia then says there are no boundaries for Wé because she bursts America's hearts every time she sings. 

----------------------------------------------

Artist: Brendan Fletcher

Coach: Adam

Song: "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper

Brendan wants an earthy vibe for his rendition of "True Colors" and though I'm not sure what that means at all, I am sure that I love his performance. This song has the potential to be snoozy and we've certainly heard it covered countless times on more than one occasion on these singing shows. And like Christian, I didn't think Brendan would have much of a shelf life on this show, but Brendan busted out this performance at just the right time. 

Coaches Say: Miley and Adam stand for Brendan and Miley has tears in her eyes. She says his version of "True Colors" is going to be her new favorite song on repeat. Adam says Brendan is the first artist this season to take a song and artistically create a version that is so special and different, people are going to want to listen to it. I wholeheartedly disagree with Adam. Dude always thinks that his contestants are the most innovative and that's just not true. Brendan mostly likely gave the best performance of his career tonight, but let's not minimize some of the other awesome "different" performances we've had this season. Now I'm annoyed. 

----------------------------------------------

Artist: Sundance Head

Coach: Blake

Song: "Me and Jesus" by Tom T. Hall

I'll admit that I have never heard this song before but I'm digging the bluegrass thing Sundance has going tonight. He starts the song out at a steady pace but then he puts the song on overdrive and it's unreal. And that banjo player? Holy cow! I love this guy. Please, please watch the video below at the 2:20 mark and tell me you're not grinning from ear to ear by the end. I'm not sure what Ali has in store in the pimp spot, but she's going to have a hell of a time topping this performance!

Coaches Say: Everyone stands and everyone is smiling and clapping and "woo"ing. Alicia says Sundance has her heart and she feels right at home every time he sings. Blake tells Sundance that we've never experienced anything like that on the show and I totally agree. I wonder how pissed Adam is right now. 

----------------------------------------------

Artist: Ali Caldwell 

Coach: Miley

Song: "Without You" by Harry Nilsson

I'm shamelessly going to post Kelly Clarkson's version of this song from American Idol, and then I'm going to move on to say how much I enjoy Ali's rendition. This is another song that has been covered SO much and I was a little leery when I first saw the title pop up in Ali's rehearsal package. Ali's performance, however, is powerful, emotional, and dramatic to say the least. The train of her dress goes on for days and the windy/foggy effects behind it make this a show closing performance for sure.

Coaches Say: Everyone stands again! We're running out of time so we go right to Miley who says she is so proud to be Ali's coach. She says she feels like she won when Ali chose her during the blind auditions. Awww. 

----------------------------------------------

Tomorrow we will say goodbye to two contestants and the last eight artists remaining will square off in the semi-finals next week. Yes, that semi-finals that has eight people in it before the Tuesday slaughter that will take that number down to four. Because that makes sense. Because it's way better to have blinds, battles, and playoffs for 2 months before hacking through the Top 12 in four weeks. End rant. 

Because Courtney can't turn back time and redo her performance...or sabotage the microphone...or break the cameras...I have a feeling she is in great danger tomorrow. Who will join her though? Will Aaron find himself in the bottom again? Did Josh's lackluster Tim McGraw cover seal his fate? Could Austin's carousel of lights performance be too much of a departure for his fans? We'll find out during the elimination hour. Til then!