S08.E16: The Live Playoffs, Results

[Tara Ariano]

Top performers advance in a playoff-round results show.

[Keekski]

I can't believe Blake saved Hannah over Sarah. 

[Dots And Stripes]

Didn't all of the saves tonight go to the highest itunes sales of the artists the coaches had to choose from?

[Babalooie]

"Money makes the world go around."  They don't even try to hide that it's all about the iTunes sales.  I hear Blake mention it often.

[waving feather]

I'm glad Blake saved Hannah over Sarah. I think Hannah is much more unique than Sarah. And at least I don't have to put up with songs like Free Bird as a song choice anymore.

I'm sad about Brooke. But I understand why Blake chose Hannah, who is more consistent.

[nextian]

Didn't Sarah chart higher then Hannah? Not that I disagree with Blake's choice, I preferred Hannah to Sarah. I do think Blake would have kept Brooke if she hadn't frozen a bit on Monday. I think Megan, Sarah and Hannah are all very similar and he would have rather have had more variety, but based on Monday's performances Hannah was the right choice. The other coaches all did exactly what I expected them to.

[Noreaster]

What a boring episode.  Predictable results, bad group performances.  

 

Public saves matched the itunes exactly.  And the coach save decisions were mostly no-brainers.  There were huge gaps between the #3 and #4 contestants for three of the teams.  

 

Only question mark for me was Blake's team.  Meghan, Sarah, and Hannah charted close enough together that I wasn't sure who would get the public save and then who Blake would save.  Although I did assume Hannah would move forward regardless given how well her performance was received by the coaches.  

 

I felt bad for Sarah.  She had such a stressed sad look on her face when Carson was announcing the results.  I wish there was enough room for her.

[DownTheShore]

I was surprised that the public picked Deanna, though she did chart this week. I actually like her Cher-esque voice.; it's a nice change-of-pace.

I bet Blake was glad that the public chose Meghan, so he avoided that friendship pitfall. I figured Hannah would get the nod over Sarah; when in doubt, the younger contestant usually gets the nod at this level. I was rooting for Sarah, though.

Edited April 9, 2015 by DownTheShore

[Valny]

I can't believe Blake saved Hannah over Sarah. 

W-W- WHAT?!! Damn it!   I messed up recording the results so I missed everything but the last results. (which I was really surprised when Adam didn't choose Tonya. Thought Deanna would be gone instead) 

Aw, I really liked Sarah and was pretty sure she'd make this cut. At least I was right(and happy) about Kimberly and India making it through, that seemed like a no brainer, but hey...you never know. 

[Sile]

I managed to watch the entire episode in about 5 minutes.  Fast forward for the win!

 

I had both America's choices and the save correct for all except Adam's team.  I thought it would be Joshua and Tonya, with him saving Deanna.  When Deanna moved on, I wouldn't have been surprised if he chose either Tonya or Nathan (figured he'd go with Nathan for the youth factor).  I was shocked when he chose Brian.  His charms just escape me, in both voice and personality.

[Kcat1971]

I was only half correct on my predictions of who the coaches would choose.  I thought Blake would choose Brooke based on his track record and to create some diversity on his team. He doesn't really like vote splitting.  Adam surprised me by picking Brian over Tonya.  Frankly, it sort of looked like Adam surprised himself by picking Brian over Tonya!  I actually do prefer Brian's voice so it was a pleasant surprise.

 

I loved hearing from Chris Jamison again.  Very nice performance.

 

I wasn't very impressed with the Team performances but that's not surprising.  I guess I'd give the win to Team Pharrell on that one.

[Treebeard]

Rob has really grown on me. Actually, there's like 6 people I wouldn't mind winning at this point. They may all bomb next week, but so far, this is the most talented group on any season of The Voice or Idol I've watched.

[pivot]

I can't believe Blake saved Hannah over Sarah.

I completely understand it. Sarah was a generic faux rocker chick that this show has had too many times. Hannah is just an odd duck with a great voice. She is interesting and unique.

Boy, did Sarah look pissed that she didn't get the save though.

I can't say that I am surprised by any of the saves except for possibly Koryn over Caitlin. Caitlin had one of the best voices in the competition but her itunes sales were abysmal.

I am annoyed that we are going to be stuck with Corey until the finale. He is the weakest singer left and he is dull as dishwater but he is country so that gives him a pass to be mediocre.

Didn't all of the saves tonight go to the highest itunes sales of the artists the coaches had to choose from?

Sarah was ahead of Hannah by 1 or 2 spots. But, it was so close that it doesn't matter at that point. Brooke was way behind.

[Nedsdag]

With the exception of Hannah being chosen over Sarah, I am not surprised by the Top 12. It should be an interesting live show next week.

 

Was it me or were the group songs well done?

 

On one hand, it's nice to see former Voice contestants returning. On the other hand, Chris Jamison has a nice voice, but I never understood why he was known as a "sex symbol." To me he's as sexy as a migraine.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Nedsdag

[mercfan3]

I think Chris is cute. And I think he'd play the sweet R&B singer well (straight Sam Smith)...I didn't like the direction Adam took him in. (I'm not sure Chris did either.) 

 

His voice is absolutely beautiful though. 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Well, Ameriker gave the judges zero curveballs, which made the save results pretty predictable. I know arguments could be made for Tonya over Brian and Caitlyn over Koryn (despite how poorly she charted on Itunes).....but just one piece of chaos, say Lexi getting voted in on Team Xtina or a situation where Meghan was one of Blake's available save options (given their past history together) would have certainly livened up the proceedings.

 

I held out a glimmer of hope that Blake's famous strategery and aversion to vote splitting contestants might lead him to save Brooke despite her shortcomings on the Ellie Goulding song Monday night, but I can't really be mad at him for going w/ Hannah....she's one of a small minority in the top 12 who can actually have an out of left field performance going forward because she's genuinely learning and growing on the fly during this competition.

 

Why have Chris come back, if he's not going to have the opportunity to sing his own material? I still enjoyed the performance, but that's a song Wiz Khalifa does w/ another artist (Charlie something) for the Furious 7 movie soundtrack as well as a youtube tribute to Paul Walker which has already gone viral....

 

IMO Hannah, Koryn, Rob, and maybe even Kimberly should be on high alert going into next week.... 

Edited April 9, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[anonymiss]

Koryn was the worst offender on that atrocious arrangement of Say Something. Way to obliterate the meaning of the song with empty oversinging.

 

I'm pleased Mia Z got the votes over overhyped Caitlyn.

 

Christina's last two outfits and hairstyles have been beautiful.

[hincandenza]

Christina is a gorgeous woman, so it's not that hard to glam her up. :)

 

Pretty content with this outcome; it helps that I like almost no one.  About the only thing I'd have done differently is to have Sarah and not Corey voted in (I don't like bland as oatmeal Corey), and probably Lexi over Kimberly because I think Lexi was bused with her song selection, and she was fantastic a week ago.  I think Mia Z is atrociously bad, but apparently I'm in the minority and besides, Sawyer is the only person on Pharrell's team that matters anyway.

 

Super thrilled that Hannah is in, as she is far and away my favorite this season.  If she can switch to something heartrending next week instead of goofily fun-loving, I think she'll be safe and be on a good path to go a ways.  I'm also happy that Deanna was voted in as I'm not sure if Adam would have saved her, but I do think she has the most potential to suddenly jump to that next level. 

[waving feather]

Overall, I'm satisfied with this top 12. I'd trade Corey for Brooke but oh well. Brooke is good but she needs a few more years and she'll be fantastic.

 

My favorites from the top 12 so far:

 

1) Kimberly (A great example of strong perfect vocals + emotional connection + performance. Her performance was a masterclass.)

2) Meghan (I also love her style of throwing her entire being into the song)

3) Hannah (Not as developed as the other two but has a great raw talent and she's so endearing)

4) Deanna (Not a fan of her one-expression style of singing but her voice is one in a million and doesn't hurt that she looks like a supermodel.)

 

I would love anyone of these four to take the title. The guys these year are competent but boring singers.

[Sammich63]

Overall, I'm satisfied with this top 12. I'd trade Corey for Brooke but oh well. Brooke is good but she needs a few more years and she'll be fantastic.

 

My favorites from the top 12 so far:

 

1) Kimberly (A great example of strong perfect vocals + emotional connection + performance. Her performance was a masterclass.)

2) Meghan (I also love her style of throwing her entire being into the song)

3) Hannah (Not as developed as the other two but has a great raw talent and she's so endearing)

4) Deanna (Not a fan of her one-expression style of singing but her voice is one in a million and doesn't hurt that she looks like a supermodel.)

 

I would love anyone of these four to take the title. The guys these year are competent but boring singers.

I like this top four very much, and I would add India as the 5th one. I would also trade Corey for Brooke!!  I also find the guys so boring this year.  I do like Sawyer, Rob and Brian, but the rest can go home next week!  I just think the girls are so much more talented this year.  I see that Corey has over 45,000 Twitter followers (which is way more than anyone else) and that bugs me!  I'm afraid he'll be around until the end, and I hate that a singer as talented as Brooke got eliminated due to Blake giving her a song out of her comfort zone and she voiced that to him.  What was he thinking? Song choice is so important, as we have seen with Corey and his grandfather story, and Koryn with her song.  

 

I hope this year doesn't end up like season 6.  I love Jake Worthington, but he didn't deserve to be in second place.  I feel even more strongly about Corey because he is just so generic and dull as dishwater, as Pivot mentioned.  If Blake gives him the right song, he could win this thing!  Blech!!!  I'm holding out hope that a female will win, but based on iTunes sales, it looks like the generic guys will prevail again (Joshua, Corey).  The only guy I'd be okay with winning is Sawyer, as he is unique enough and he does have a good voice.  This group is so much more talented than season 6 was to me, so there shouldn't be any reason for Corey to make it to the finals.  

[Primetimer]

Good job on the voting and stuff...

Read the story

[Noreaster]

This episode's group performances have me bummed out about this season's prospects.  I know the contestants don't always have much time to practice and bringing together different styles is difficult.  But holy smokes, these group performances were bad and really highlighted the contestants' weaknesses and limitations.  The only person I liked was Sarah and she's out of the competition.

 

Some things that stood out to me in the groups:

-Corey's range is pretty limited.  His voice also has this boyband quality that I dislike.

-Meghan doesn't have much stage presence. She had her eyes closed so often and can't seem to loosen up on stage.  Surprising to me since she's a relatively seasoned performer.

-Hannah sings in a certain manner with this kind of staccato zig-zagging way. I see myself getting tired of this soon.  Her "dancing" is getting old already.  

-Christina's team performance was just a mess.  Started off well but quickly devolved into oversinging and superfluous runs. These contestants need to be taught restraint and unfortunately, that hasn't been Christina's style in the past.  

-Kimberly was the only one with much control but I see myself tiring of her voice soon.  There's a certain harshness that's not very pleasant to my ears.  

-Sawyer's range is quite limited.  

-Mia has great technical skills but lacks emotion/connection whenever she sings.  

-My problem is I can't see 16-year olds singing convincingly, especially in genres like folk and blues.  I usually don't appreciate the really young contestants on this show.  Pharrell's team is full of them.  

-Koryn still has that shaking quality in her voice.  Is it nerves or an intentional style?  Whatever it is, I don't enjoy it.  

-Adam's team performance was pretty bad.  Pitch issues (Deanna especially), oversinging (Tonya who I'm now glad is out), total mismatch of styles (Joshua singing Diamonds?).  

 

I'm feeling quite negative about this season's outlook. These contestants are going to need to show some range/variety, and I don't know if they're skilled enough to deliver consistently good performances.  I hope I'm wrong.  

Edited April 9, 2015 by Noreaster

[waving feather]

-Mia has great technical skills but lacks emotion/connection whenever she sings.

 

ITA. She may be the best singer behind Kimberly but she's too young and has no emotional connection to what she's singing. It's all very pretty but nothing much there. I appreciate her talent, though.

 

It just occurred to me that my current top 4 (1 from Xtina, 2 from Blake and 1 from Adam) doesn't have anyone from Team Pharrell and that's probably because his team is so young and I can't really connect to them as artists. They are cute talented kids who should be on America's Got Talent instead.

[Dean Learner]

I was rooting for Sarah, though.

 

This is so bizarre. I don't watch The Voice but by chance saw an article on the show elsewhere mentioning a Sarah Potenza- the little sister to one of my best friends in high school. She was a precocious brat, but in that endearing, kid sibling way. Always, always a performer.

 

I listened to the two performances, Sarah and Hannah, and much prefer Sarah's though her style isn't at all my speed. Her arrangement and phrasing was much more interesting than the generic Carole King cover. Sorry to see her eliminated.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Dean Learner

[basiltherat]

I was really disappointed that Sarah was chosen over CoreyThreeNames, but Bake already had a shouter with Meghan.  I was really shocked when Adam did not save Tonya -- he was always touting her as exemplar.  Brian instead?  Hmm.  Maybe he wasn't expecting Deanna to be saved, although she was his greatest success from this week.  As long as my pretty Sawyer is safe, I am OK.

[Noreaster]

I was really disappointed that Sarah was chosen over CoreyThreeNames, but Bake already had a shouter with Meghan. I was really shocked when Adam did not save Tonya -- he was always touting her as exemplar. Brian instead? Hmm. Maybe he wasn't expecting Deanna to be saved, although she was his greatest success from this week. As long as my pretty Sawyer is safe, I am OK.

I don't think any coach was surprised by the public vote since they all likely look at itunes.

I think, based on itunes sales, the coaches had no choice but to save Rob, Koryn, and Brian. The other contestants on these three teams (and Brooke on Blake's team) were really far behind in sales and would likely be the first ones eliminated. I wondered a bit about Tonya vs. Brian too, but saving an R&B/soul contestant in a season full of them may not be a good strategic move. Then I would guess that itunes cemented the decision to go with Brian.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Noreaster

[angelita100]

Happy Rob was saved.  Thank you Christina.  I find him most interesting out of everyone. He hasn't had a bad song yet.  Christina has my favorite team.   IMO Blake team is just as bad as Adam's. Joshua is better than everyone on his team.   Maybe he should stick with what he knows.  And then there's Sawyer. If he can show some variety he has a shot.  Best season for me in awhile. 

 

Is USher ever coming back? Still my favorite judge.

[Padma]

Now that Hannah's going on, could someone please tell her the truth about her "dancing"? It really isn't cute, or rhythmic, or attractive or creative whatever Blake and Pharrell keep praising her for. It's worse than what probably everyone posting here does at home in front of the mirror. Most importantly, it -distracts- from her singing which is good.

 

If they want to help her move around the stage better that's good. But those freeform gyrations she does have really got to go.

[rollerblade]

Yea I hear ya. I was okay about Hannah's spirit cleansing hula hoop dance during the audition, but after the first time, it became like too much of a tryhard schtick. It got old faster than Sia's non-face.

Edited April 9, 2015 by rollerblade

[viajero]

I had both America's choices and the save correct for all except Adam's team.

 

I actually had it correct for all four teams (first time that’s ever happened).  More importantly, 11 of the 12 contestants I preferred got through.  The only exception is Corey.  I would have taken either Booke or Sarah over him.

 

I honestly think this may be the overall strongest Top 12 ever on this show.  Even Corey is better than the weakest of previous Top 12.  Plus I think there are at least 6 or 7 contenders with a real shot at winning this thing.

 

My personal favorites are India, Kimberly, Koryn, and Mia.  But since I also like Hannah, Meghan and Deanna, it really is going to come down to who steps up the most in coming weeks.

 

Of the guys, the only one I find interesting is Sawyer.  I recognize that Rob has a great voice and is a good performer, but his style of music has never interested me.  Brian and Joshua also have good voices, but I find them both to be very bland, with nothing unique that I can grab on to.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they go far though, since bland nice-guys always do well on these shows. 

 

I am annoyed that we are going to be stuck with Corey until the finale. He is the weakest singer left and he is dull as dishwater but he is country so that gives him a pass to be mediocre.

 

 

Yeah, I’m also resigning myself to the fact that we are going to watch this guy sail through week after week while much more talented singers and performers go home.

 

Other than that, I’m making no predictions.  While Sawyer may still be the favorite, there is simply too much closely matched talent this season.  It’s really going to come down to who screws up in any given week.

[Donny Ketchum]

Current team rosters/cheat sheets going into the top twelve:

 

Team Adam

Joshua Davis (saved by America's vote)

Deanna Johnson (saved by America's vote)

Brian Johnson (saved by Adam)

 

Team Pharrell

Sawyer Fredericks (saved by America's vote)

Mia Z (saved by America's vote)

Koryn Hawthorne (saved by Pharrell)

 

Team Christina

Kimberly Nichole (saved by America's vote)

India Carney (saved by America's vote)

Rob Taylor (saved by Christina)

 

Team Blake

Corey Kent White (saved by America's vote)

Meghan Linsey (saved by America's vote)

Hannah Kirby (saved by Blake)

 

Don't agree that all of the team performances were bad.  I liked Team Christina's performance the best.  Team Pharrell's was good save for Koryn's part.  But yeah, Team Adam and Team Blake weren't so good.

 

I wanted Blake to save Sarah.  But I can see why he went for Hannah.  The audience is skewed toward younger contestants, so it was best to capitalize on that.  Still think Hannah, Meghan, and Sarah should be Blake's top three, and I think that as much as Blake claims to like Corey, I can tell that part of him wanted those three women, too, and knew that they were the strongest ones.

 

I can live with Christina's choice.  Kimberly and India were no-brainers, so I'm glad America put them through.  And I think if Sonic had given a better performance, Christina might've put her through instead of Rob.  As it is, Rob blew so many people out of the water, Christina had to put him through.

 

Pharrell's team was obviously going to have Sawyer and Mia on it, and I'm fine with that.  They're his strongest two, I think.  As for the save, I get the feeling that Pharrell really, really, really wanted to save Lowell, but knew that he hadn't charted well, and Koryn had.  So he went with her.  It's a bit sad, because I wanted Lowell to stick around and return to his crooning.

 

On Adam's team, Joshua and Deanna were the top two charting on iTunes, so I wasn't surprised that they made it through.  I think Adam had it set in his mind that Nathan wasn't going to the top twelve.  So it was between Brian and Tonya.  I thought Tonya made more sense until reading that there were too many R&B/soul people among whom she could get lost.  But at the same time, Brian could get lost among those of his type.  But Brian was younger and could probably bring in more votes, so Adam went with him.

 

Results were fairly predictable, but since they all made sense, I don't care much about it.  Bring on the top twelve!

 

Agreed with those dreading Corey's longevity.  Nice guy, but oh-so-boring, save for his grandfather story.  But his Twitter followers will keep him around, no doubt.  I'd still rather Blake have saved Cody.  That was an interesting country singer.

 

I also dread Joshua's longevity.  He's the bland WGWG that American teen girls drool over, so that'll get him votes.  Ditto Brian, who, while at least a bit more interesting than Joshua, isn't all that much of an interesting guy himself.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[blueray]

I am happy, everyone I wanted to go through did!

[photo fox]

(Joshua is) the bland WGWG that American teen girls drool over, so that'll get him votes.

I've seen this sentiment quite a bit, and I'm somewhat confused by it. Teen girls will drool over Joshua? Isn't he a little... old? I don't see him or Brian Johnson as heartthrob material, to be perfectly frank.

[Donny Ketchum]

I've seen this sentiment quite a bit, and I'm somewhat confused by it. Teen girls will drool over Joshua? Isn't he a little... old? I don't see him or Brian Johnson as heartthrob material, to be perfectly frank.

Neither do I.  But the voters apparently do.

[realdancemom]

Neither do I.  But the voters apparently do.

But is it really teen girls?  Joshua is old for them.  I can see why they would put Corey through.  I'm with a lot of people that it's too bad since the other four women on Blake's team are stronger.  But Corey's fans will probably keep him in the finals.  I hope he doesn't win.

 

Based on iTunes, the results were predictable except I wasn't sure if Blake was going to pick Sarah or Hannah.  I prefer Sarah's voice but I am older.  I also wasn't really sure if Pharrell would pick Lowell even though Koryn charted higher.  He seemed to have a soft soft for him.  He's also the coach that is unpredictable especially when he is going for unique. 

[viajero]

But is it really teen girls?  Joshua is old for them.  I can see why they would put Corey through.

 

 

I agree.  I suspect he'll probably have a similar base of support as Josh Kaufman, primarily women over 30, plus some older guys who generally prefer male singers.  Since that represents a majority of viewers, I think he has a good shot of going far.  Going by my tween daughter and her friends, I suspect their age group are much more likely to go for the likes of Corey (cuteness factor), Mia (coolness factor), or Hannah (anti-coolness factor).  But since they represent a minority of viewers, I'm not sure it matters much outside of maybe the twitter saves.

 

On a separate matter, I never realized how tall Deanna is until I saw her standing in line with the rest of Team Adam.  She towered over the guys; much more than her high heels would explain.

[Kromm]

I can't believe Blake saved Hannah over Sarah. 

You could see by the look on her face that Sarah couldn't  believe it either (and I don't blame her or cast it as ego either).

 

Then again, I bet none of them could believe that last horrible warbling Country Singer, and "Blake's friend" got 'Merica's vote.

I was say on XTina's team, at least America didn't fall prey to the knee-jerk inspiration story with Sonic.  Sonic needed to be sent back to the drive-in, and thank goodness she was--that Christina didn't save her either.  That said, Rob was a pretty shitty save choice too.

[Noreaster]

I'm not a fan of country music and didn't really care about Corey's performances prior to this week. But I voted for him this week. I found his performance very emotional and effective. I enjoyed Corey more than the more technically proficient Sarah and Meghan. The song choice may have had something to do with it.

 

I always find it funny when people make generalizations about supporters of contestants they don't like. When they say that these supporters must be part of a lesser group like teens, fangirls, cougars, grannies, the country bloc, whatever. We all have different tastes, that's all.  

Edited April 10, 2015 by Noreaster

[blueray]

That is why I would be a bad judge. Basically if you sing a song and/or music style I like then I like your performance. Someone could be a talented R &B singer but I don't like that kind of music so I don't vote for them. In my opinion at this point everyone is at least talented.

[Padma]

Had we ever seen Sarah without the ugly white glasses before the results were announced? I don't know if it would have helped with votes, but I thought she looked at least 10 years younger.

 

I thought Tonya was a shoe in from Adam, so I was glad he chose Brian instead. His more restrained style is so much more appealing to me, especially since we already have Christina's team, plus Meaghan and Hannah.

 

I think the top 12 is fine, even though a few of them wouldn't have been my choices. Every season, there's one singer that I regret being eliminated over someone who went far and this time it's Cody. I think Blake should have gone with a kind of "New Man In Black" look for him and bullt on the mystery/edginess (that may have just been shyness, but...whatever) of his audition. Instead, it seemed he was coached to look and sound quite "generic country", leaving the door open for boring and -truly- generic Corey.

 

I don't understand what happened to Cody's "sound" either from the blind audition, but I fault Blake, who seems to me to be having his weakest season as both a coach and as a judge. (Adam, on the other hand, has irritated me in the past, but seems quite fair, likeable and constructive this time around. And Christina and Pharrell add a lot--and seem to have a good chance of winning with either Sawyer or Mia Z for Pharrell and India for Christina.

[waving feather]

I don't understand what happened to Cody's "sound" either from the blind audition, but I fault Blake, who seems to me to be having his weakest season as both a coach and as a judge.

 

I agree regarding the battle but I bet the knock out is all Cody and I'm also not sure what happened to his appealing sound from the blind audition. Nevertheless, I still don't think Cody would have made it far, because he is not ready for this, just like sweet Brooke. Talented but need a bit more time to cook.

 

I have a feeling deep down Blake would be okay with not winning this season. In season 7 interview, he mentioned that even he was a bit tired of himself winning 3 times in a row after season 4 and was okay with Adam and Usher winning the next two seasons.

[bluepiano]

Losing 8 of 20 (contestants 40%) in one fell swoop seems pretty drastic, especially given how big a deal they make of reaching the lives. You'd think they'd let a few more of them stick around and enjoy it. On the other hand, a lot of these people were obviously fodder. I'm not generally good at these things, but even I correctly predicted 11 of the final 12, and whether they would be voted in or saved. My only miss was Adam picking Brian over Tonya, and I was on the fence about that one.

 

For a show called "The Voice," supposedly only about singing ability, I can't help but notice that we've lost all the women who are aren't thin and/or young and/or conventionally pretty. I wasn't a big fan of the singing of Sarah or Tonya, but vocals aside it was clear they had a limited shelf life.

 

Also on the matter of appearance, I have to wonder if it's Sawyer's long hair and androgynous/angelic appearance that's making him the apparent frontrunner. He does seem to possess an unusual degree of inner calm for someone so young, but vocally I don't hear anything special. And I feel the same way about Joshua, who I think is getting a bump from being the only "married with children" contestant, And a seemingly super nice guy to boot.

 

If Carson Daley keeps introducing Cory as "this year's only country singer" that's a ticket to the final three or four right there, as it will mobilize the huge country voting bloc.

 

Although if Deanna isn't strictly speaking a country singer, she doesn't certainly have an All-American country gal vibe about her. Smart of Adam to give her a gospel-tinged song, on top of which the angelic white outfit made her look like she just stepped out of the choir at some evangelical mega-church. As we've seen on this show before, Jesus sells. (And on a shallow note, since it's not only about "the voice," man does she have some gams.

Edited April 11, 2015 by bluepiano

[DownTheShore]

Joshua's attraction? He's got a little of a scruffy Paul Newman-esque look about him (when Newman was in his beard phase), set off by light blue eyes with dark hair. He's got the most "lived-in" look of the finalists, which is attractive to those no longer drawn by the looks of wispy teenage boys. At least, that's my take on it.

[Noreaster]

Here's an actual datapoint on voting. From a Tulsa World interview with Corey:  
 

Being from Oklahoma is also a big advantage on the show. White said Muskogee’s Colton Swon, who with brother Zach of The Swon Brothers placed third on “The Voice” as members of Team Blake, told him “from day one” that he could not be from a better place than Oklahoma “because they vote. They care enough to vote you through.”

A producer on the show basically told White the same thing.

“They said ‘You are in a good spot, being the last country artist and from Oklahoma. Oklahoma is in our top two voting states every year in the amount of people who vote.’”

[viajero]

“They said ‘You are in a good spot, being the last country artist and from Oklahoma. Oklahoma is in our top two voting states every year in the amount of people who vote.’”

 

 

That would certainly explain a lot.  This is another way in which Blake has a built-in advantage.  I certainly doubt more people from LA are going to vote because Adam is on the show.

[Noreaster]

Yep.  I also think the NBC executive, in The Hollywood Reporter interview earlier this year, basically acknowledged that some people are really voting for the coach. That was my take at least.   
 

Last season, the finale came down to Team Adam vs. Team Blake. As someone with no real horse in the race, do you prefer it when the competition is down to a couple of coaches? Or would you prefer it to be more spread out?

The ideal thing is each coach has an amazing finalist. It's a competitive format with real rules, so the cookie crumbles differently each time. People forget, Usher won with a great contestant. At a certain point, it goes to the audience connecting with a contestant. I think every suspects that Blake has a bit of secret sauce with his relationship with a contingency that is extremely loyal. But Usher won, and Adam['s fans are] extremely loyal ± it's anyone's game at this stage in this season.

[ToxicUnicorn]

I've only voted one season and it was definitely for the contestant.  I like the coaches and find them entertaining but, to me, they're already getting plenty of recognition, in the form of their paychecks.  They don't need my votes.

 

Adam's team:  I'm surprised by America's votes for Joshua and Deanna, especially Deanna.  Deanna might be a genuinely lovely girl, but I find her entire - everything - sort of saccharine.  I am disappointed she moves on when Sarah does not.  Josh doesn't surprise me, when the choices included NathaBrian deserved the save - I thought he did a great job.  I just wish it had been Brian, Sarah, and Joshua.

 

Pharrell's team: Sawyer was a shoe-in and I was pleasantly surprised that America voted for Mia.  But for Pharrell to use his save on Koryn?  That was crazy.  I agree Pharrell would have liked to have saved Lowell, but Lowell sang his way right out of the competition, didn't he.  I would have chosen Caitlim, I suppose.
 

Team Christina
Kimberly Nichole (saved by America's vote)
India Carney (saved by America's vote)
Rob Taylor (saved by Christina)

No problems with Christina's team, although I am surprised Kimberly and Rob weren't switched.

 

Blake's team:  I can't remember Brooke for the life of me.  There is something about Meghan that really alienates me.  I love that Blake saved Hannah.  Unlike others, I think Corey is not going to last long.  (Famous last words!)  I liked Sarah, sorry to see her go: my top 2 from Blake's were Sarah and Hannah.  Any of the remaining for third would have been fine with me.

 

I LOVED hearing Chris again.  So glad he came back.

[Donny Ketchum]

Adam's team:  I'm surprised by America's votes for Joshua and Deanna, especially Deanna.  Deanna might be a genuinely lovely girl, but I find her entire - everything - sort of saccharine.  I am disappointed she moves on when Sarah does not.  Josh doesn't surprise me, when the choices included NathaBrian deserved the save - I thought he did a great job.  I just wish it had been Brian, Sarah, and Joshua.

Did you mean Tonya?  There was no Sarah on Adam's team.

[ToxicUnicorn]

Yes, thanks, Donny Ketchum.  Brian, Tonya, and Joshua would've been my pick from Team Adam.  Once Deanna was in, I agreed with saving Brian over Tonya, though.

[Steph619]

I'm glad Blake saved Hannah. She's one of my favorites this season. Sarah looked visibly upset about not being saved. I thought she should've moved on over Corey.

I'm happy that my two favorites on Team Pharrell, Sawyer and Mia, were saved. I probably would've saved Caitlin over Koryn though because I liked her voice more.