S08.E21: Live Top 8 Performances

[Tara Ariano]

The Top 8 artists perform.

[viajero]

From what The Voice has put up on it's You Tube channel, we get some hints about some of the songs for Top 8:

 

Koryn's doing  Alicia Keys "Girl on Fire".  Though its been done a little too often on these shows, I'm willing to bet no one has sounded the way Koryn is going to sound on this song.

 

Corey is doing "When I See You Smile" by Bad English, which he'd never heard of.  I'm wondering how Blake came up with that one. It is a ballad, which I guess could lend itself to a country version.

 

Hannah is doing a song that makes her want to wear antlers on her head.  I'm wondering if it could be FOB's "Sugar, We're Going Down?"  If so, that's a tough song vocally.  If Hannah can pull that one off, she deserves to get through.

 

Those are some unexpected song choices from Blake, to say the least.

[Magic]

I took a glance at iTunes to see how far the contestants had dropped.  I only saw Koryn's Let it Rain in the top 200, although I could have missed someone. None of Sawyer's titles were in the top 200.  Kind of surprising and made me wonder if they are going to start hiding the ranking info like AI did, until after the voting or after the season.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Magic

[tmelange]

Here are the songs for tonight's episode:

 

Joshua Davis – Team Adam – Fields of Gold by Sting
Koryn Hawthorne – Team Pharrell – Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys
India Carney – Team Christina – Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland
Sawyer Fredericks – Team Pharrell – Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Meghan Linsey – Team Blake – Something by The Beatles
Hannah Kirby – Team Blake – We Don’t Need Another Hero by Tina Turner
Corey Kent White – Team Blake – When I See You Smile by Bad English
Kimberly Nichole – Team Christina – Creep by Radiohead

 

Seems all rather boring, but I guess we'll have to see how it plays out.

[leannji]

SO am I the only one who wonders if Sawyers hat is glued to his head?

It's always the same hat and we've never seen him without it......

None of his performances matched his blind audition.

I know he'll probably win, but I'm kind of over him. Hope one of the females win...Several of them deserve it.

[Padma]

I'm fascinated by the women who choose

 "Creep".

Why do you think Kimberly is doing that song, of all that she has to choose from?  I'm guessing, since they're Team Christina, that both she and India are going to over-embellish their songs with over-the-top vocal reach, too many runs and too many "ad libs". India might do okay on an over-done classic song like that...possibly...but "making it her own" would mean "simplicity" and purity, not meaningless and completely unnecessary vocal gymnastics.

 

I just don't see that happening.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Padma

[lgprimes]

Why is Christina dressed like she's going shopping at Target?

[Valny]

I'm fascinated by the women who choose

 "Creep".

Why do you think Kimberly is doing that song, of all that she has to choose from?  I'm guessing, since they're Team Christina, that both she and India are going to over-embellish their songs with over-the-top vocal reach, too many runs and too many "ad libs". India might do okay on an over-done classic song like that...possibly...but "making it her own" would mean "simplicity" and purity, not meaningless and completely unnecessary vocal gymnastics.

 

I just don't see that happening.

Speaking of making it her own, I thought Kimberly's Creep was amazing. I wasn't sure if it would be something I'd be into after Christina's suggestions, but I really enjoyed that version. (btw, it always cracks me up when Xtina  says something like, can I try singing it?.. etc. ..and then starts wailing away in her awesome voice) Thought it looked cool the was Kimberly slowly sat in the floor and her dress got all poofy, it kind of looked like when the Wicked Witch of the West was melting and costume poofed up too.

[anonymiss]

Sawyer is anything but another WGWG (for that, see: Joshua). Sawyer sounds like he's genuinely from another era, from the 60s or 70s. It was cute to see the blushing awkward teenager in him come out in front of Gwen.

 

Meghan is my favorite female singer left but I can't agree with Beatles' ballads sung with that vocalist gusto.

 

For whatever reason, I don't enjoy when people reinterpret Creep. Maybe it comes off cheesy and even Thom Yorke won't do it. I agree that Christina sounded good doing a bit of it acapella, though.

 

I've never been impressed with Koryn. I don't like her tone. There are so many vocalists like her or better. She eviscerates songs rather than telling any kind of story. It's all about what big notes she's hitting--something Christina is accused of but really fits Koryn, as she lacks elegance and emotion in her singing.

Edited April 28, 2015 by anonymiss

[kechara]

The crazy of CeeLo....gotta love it. He may be a guy with major issues, but he sure is creative and different .

[Dots And Stripes]

The crazy of CeeLo....gotta love it. He may be a guy with major issues, but he sure is creative and different .

The major issues got in the way of me totally enjoying his presence tonight.

 

I feel like Koryn, Meghan, and India, all of the same problem for me. I find their lower registers just grating. All three are very talented, but at times sound unpleasant. Also, does Koryn know the girl is not literally on fire?

 

Joshua, Corey, and Sawyer all occupy the same space for me. Joshua is the first one of those I'd cut loose.

 

I didn't totally love Kimberly's arrangement tonight, but it sure was dramatic. The ending was kind of cool and I guess I should also give her points for not doing the typical singing show arrangement that builds.

 

Hanah, still in the 80's, still getting the opening slot. At least she's entertaining.

[Padma]

Ceelo was kind of skeevy on the show--and truly checked out the last season (or two)--but the other "issues" were dropped and it's still a "innocent till proven guilty thing" (unless perhaps like Bill Cosby, you have so many credible accusers that the allegations begin to seem like more than that. In CeeLo's case, I think he gets the benefit of the doubt from me on the date drug thing, at least at this point).*

 

I thought he was a terrible judge but I've -so- missed his creativity and knowledge of music. I wish they could bring him back as some kind of permanent consultant because all of the coaches could benefit from fresher staging and song ideas.

 

*Added re: Dots and Stripes link below. That's a good one to read to learn more. All I really remembered was that no rape charges were filed. Didn't realize he plea bargained over the Ecstacy. Thanks for the correction.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Padma

[Dots And Stripes]

Ceelo was kind of skeevy on the show--and truly checked out the last season (or two)--but the other "issues" were dropped and it's still a "innocent till proven guilty thing" (unless perhaps like Bill Cosby, you have so many credible accusers that the allegations begin to seem like more than that. In CeeLo's case, I think he gets the benefit of the doubt from me on the date drug thing, at least at this point).

 

No to go too far astray from the topic, but he pled no contest and made some very questionable tweets about the topic of rape. I couldn't remember details during the show, but yeah I don't enjoy watching Ceelo as much as I used to.

[kelnic86]

I hope Joshua can break the trend of twitter save-ee's ending up in the b3 the following week, because I really enjoyed his performance.

 

I've grown very tired of Girl On Fire because it's so overdone. But I liked how Koryn changed it up and she sounded great. I also like how she emotes during her performances like she's really feeling the lyrics.

 

I felt like I was watching a musical on Broadway during Kimberly's performance. The girl really knows how to put on a show. I was highly entertained throughout.

Edited April 28, 2015 by kelnic86

[rollerblade]

Is this the Haley Reinhart & Postmortem Jukebox version of Creep?

 

I think I still prefer the acoustic version (with just guitar+vocals) over the regular rock or this jazz style.

[TiredMe]

Kimberly voice breaks my ear drums. It just is too much for me.

I enjoyed Sawyer tonight. He sounds so mature that I'm always surprised.

I am so over Somewhere over the rainbow but I thought India did a great job with it and really controlled her vibrato.

Corey bores the crap outta me. I usually take a bathroom break when he's on. Just do not get it.

[beaker73]

Kimberly voice breaks my ear drums. It just is too much for me.

I enjoyed Sawyer tonight. He sounds so mature that I'm always surprised.

I am so over Somewhere over the rainbow but I thought India did a great job with it and really controlled her vibrato.

Corey bores the crap outta me. I usually take a bathroom break when he's on. Just do not get it.

I give him about 20 seconds and the FF through the rest. Zzzzzz...

[Noreaster]

Mixed episode.  A lot of overdone songs.  

 

Loved Joshua's performance.  Not the greatest vocals, but when he's in his sweet spot, he is so enjoyable to listen to.  

 

Enjoyed hearing Sawyer a lot but the age disconnect gets to me.  He's clearly not connecting to the lyrics...smiling at odd times, overly focused on keeping rhythm with his guitar, trying to work the stage.  Not his fault of course since he's still a 16 year old kid.  But I'm unable to root for him.  

 

Don't know if I really enjoyed Kimberly's performance tonight because of the song's arrangement.  And her voice sounds a little too harsh sometimes. But at least she was interesting which is more than I can say about many others tonight.  

 

Meghan was okay...I feel like she's always singing at the same volume and I wish she would sing more softly at times.  And she never looks like she's enjoying herself on stage.

 

Corey and Hannah were boring. Koryn's quavering singing style is just not pleasant to my ears.  India oversang per usual.

[pivot]

I was feeling pretty good about getting rid of Corey and Joshua until I saw the iTunes chart. We are totally going to end up with a final 3 of WGWG and the show's turn into American Idol will be complete. Corey was off during at least 1/2 of his performance and had zero inflection during the song but he somehow got to go 7th while Hannah was stuck in the top spot again. I call BS. At least Hannah can sing on key and isn't a complete dud on stage.

Kimberly butchered Creep. India oversang Somewhere Over the Rainbow and I love that Gwen called her out on having no personality when she sings. First time I can remember Gwen saying something useful on this show.

This was Meghan's worst performance so far. And Hannah needs to sing a song that isn't mid-tempo. That's all she's had the past 3 weeks and these songs don't go anywhere.

Who I want in the bottom 3: Corey, Kimberly, India with Kimberly and Corey going home

Who will be in the bottom 3: Hannah, Meghan, India with Hannah and India going home

I find it interesting that Joshua finally has a good performance and it is on a song he picked. Blake even mentioned how much better he was this week now that he is back in his wheelhouse.

[JeanneH]

Loved Kimberly and India. Dorey, Joshua, and especially Sawyer can go home any time now. Begging the church folk to vote for Koryn isn't enough, now he's begging the tweens to vote for Sawyer - that desperate, Pharrell?

 

I think it will be interesting to see what happens with iTunes after the show ends on the West Coast. Here are the current rankings, 80 minutes after show's end (East Coast), 20 minutes before show's end (West Coast)

 

1. Sawyer (#11)
2. Joshua (#27)
3. Kimberly (#36)
4. Corey (#66)
5. India (#71)
6. Meghan (#74)
7. Hannah (#96)
8. Koryn (#122)

[Nedsdag]

Tonight was more like The Ambien than The Voice. Let me count the Zs.

 

• Hannah - ZZZZZZZZZZ. Can she sing songs that weren't hits in 1985?
• Joshua - ZZ.  Very quiet, but better than last week. He should be back next week.
• Kimberly - ZZZZ. Even Radiohead doesn't perform this song anymore. Perhaps she should've sang "Karma Police" or "Exit Music (For a Film)" instead.
• Meghan - ZZZ. Too much melisma for a subtle song. 
• Sawyer - ZZZZZZ. The good news? He moved around. The bad news? His vocals are limited. But it doesn't matter. He could sing the Sanskrit alphabet and he would still be in the finals.
• India - ZZZZ. I am sick and tired of this song, and she went way too dramatic. She and Meghan had the same problem: Over singing.
• Corey - ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. What? What? What? Corey sang a rock song that could be a country hit? Nevertheless, it truly deserved the multiple Zs.
• Koryn - Z. The beginning of the song was meh, but the end? Stunning! It's too bad it wasn't consistent.

 

Matt McAndrew's return? The dude needs to front a band. Blake's new song? He's lucky he's a coach and not a contestant. No one would turn a chair for him for his sangria lips song.

[yourpointis]

  3. Sawyer Fredericks - Simple Man (The Voice Performance)
19. Joshua Davis - Fields of Gold (The Voice Performance)
25. Kimberly Nichole - Creep (The Voice Performance)
40. Corey Kent White - When I See You Smile (The Voice Performance)
42. India Carney - Over the Rainbow (The Voice Performance)
45. Meghan Linsey - Something (The Voice Performance)
66. Koryn Hawthorne - Girl on Fire (The Voice Performance)
73. Hannah Kirby - We Don't Need Another Hero (The Voice Performance)

 

20. Blake Shelton - Sangria
28. Matt McAndrew - Counting On Love

[lyric]

Sawyer is #3 in iTunes...that child is an iTunes charting machine...  Joshua is up to #16, Kimberly's at #25

[photo fox]

Sawyer is quite possibly the most overrated Voice contestant ever, IMO. Yawn.

[pivot]

No, that will always be Danielle. She of the dead eyes and fake smile.

[Ketzel]

Josh's performance of "Fields of Gold" was a droning snore, in my opinion. He sang without any dynamics at all. I don't see anything of a performer in him.

I have enjoyed Meaghan in the past, but I think she completely missed the point of "Something." It's really not a song of unconditional love. I think it's a song about the beginning of a romance, when the attraction is at its most powerful. There's a interior conflict going on in the lyric, between the powerful attraction the singer expresses in the verses and the concern that the feeling might not last expressed in the chorus. All that belting and intensity she brought to it overpowered the delicacy of the lyrics.

[Treebeard]

"Sawyer is quite possibly the most overrated Voice contestant ever, IMO. Yawn."

No, that will always be Danielle. She of the dead eyes and fake smile.

Lol...Danielle and Sawyer are my respective favorites, by far, from their seasons. (Weirdly, for completely opposite reasons....one's strength is the other's weakness and vice versa). Different strokes I guess.

[jjjmoss]

Danielle is amazing, sorry that she's done better than your flop fave contestants.

 

The world is back in order with Sawyer on top. First season a contestant had the top iTunes peaking song in 6 different rounds (out of 7 so far, as Koryn narrowly edged him last week).

 

Another sign of his dominance, of the songs from before this week, the top 8 on iTunes right now are:

Sawyer's Iris

Koryn's Make it Rain

Sawyer's Imagine

Sawyer's Man of Constant Sorrow

Sawyer's Trouble

Meghan's Girl Crush

Sawyer and Noelle's Have You Ever Seen the Rain

Sawyer's Collide

Edited April 28, 2015 by jjjmoss

[Dots And Stripes]

Yes, Sawyer is dominating itunes this season. I still hope someone else can pull out the win. He's starting to bore more. I haven't care much for his performances the past 2 weeks.

 

I feel like the show would really like a Sawyer win. He's young, he's selling, and he's probably a better candidate for post show stardom than the other contenders (Kimberly, Meghan, Koryn, India).

[kelnic86]

I love Sawyer. I really liked his performance tonight. I completely understand why he's not everyone's cup of tea, though. But I love his voice. I find him very endearing and sincere and it comes across in his performances, at least to me.

[rollerblade]

Yes, Sawyer is dominating itunes this season. I still hope someone else can pull out the win. He's starting to bore more. I haven't care much for his performances the past 2 weeks.

 

I feel like the show would really like a Sawyer win. He's young, he's selling, and he's probably a better candidate for post show stardom than the other contenders (Kimberly, Meghan, Koryn, India).

 

Does the final vote this season include cumulative itunes votes? Unless all the x10 bonus amounts to only <15% of the total votes from other methods, I don't see how he could lose at this point. No matter what he does.

 

So... c'mon Sawyer, She Bangs!

[hks]

I loved Kimberly's performance yet again. At first, I wasn't too sure about the jazzy arrangement. But wow, she totally sold it. And that ending nearly made me tear up. The plinky piano plus her voice just got to me.  PLUS. She didn't gender switch!! That stupid gender switch, which completely pulls me out of a song. If she weren't already in first place for me, that would have been the final push.

 

And then.  OF COURSE, the artist who follows her - Megan, who is an amazing singer - does the gender shift! "Something" is iconic. Why would you change any of it?!  I think why it bothers me so much is it feels homophobic. Even if that's not intended, that's what it makes me think. And again, it pulls me out of the performance completely. I mean, I know Megan sang well, but I was too frustrated by the gender shift to really listen.  Does this bother other people as much as it bothers me? Or am I being overly crazed by it? (Or both?)

[mercfan3]

Kim's Creep was clearly influenced by Haley's Creep..just because that got so popular otherwise how in the world do you just randomly come up with "Let's do a jazz cover of Creep." But Kim definitely did it differently and Haley's is a lot better. (Even though Kim's was pretty good.)

 

Bad song choice from Meghan. You don't shout that song. 

 

Bad song choice from Hannah. People are going to forget that.

 

Corey was as mediocre as ever.

 

But India..that was easily my favorite performance from her. I thought she was just breathtaking. 

 

It was also Sawyer's best live performance version. Him and Gwen were so cute tonight too. 

 

I thought Koryn did a good job, but I prefer her so much more in rock. 

 

edit: Also I want to comment on Usher. It's amazing, in the whole five minutes he was on the show..he helped the audience make a personal connection with Joshua in ways that Adam hasn't done all season. They all better hope he doesn't come back because he'd dominate. 

Edited April 28, 2015 by mercfan3

[Dots And Stripes]

Does the final vote this season include cumulative itunes votes? Unless all the x10 bonus amounts to only <15% of the total votes from other methods, I don't see how he could lose at this point. No matter what he does.

 

So... c'mon Sawyer, She Bangs!

Last season it didn't because they brought back an eliminated contestant for Adam-fest. It would have been hard to allow cumulative totals in the finale when one contestant had fewer songs.

 

I think last week Carson said the itunes might or maybe cumulative. I remember him using conditional language which made me think producers hadn't completely decided what they wanted to do this year. I could be over-thinking that.

[Padma]

I cannot remember a season when I've felt less invested in anyone by this late in the game--sometimes even two or three! At the moment, I'm hard pressed to think who I'd be sorry to see leave at this point. Maybe Sawyer, because I still see something genuine and powerful (potentially) in his performances (or maybe it's just the memory of his audition, which he has never replicated).

 

Joshua bores me, but I wouldn't mind him staying just because he doesn't always Overdo. Every. Single. Song. like India...Koryn...Kimberly...Meaghan...Hanna...  But India and Meaghan should go ASAP for what they did to two songs that benefit from heartfelt, at least somewhat subtle vocal interpretations.  And India earns special place of irritation for choosing to sing all kinds of different, much lower notes. Look, if you're not going to sing the melody on SOTR--your "own composition" had better be GREAT. Her singing style really annoys me (and Brava! to Gwen for pointing out how she never brings any feeling of emotional connection when she sings.) Really hope she's going.

 

Oh, and did Gwen Sebastian write "Sangria"? I like Blake's singing but that's another terrible song choice for him, imo. And Gwen's "snaky" sorta dance-like gestures behind him are distracting, not sexy or whatever they're supposed to be. Pretty bad, both of them.

 

I guess seeing the guest coaches again was the only thing I liked.

 

ETA: Corey. I knew there was someone I forgot. That's about all one needs to know about him, too. Can't leave soon enough, imo, but it looks like he'll be staying until the final.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Padma

[Donny Ketchum]

As I watch:

 

Team Adam

Joshua: Boring, as usual.  But he's charting well again this week, likely due to panicky fans of his wanting to keep him out of the bottom this week, so he'll get by, unfortunately.

 

Team Pharrell

Sawyer: Not one of his most interesting performances, but still pretty good.  Given that he's in the top three, he'll likely survive to next week.  He's probably Pharrell's best shot at winning the whole thing.

Koryn: I love her.  And I love her voice.  But this was certainly a comedown from last week.  I hope she can survive, but given her current placement on the iTunes chart, I think she's singing for her life tomorrow.

 

Team Christina

Kimberly: She had me from the beginning once more.  Just amazingly beautiful.  I think she'll get through since she's charting very well.

India: She got lots of cheers during her performance, so the studio audience was clearly loving it.  If she can get into the fourth spot, she could avoid singing for her life (assuming it's a bottom four tomorrow).  Either way, she was also quite beautiful in her voice.  Played to her opera strengths.

 

Team Blake

Hannah: Not as dynamic as her usual performances, but her vocals were still good.  Not charting too well, though, so I think she'll be singing for her life this week.

Meghan: She sang very well, I thought.  But she's also not charting well.  She needs to step it up next week if she doesn't wind up going home this week.

Corey: Yet again, boredom personified.  Sorry, @Dots And Stripes.  I don't see what's cute about the human equivalent of watching paint dry.  But whatever.  He's charting well, so sadly, he's with us again next week.  Damn.

 

Loved Blake's performance, but really?  Matt is so overrated.  Stop bringing him on.

[Village]

Even after that bland as hell performance Corey's not going to land in the bottom three, is he? Good lord.

 

Rough night for everyone, IMO. Joshua was good but as usual so generic. Sawyer comes across a bit vapid. And I don't mean to be harsh because I like his voice and he seems like a very nice kid but he is so blank. I think he's too young for the music business at this point. He needs some time.

 

Tonight really felt like a night of over singing for the female contestants. I don't think the song choices did anyone any favours.

 

It was good to see Usher and I'm disappointed that only appeared for one session. He needs to come back! I actually thought Gwen had some good points as well.

[Donny Ketchum]

Current iTunes standings -- http://www.livepopbars2.com/lpb1024.php?Region=143441&Albums=0&ref=lpb5&t=1430200136:

 

2. Sawyer Fredericks - Team Pharrell - "Simple Man"
10. Joshua Davis - Team Adam - "Fields of Gold"
13. Kimberly Nichole - Team Christina - "Creep"
27. Corey Kent White - Team Blake - "When I See You Smile"
30. India Carney - Team Christina - "Over the Rainbow"
32. Meghan Linsey - Team Blake - "Something"
43. Koryn Hawthorne - Team Pharrell - "Girl on Fire"
45. Hannah Kirby - Team Blake - "We Don't Need Another Hero"

 

So with two going home instead of three, it doesn't look good for Meghan, Koryn, or Hannah.  Meghan might pass up India, but so far, India's remained ahead of her.

 

In any case, it's good to see that this group has all made it into the top fifty, at least.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[TheGreenKnight]

"Sawyer is quite possibly the most overrated Voice contestant ever, IMO. Yawn."

Lol...Danielle and Sawyer are my respective favorites, by far, from their seasons. (Weirdly, for completely opposite reasons....one's strength is the other's weakness and vice versa). Different strokes I guess.

Danielle was the only contestant I liked her season.* I also enjoy Sawyer, but seeing him dominate even when his performance isn't that good irritates me. I'm kind of hoping he loses for that reason. I prefer India and Kimberly to him, and I'm glad Kimberly will break the top 10 again.

 

I like India, but for some reason her face--particularly her smile--makes me think of Mommie Dearest. I wasn't too crazy about her performance, but it wasn't bad. I enjoyed Kimberly the best of anyone tonight, and I was only lukewarm.

 

*(I only have a list of around 12 people I really liked from this show, btw.) 

[rollerblade]

Danielle was like Carrie Underwood to me - I like them much more after the show than during. Both have excellent pitch and great vocals, but little to no stage presence. Their performance skills improved greatly after the shows. Maybe Sawyer will do the same.

 

That girl in the song is not literally on fire, Koryn. She is not being burned on a stake like a witch. I'm surprise nobody told her to take the angst down a notch.

[fluffysheap]

Top 8, in which everyone takes a slow song and sings it too slowly. Except Hannah, who is still stuck in the 80's. Not their best week! Last week's performances were much better, and now I'm even MORE glad that this year it goes 8-6 and not 8-5 like before.

 

[Kimberly] didn't gender switch!! That stupid gender switch, which completely pulls me out of a song. If she weren't already in first place for me, that would have been the final push.

 

And then.  OF COURSE, the artist who follows her - Megan, who is an amazing singer - does the gender shift! ... I know Megan sang well, but I was too frustrated by the gender shift to really listen.  Does this bother other people as much as it bothers me? Or am I being overly crazed by it? (Or both?)

 

It only bothers me when it messes up the song somehow.  Like, last season when Anita gender-switched "Rude," I hated that because it made the song completely nonsensical.  "Something" is not gender-specific so it doesn't bother me much.  "Creep" is different from both, frankly I think the song is problematic for any female singer who isn't Haley.  Even there, I probably wouldn't like it if she were somehow a contestant doing that song today, because when she changed the style of the song it was kind of a bold move whereas now everybody does it.  I'm not sure if I've heard anyone actually do it in the original style since then. Note to contestants! Copying a new idea from ten years ago is not the same as an actual new idea!

 

I cannot remember a season when I've felt less invested in anyone by this late in the game--sometimes even two or three! At the moment, I'm hard pressed to think who I'd be sorry to see leave at this point. Maybe Sawyer, because I still see something genuine and powerful (potentially) in his performances (or maybe it's just the memory of his audition, which he has never replicated).

The contestants seem to be much closer together in ability than usual this season. The only one I really hate is Corey, and all he's guilty of is excessive blandness (really, really excessive blandness). Usually at this stage there are about three people who I really want to be rid of yesterday.

 

India and Meaghan should go ASAP for what they did to two songs that benefit from heartfelt, at least somewhat subtle vocal interpretations.  And India earns special place of irritation for choosing to sing all kinds of different, much lower notes.

I'm picturing the coaching session here. Christina says, "You know how Rob just got sent home for singing a whole bunch of random notes instead of the actual song? You should do that."

Between Kimberly, Meghan, and Koryn, you've got three belters who all happen to have different musical genres but a similar singing style. Of the three I prefer Koryn, then Meghan, then Kimberly, but I think at this stage of the competition they are redundant and it's probably time to send one of them home. That said, I think the quality of their performances this week is basically the reverse order of how much I like them.

My rankings:

8) Corey. More or less a permanent fixture on the bottom of my list at this point, he is just so incredibly boring. Apparently, the only thing you need to do to a rock ballad to make it country is to add a steel guitar. And slow it down, which is the theme for today. How far will the bland guy/devoted fanbase strategy go? Hopefully no more than one more week because all the chaff is gone now.

Somebody on youtube has a whole steel guitar songs playlist, which I will listen to while writing the rest of this post, even though I sometimes go back and listen to the performances again. Electric steel guitars don't sound as good as acoustic ones.

7) Koryn. Sad to put her this low, but it's not her week. Although she didn't blunder, exactly, she slowed the song down too much and then oversang it. And not a song that's easy to oversing, either. If ever you wanted to see a demonstration of a song performed to perfection that is nonetheless not good music, this is how to do it. It's like the Hubble mirror of music.

6) Joshua. Too slow and too many notes, what is going on this week? Joshua's past his sell-by date.

5) Sawyer. All his songs are starting to sound the same, and sooner or later people will catch on that he just doesn't have any range at all. I mean, sure, he's got a surprising amount of dynamics for a guy in his style, but I wonder if he even has one octave. It doesn't matter, he's probably going to the finals anyway.

4) India. Same problems as everybody else. Must be some bad burritos in the food this week, everybody has a case of the runs. Also, too slow and oversung, geez. Still, pitch-perfect as usual, and apparently this is a song that is meaningful to her. So, if this is what she does when she has a song she really loves, I guess she's just kind of a robot. Tessanne overcame that by mixing up styles and showing more personality as time went on. Can India do that? Signs point to no.

3) Meghan. As usual with her, I didn't like it all that much, but lots of other people were worse. I am just sort of belter-averse, I think. At least she stayed true to the song and didn't go bananas, but I do think this week showed a little bit of how she lacks dynamism. She's got one setting, 100%. At least she's not a fire alarm and her voice has enough natural texture that it kind of makes up for it, but I would like to see her do a song with a soft part AND a loud part. Especially if that song already has a soft part in it, cough cough.

2) Kimberly. Usually with her I'm just sort of grudgingly admitting that she's pretty decent, but this week it's a little less grudging. Everything else is up above.

1) Hannah! Looking hot this week (and not just compared to her early look) and probably the only performance of the night I genuinely enjoyed. I think most impressive about this song is that she sang it the same way Tina does, even though their voices are actually pretty different. You can tell the difference in the second chorus, she's starting to get a little tired, I think, and doesn't do the rasping any more, but she still nails all the big notes. This is really a fantastic performance. Copying someone else's style when they're naturally different is just as impressive as redoing a different song in your own style. Hannah has quietly gone from "awkward filler" to "probably my favorite." I think the problem is that originally I pegged her as the Quirky Girl when actually she's the Rock Chick. Naturally, she'll get sent home. All of her songs have been pretty old, and I am OK with that. Maybe next week something from Blondie, maybe "Call Me" or "Hanging on the Telephone" would be good.

Who should go home: Corey and Joshua (Koryn would crush those guys in the Twitter sing-off)

Who I expect to go home: Hannah and Joshua

[FormerMod-a1]

I can hear a tonal quality to Sawyer's voice that I can understand why people like it.  However, aside from that, to my ear, he can't actually sing.  It never sounds good to me.  And somehow despite* that, he never holds my attention either.   The past couple of weeks, I have made myself put down whatever I'm doing to make sure I pay attention to see what's so good about him or what I might be missing and before I know it the next contestant is up.  I've drifted off shortly after he begins and only get pulled back in when someone else starts singing.  It's like he has anti-charisma.  

 

* I say "despite", because when someone doesn't sound good you (general you) it's usually hard to tune out.  But not with him.

 

I also thought Corey and Joshua were bad and/or boring this week too.  I'm beginning to come around to the WGWG theory.  I have no other reason for all these boring blah guys charting so well.  (Full disclosure, I don't even remember if they actually had guitars, they were so forgettable to me).

 

I really liked Creep.

[photo fox]

...Megan, who is an amazing singer - does the gender shift! "Something" is iconic. Why would you change any of it?! I think why it bothers me so much is it feels homophobic. ... Does this bother other people as much as it bothers me? Or am I being overly crazed by it? (Or both?)

Nope, doesn't bother me in the least. A singer has to be able to connect to the song, and if changing the gender helps them do it, so be it. It's a technique to think of a particular person and sing to/about them. And I don't see it as homophobic. What if the song was originally by a woman about a woman, and a man sang it? Should he gender shift so that it's still about a same-sex relationship? Or leave it alone because those are the original lyrics?

I also enjoy Sawyer, but seeing him dominate even when his performance isn't that good irritates me. I'm kind of hoping he loses for that reason.

So much this. It isn't that I don't understand why people like him. I just don't understand why people like him as much as they do. I feel like he could take a dump on the stage and still end up Top 10 on iTunes. I don't get it.

[Sammich63]

I liked Hannah and Sawyer and thought the rest were boring.  I can see Hannah, Meghan/India and Koryn in the bottom tonight.  I think Blake will definitely lose at least one contestant. Corey is the most boring contestant ever on this show and I hate that he is doing better on the charts than the girls.  

 

I see references to a Hayley on this forum.  Is this a former contestant on The Voice?  I don't recognize the name at all.  

Edited April 28, 2015 by Sammich63

[Princess Lucky]

I cannot remember a season when I've felt less invested in anyone by this late in the game--sometimes even two or three!

I agree. There's no one I can see myself legitimately cheering for. In every season I find myself rooting for someone; sometimes from the start but usually later on. Especially Blake contestants have a way of popping after a few shows, I think, because he figures out how to best sell them. I still remember that random show (probably ~Top 8) when The Swon Brothers were up there, right before the final announcement of who would get saved, and I found myself honestly thinking "omg I hope they're not eliminated!". This season, I do like some contestants but not enough to a) need them to win or b) feel sad if they're eliminated. I'm pretty "whatever" about the whole thing.

 

The only other season I remember feeling like this was Season 6, when Josh won. I loved Sisaundra, but I knew she wouldn't get near the final (which is exactly the same way I feel about Hannah). But Josh was, at least, a fantastic singer. Sawyer, should he win, will be by far the weakest vocalist to ever win The Voice. I agree with comments above that he has an interesting tone, he looks unique in a way that might appeal to people, plus he has a weird robotic-yet-emotional style of performance, but as a vocalist he is just not that good.

 

As I had said last week, Joshua had every chance to bounce back with a good song choice. I'm kind of glad he did, if only because Adam damn nearly cost him the competition last week. I'm a little surprised Corey is outcharting Meghan, but not that surprised. I'm not surprised Koryn isn't charting high. Kimberly was great but I'm over the song choice.

 

Random but Blake does have a good voice. I'd like to hear him sing, like, good songs to match.

 

I remain confused as to how many people will be on the bottom; 4? With 2 leaving? Or 3 with 2 leaving? And will we have a top 6? Top 5? Where is Carson to explain everything? Anyway, if the bottom 4 are India, Meghan, Koryn and Hannah, realistically I'd like Meghan to stay (though my heart tells me Hannah, I'm not delusional) but I think Koryn might pull through. I just think that Koryn is still a bit raw, and India doesn't resonate emotionally with me. Out of the remaining artists, I'd like Kimberly to win. But she won't.

[Valny]

I see references to a Hayley on this forum.  Is this a former contestant on The Voice?  I don't recognize the name at all.

 

 

Haley was on American Idol.  Don't ask me what season though!

 

Bottom two I'd want:   Corey and...Joshua.     next week will be a tougher elimination for me.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Valny

[ShannaB]

I have a soft spot for Sawyer and I know that it's because I was enchanted by his audition and it still carries weight for me. I also like Kimberly and look forward to seeing her every week.

 

Anyone else tired of vocal runs and over-produced numbers where you can barely hear the vocals?  Gah!

 

When I am not especially happy with the show after it ends, I tend to go back and watch past Seasons and past performances of the VOICE and AI and I ALWAYS end up watching Amber Carrington doing SKYFALL.The girl was robbed!  So talented!  Other performances include Hayley Reinhart and Melinda Doolittle singing almost anything and James Durbin performing UPRISING.  Yep, I am all over the place. 

[Primetimer]

Gwen, Usher, and even Cee Lo (gross) return to help the Top 8 up their game.

Read the story

[beaker73]

We are getting to the point in the season where the all the people I like start getting eliminated.   I prefer someone who can sing, but who can also entertain.   I love Hannah, but I'm prepared for her to be auf'd tonight.  I just hope that Meghan and Kimberly are able to stick it out for awhile longer. 

It pains me to say this, but I think we all need to come to terms with the fact that Corey is going to be in the finale.

I have a soft spot for Sawyer and I know that it's because I was enchanted by his audition and it still carries weight for me. I also like Kimberly and look forward to seeing her every week.

 

Anyone else tired of vocal runs and over-produced numbers where you can barely hear the vocals?  Gah!

 

When I am not especially happy with the show after it ends, I tend to go back and watch past Seasons and past performances of the VOICE and AI and I ALWAYS end up watching Amber Carrington doing SKYFALL.The girl was robbed!  So talented!  Other performances include Hayley Reinhart and Melinda Doolittle singing almost anything and James Durbin performing UPRISING.  Yep, I am all over the place. 

Haley Reinhart remains one of my favorite contestants of all time. 

[DeLurker]

Jeez...I can't get excited about anyone.  Corey, Hannah, Meghan, Joshua and Sawyer just don't do it for me at all.  They aren't bad, but just not my cuppa.  India, Kimberly and  Koryn I like one week, but not the next.  All consistently tend to over embellish for my tastes.