Last week on ‘The Voice,' we got to see the eight performers from Team Blake and Team Christina go head to head for a chance to sing again for America's love. Now in this second half of the Quarter Finals, we revisited the other half of the top 16, this time hearing from Team Adam and Team Cee Lo.
Additionally, tonight's show kicked off with last week's results. The elimination setup for ‘The Voice' isn't exactly typical of most results shows, so we'll take a moment to go through the specifics. America's votes can save just one person from each team every week- voting works in the exact opposite way as ‘American Idol' in that respect. Then from the remaining three, the mentor gets to pick one more singer to hang on to. I like this. Too many times have I been disappointed by America's opinion (
Pia Toscano anyone?)- it's refreshing that a judge's opinion actually makes a difference in this show.
Carson very quickly revealed Team Christina's fate this week, without even a commercial break stall (Take note,
Ryan Seacrest). Rocker Beverly McClellan won America's support this time, and a weepy Christina, who happened to be sporting a questionable number of tiny Medusa braids, then chose to keep
Frenchie Davis for her ‘poise, presence, and super-star voice.' No big surprise with either of these choices- both ladies killed it last week. Team Shaved-Heads has officially assembled!
Tori and Taylor Thompson opened the evening's performances with "The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." The sister on the top harmony kind of drowned out the other, and understandably so. Just like Raquel's performance last week, I quickly got confused about whether I was supposed to watch the singing sisters in the audience or the dancing soldiers on the stage. They really need to work on that. The performance was cute, but I would be shocked if the girls made it past tonight in the competition.
Stepping out of her comfort zone, Casey Weston sang an up-tempo- "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," and she rocked it from start to finish. Dare I say I might have event enjoyed the vocal as much as KT Tunstall's? And she's definitely got some kind of
Sheryl Crow thing going on that I find very intriguing. While Christina urged her to take more control of her performance next time around, the others sang her praises, with Blake even buying her single on the air.
Vicci Martinez busted out a very sultry, soulful rendition of
Dolly Parton's "Jolene." I love the tone of her voice, and the song seemed to be a superb pick for her. Adam thought that the performance was ‘raw and honest' and Blake that she was ‘explosive.' Coach Cee Lo commented that her voice ‘as big as the sentiment of the song' and even admitted that the song choice came from Ms. Martinez herself! Nice pick, Vicci.
Desperate to bring more confidence to his performance tonight, Devon Barley then sang "Stop and Stare" by One Republic. Vocally he was solid (until the very end at least), but the performance fell pretty flat otherwise. Again, I'd be shocked if he makes it through to next week's semi-finals. The judges failed to give any real criticism, which seems to be a trend with this sho
W. Maybe they're afraid of offending each other? Adam insisted that he was ‘supremely confident' and that he was very proud of him.
Nakia, one of my early favorites, then took the stage to sing Kings of Leon's "Sex on Fire," with actual fire dancers pirouetting behind him. A tad too literal? I think so, but I adored the performance otherwise. I think that he, like Beverly, really represent what this show is supposed to be about - solely the voice. Coach Cee Lo raved about his interpretation of the song, complimented both his attitude and his timing.
Country singer Jeff Jenkins belted out "Jesus Take the Wheel," and dedicated the performance to his deceased mother, which dare I say was a very wise move. Jeff's voice has an undeniable sweet spot that you can't help but adore, but I noticed that he seemed to have some breathing issues with this song. Coach Adam gave him credit for bring such passion to the song, and the others seemed to agree.
Singing Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" Curtis Grimes took a risk by not singing a country tune. This was just another example of a song that was a lot more about the sexy cowgirls prancing around him than it was about his mediocre vocal. There's absolutely no way this guy will see another week on this show. Cee Lo gave him props for developing a character and being confident on stage, and added that ‘we're kicking ass tonight!'
Javier Colon then showed off his great big range with Sarah McLachlan's "Angel." In the beautifully understated performance, Colon remained seated at the dimly lit piano for the entirety of the song. His tone was gorgeous, his riffs were clean, and his vibrato was spot on. Christina loved that he made the song his own, and Cee Lo pointed out that he ‘had the voice of an angel." Coach Adam simply said that Javier was ‘perfect.'
Carson then switched gears to reveal who of Team Blake would make it through to the Semi-Finals. On the top of America's list to sing again was Dia Frampton, while Blake decided on Xenia to join her next week. Well this is just absurd, Mr. Shelton.
Next week, two contestants from each team will be sent home just short of making the semi-finals. If I had it my way, Vicci, Nakia, Casey, and Javier would get to sing again at the semi-finals. Who will your votes be going to tonight?
The Voice airs Tuesdays at 9PM on NBC. Don't forget to check in with BroadwayWorld's THE VOICE Over next week for a complete recap of the Semi-Finals! Vote for your favorite contestants at NBC.com or by downloading songs by tonight's artists on iTunes.
The series features musician coaches
Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green,
Adam Levine and
Blake Shelton. The program is an innovative vocal competition series modeled after Holland's top-rated vocal talent discovery show "The Voice of Holland." "The Voice" is hosted by Carson Daly and features the musician coaches working through the various phases of the competition with only the most talented vocalists. The show's second season will air on NBC in mid-season on Mondays (8-10 p.m. ET).
"The Voice" is a presentation of Mark Burnett's One Three Inc., Talpa Content USA, Inc. and Warner Horizon Television. The series is created by John de Mol, who executive-produces along with Burnett, Audrey Morrissey and Stijn Bakkers.
