S10.E12: The Knockouts, Part 3

[Tara Ariano]

The knockout rounds continue. Miley Cyrus serves as the key adviser.

[Devin Ashford]

To remind everyone, the rosters/cheat sheets of the teams stand as follows:

 

Team Adam
Owen Danoff (defeated Ryan Quinn)
Shalyah Fearing (stolen from Team Pharrell)

 

(Still Waiting)

Nate Butler
Katherine Ho
Caroline Burns
Laith Al-Saadi

Jessica Crosbie

Brian Nhira

 

Team Pharrell
Hannah Huston (defeated Malik Heard)
Emily Keener (defeated Shalyah Fearing)
Moushumi (defeated Nick Hagelin)
Lacy Mandigo (stolen from Team Blake)

 

(Still Waiting)

Abby Celso
Caity Peters

 

Team Christina
Alisan Porter (defeated Daniel Passino)
Tamar Davis (defeated Maya Smith)
Ryan Quinn (stolen from Team Adam)

 

(Still Waiting)

Bryan Bautista

Kata Hay
Joe Maye
Trey O’Dell

 

Team Blake
Paxton Ingram (defeated Angie Keilhauer)
Katie Basden (defeated Lacy Mandigo)
Adam Wakefield (defeated Peyton Parker)

 

(Still Waiting)

Mary Sarah

Brittany Kennell

 

So know this, with the final Knockouts tomorrow, where do you think the chips will fall?

 

Team Adam

There are a whopping three pairs left here, which must show how weak NBC and the show, in general, think the team is this season.  Anyone can get paired with anyone else.  But I get the feeling that Nate and Laith are two of the three Adam will put through, for sure.  As for Caroline, Brian, and Jessica, I don't know.  I think it's gonna depend on who really knocks it out of the park enough for him to choose who gets that last spot.  Knowing his penchant for sticking to bromances, though, I can see Adam advancing Brian.  I just don't think he'll put Jessica through.  Caroline's an option, as well, if he wants to work with her, mold her a little bit.  After all, he kept her over the much stronger Mike, so who's to say he won't save her again?  I excluded Katherine because I think she's going to get the Rebekah Samarin treatment and be montaged out of a losing Knockout.  Hey, with three pairs to show, I'm betting that the show will only show two of them and montage the third, with whomever faces Katherine being the one to win the montaged Knockout.

 

Final team for the Lives: Owen, Nate, Laith, Caroline, and Shalyah.

 

Team Pharrell

Only one pair left here, and I think that if Pharrell were smart, he'd keep both of his four-chair turns intact by keeping Caity, especially if she dominates Abby.  Abby is a very good singer, too, but I think she's toast unless Blake really wants her.  If they're the last pairing, then she's getting stolen by Blake.  Caity is just on another level and shouldn't lose the Knockout unless Pharrell continues to get really obsessed with the game he's playing.

 

Final team for the Lives: Hannah, Emily, Moushumi, Caity, and Lacy.

 

Team Christina

Two pairs left here.  I think Christina's going to put Bryan against Joe as they're both black (and she's been pairing her black artists off against each other this entire season so far) and they're both returnees from last season.  Of these two, I think it'll come down to who impresses Christina more.  I think Bryan has the more impressive returnee story, though, as well as the better voice, so I think she will put him through and send Joe packing.  So that leaves Kata and Trey.  Kata, while not possessing the best voice, at least has a unique one compared to Trey's rather standard, heard-all-the-time voice.  So I imagine that Kata's going to go through, and Trey will be sent packing unless Blake steals him back.

 

Final team for the Lives: Alisan, Tamar, Bryan, Kata, and Ryan.

 

Team Blake

Just one pair left here, and I think it's an obvious one.  While Mary and Brittany are both very good, I think Blake would be an idiot to part with his only four-chair turn.  So I think Mary's going through and Brittany's going home.  With no other steals available from the other coaches, the loser is definitely gone.

 

Final team for the Lives: Paxton, Katie, Adam, Mary, and whomever he steals.

 

So those are my predictions.  But with seven pairs left and only six able to be shown, I'm going to again guess that whatever pairing in which Katherine is placed will be the montaged one.  But what does everyone else think?

Edited April 4, 2016 by Devin Ashford

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Thank you for this post, Devin Ashford. A good reset going into tomorrow night.

 

I'm not as sold on Nate as you are. It wouldn't shock me if Nate and Laith end up going against each other, with Laith (for his individuality and musical chops) winning. I do think he will keep Caroline (probably beating Katherine)....and this KO is probably the odds on favorite to get montaged because of Katherine. The only way this doesn't happen is if Blake (who does like to be the steal savior of young teen females on this show) gets involved and takes the loser. Adam also tends to take his battle steals and pair them up in a KO. Which doesn't thrill me as Brian/Jessica aren't really high up on my list of favorites. I'll say Adam probably leans in Brian's direction. Clearly though, Owen and Shalyah are massive favorites on this team moving into the live shows.

 

I agree with your Christina choices. I'd go with Bryan and Kata as well. I will be massively, massively underwhelmed if Blake steals Kata or steals back Trey. I'd much rather he take Laith (if Adam goes against him), or one of teenagers on Adam's team (particularly Katherine if we finally get to hear her sing a whole song and she sounds any combination of good/cool/intriguing/promising).

 

Pharrell's KO is a total coinflip. I don't see either as coming in as a favorite. I'm mildly more intrigued by what Caity might choose to sing though. I feel like Abby will probably go standard female pop fare like Ellie, Demi, or Ariana...

 

Blake's battle should be a cakewalk for Mary Sarah, even if Brittany reminds him Gwen. Mary Sarah and Adam should be Blake's "horses" moving into the lives.

[Devin Ashford]

Something that I just realized.

 

As much as Christina claims she's all about the girl power, Pharrell's the one who, regardless of how his final pairing goes down, is taking a team of all women into the Lives!  Go, ladies!

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Pharrell's team is also the only one without strong favorites for both of the fan voted spots into the Top 12. Assuming Blake advances Mary Sarah he'll have Adam W. and her, Christina will have Alisan and Ryan, and Adam has Owen and Shalyah.

 

Right now Pharrell just has Hannah.....and then a 4 artist pile up (Lacy, Moushumi, Emily, and the winner of Abby/Caity). I suppose Abby or Caity could establish themselves as a second favorite tomorrow night with a really strong performance, but I don't necessarily see that happening.

[Devin Ashford]

Right now Pharrell just has Hannah.....and then a 4 artist pile up (Lacy, Moushumi, Emily, and the winner of Abby/Caity). I suppose Abby or Caity could establish themselves as a second favorite tomorrow night with a really strong performance, but I don't necessarily see that happening.

Emily and Caity are actually very popular, from what I've seen around the Web (and coincidentally, they are also Pharrell's two four-chair turns), so I think one or both could emerge as a voter favorite for the top twelve (though I highly agree that Hannah is probably his top contender).  If there's anything from which Emily could suffer is any resentment from winning her Knockout when many thought that Shalyah should have (in season eight, Lowell Oakley suffered a slight backlash for winning the Battle that many thought that Kimberly Nichole had won, and a huge backlash for winning the Knockout that many felt that Jacob Rummell should've won, and both affected his votes at the Lives).  But I think she could win some back over with a good Lives performance.  Caity might suffer from a so-so Battle performance, but I have no doubt that she could knock it out of the park with her Knockout.

[simplyme]

Based on what The Voice has bothered to show of her, poor Katherine might as well be named Katherine (W)Ho?

Edited to make bad joke more apparent.

Edited April 5, 2016 by simplyme

[Shades of Scarlet]

 

Team Adam

There are a whopping three pairs left here, which must show how weak NBC and the show, in general, think the team is this season.  Anyone can get paired with anyone else.

 

Good post and thanks for the excellent reset, but why does the NBC scheduling mean that the network thinks Adam's team is weak?  I'm not making the connection between the backloading of these KOs and the strength of the team. 

 

Personally, even trying to take off my maroon-tinted glasses, Blake's team looks like the weakest one, and even though I like three of the probable five (see below), Pharrell's team's viability in the lives does not bear close scrutiny either.  Aguilera has the best team but can probably be counted upon to ruin them.  

 

I'll confine my predictions to my hometown team: I predict Adam will add Caroline, Nate and Brian to Owen and Shalyah.  And it's very annnoying that Pharrell - whom I cannot wait to get rid of - has three artists whom I really like in Hannah, Lacy and Emily.    

[jjjmoss]

Poor Katherine.

 

Some annoyed fan put her name as Katherine Montage Ho on the Wikipedia page. This happened once with another contestant in an earlier season, triple montages.

It seems so dumb; if you have to montage people esp when they move on, can't you at least show the singing part which would take like a minute of screentime that's otherwise reserved for endless filler?

[pivot]

I think Adam or Pharrell have the weakest teams.

I think Christina's is the strongest except that I think the fans will vote in Ryan over everyone else on her team and he is by far the weakest person on her team.

I just hope we don't have another finale with almost all Blake singers. His team is always the most boring for me. I have a bad feeling Mary Sarah is going to be another Danielle. Boring, safe singer who wins while singing karaoke country songs made before she was born.

[roamyn]

I think Adam or Pharrell have the weakest teams.

I think Christina's is the strongest except that I think the fans will vote in Ryan over everyone else on her team and he is by far the weakest person on her team.

I disagree abt Adam's team. Shaylah, Owen & Laith are top.

I can't remember if Brian N. is on his team or Christina's, but he gets better & better. One of the 'Wow' for both me & hubby tonight.

But I do agree that Christina's team is the strongest.

[jjjmoss]

Except Danielle is the Kween of the Voice and my favorite ever. Mary's average. 

 

My T5 for now, I guess: Moushumi (Pharrell)

Emily (Pharrell)

Ryan (Christina, formerly Adam)

Alisan (Christina)

Owen (Adam)

Edited April 5, 2016 by jjjmoss

[Primetimer]

Some hot messes come, and some hot messes go; Carson Daly is forever.

Read the story

[90PercentGravity]

Is there a way too get a song other than iTunes? I couldn't find anything on Amazon music.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Between DWTS and the insanity that was the National Championship game, just finished catching up on this last set of KOs.

 

Within 20 seconds, my Adam pairings were thrown off by Brian going against Nate.....but my picks of Brian, Laith, and Caroline ended up coming to fruition.

 

Some bad song choices tonight.....that Al Green "Lets Stay Together" song did Nate no favors going up against Brian. And he did it in a off-putting, schmoozy Michael Buble way that was just not good. Brian reads well as earnest bordering on desperate, which worked for that song. Also thought that Jessica's Avicii decision was pretty tragic. Laith picking one of my all time favorite songs probably didn't help her cause. Pleasantly surprised that Laith can non-growl, and sound really nice. It wouldn't completely shock me if he upsets the apple cart a little bit and squeezes into the Top 2 on Adam's team (not needing Adam's save at that point).

 

Abby's ill-fated "jazzy" Rich Girl was not great either. The first 25 seconds it sounded like she was singing in a character that she just made up on the spot. It didn't really sound like her until the end. Caity was solid, and it was refreshing to hear a song that hadn't been done to death.

 

Christina threw me off by splitting the guys up.....but she still ended up with the two I thought she would advance. Bryan basically won by default cause Trey was comically bad on his One Republic choice. Yeesh. The reggaeton influences he added to Sorry were quite nice though. Kata improved, but I still categorize her as just a bar singer with some Gretchen or Miranda-like attitude. Not a fan of what Joe did to Earned It, and not really sure I see much rationalization for the steal of Joe other than Blake playing the angles again. Basically he can throw out one performance next week (Joe)....and he only has to worry about choosing between two other's for his save (I'll say Paxton and Katie). Saves him a tougher deliberation if his fifth singer for the lives was a stronger option.

 

Going into the Lives rankings (how I think the coaches rank their own teams):

 

Adam: 1.) Owen 2.) Laith 3.) Caroline and Shalyah (tie) 5.) Brian

Blake: 1.) Adam 2.) Mary Sarah 3.) Katie 4.) Paxton 5.) Joe

Christina: 1.) Alisan 2.) Tamar 3.) Ryan 4.) Bryan 5.) Kata

Pharrell: 1.) Hannah 2.) Caity/Emily/Moushumi (tie) 5.) Lacy

 

I feel like the real drama for the audience voted spots will come with the 2nd spots on both Team Pharrell and Team Adam. I also think America may like Ryan more than Tamar....which would force Christina to have to save her, or sacrifice her to possibly keep Bryan (even Kata) in the competition.

 

Oh yeah, at least Caroline got an "extended" montage (with poor Katherine nowhere to be found) and we got hear 10-12 seconds of her Christina Perrie song instead of the tradition 3 or 4...

Edited April 5, 2016 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Dots And Stripes]

I think Adam or Pharrell have the weakest teams.

I think Christina's is the strongest except that I think the fans will vote in Ryan over everyone else on her team and he is by far the weakest person on her team.

I just hope we don't have another finale with almost all Blake singers. His team is always the most boring for me. I have a bad feeling Mary Sarah is going to be another Danielle. Boring, safe singer who wins while singing karaoke country songs made before she was born.

I was surprised by how weak Adam's team was in the recap at the end. Other than the girl that was stolen twice I don't think anyone is above average.  She's phenomenal, but young artists are tricky. Sometimes they blossom just in time, other times they make rookie mistakes.

 

When they teased how perfect Blake's steal would be, I assumed it was the country ish girl that lost. Nope. Nice little twist there. I think Blake's retro country girl could be around for a while. 

 

Christina does have a great team. I'd love to see her take the win.

[Padma]

Poor Katherine.

 

Some annoyed fan put her name as Katherine Montage Ho on the Wikipedia page. This happened once with another contestant in an earlier season, triple montages.

It seems so dumb; if you have to montage people esp when they move on, can't you at least show the singing part which would take like a minute of screentime that's otherwise reserved for endless filler?

I don't remember the other time it happened, but this one really, really bugged me. What is she, Quasimodo? (On "The Voice").

 

Montaged in the blinds. Montaged in the battlerounds. And completely edited OUT of the Knockouts -- while Caroline still got a large part of her performance shown, including compliments from her coach. Since Katherine wouldn't have known any of these times that she wouldn't be shown--wow, watching with your family and friends, all so proud, and you're the only one treated that way. That is just so rude and hurtful--for no reason. There was plenty of blather from the coaches, plenty of recapping things we already knew from Carson and even a bit of "One more time!" for Kata's rehearsal.  I could have easily lived without Trey's battle.

 

Especially given how rare Asian contestants are on The Voice, it would have meant a lot to see someone Chinese competing and going pretty far.They could have at least shown us a snippet of Katherine performing and let us hear 15 seconds of her voice. She couldn't have been bad, after all, she advanced twice. People give up a lot to do this and don't even have a tape to show anyone. That's just....no words, really (nothing fit to print, anyway).

 

Other than that, the choices were pretty much fine and predictable. Not sure the order things really happened and if Blake was waiting for Kata or really wanted Joe. Kata's annoyed me in the past (for no good reason, really) but she definitely sang well tonight. I just think there's something--unconvincing--about her stage presence/performance. Not sure what, exactly, and the coaches seem to disagree, but it just feels as if she's striking poses and pretending emotion. (Not that a lot of singers don't do the same, but you're not supposed to notice it. With her, I notice. But, I think she belongs on Team Christina and Joe will be lucky to get one more performance with a restrained coach like Blake so... all's well in the end, I guess.

[Doug]

Hate to say this, but I doubt Kata will get far in this show. A gay country singer just isn't going to do well. Tolerance isn't a strong point for country music fans. 

[bluepiano]

Especially given how rare Asian contestants are on The Voice, it would have meant a lot to see someone Chinese competing and going pretty far.They could have at least shown us a snippet of Katherine performing and let us hear 15 seconds of her voice. She couldn't have been bad, after all, she advanced twice. People give up a lot to do this and don't even have a tape to show anyone. That's just....no words, really (nothing fit to print, anyway).

 

Totally agree on this. It seems so disrespectful. The contestants invest a lot of time and energy and emotion in going on this show, knowing that only a few are likely to get any tangible financial reward. In most cases the reward is having some video to preserve the memory of the experience, and show to family and friends over the years. She really got cheated. I know that the coaches are considered the true stars of this show, but I'm probably not the only person who would rather see a bit less of the coaches bantering, or the pre-battle videos, and a bit more actual singing.

 

As for tonight's show, I'm downgrading my opinion of Mary Sarah and starting to feel that she isn't as special as I initially thought. Conversely, it was the first time I thought there might actually be something to Kata, who sounded better than I remembered and gave a real energetic performance. Though I doubt she has a chance to go any further.

 

In fact, the theme of the night seemed to be a lot of people who are not going to go any further. The heavy favorites all seem to have been stacked in the first two knockout shows.

Edited April 5, 2016 by bluepiano

[roamyn]

Is it possible they're going to show Katherine tonight?

Conversly, since she knew she lost, could she have asked to be shown as little as possible? If her family did not know she was going on the show or she didn't want her defeat to show badly on her family. Its a cultural thing to always have to be at the top. To our Western eyes we don't get it, but for Asians it can be a negative reflection of her entire family.

[backformore]

Was that the first time ever there was a knockout where one singer was not shown at all?     They just pretended that the other singer won the knockout uncontested.   "Pay no attention to the Asian girl in the corner."   We did get to see her, I'm surprised they didn't somehow erase her from that frame.  

[Mreid]

I wish the format was different instead of letting 3 artist from each team advance to the top 12 I would love for them to just let the fan votes play out. I think Christina has the best team and really think she has a great shot at winning this year. 

[simplyme]

I'm half tempted to start an online petition requesting that Katherine perform live at some point. If I have to sit through three (soon to be four) of Kata's performances, I should at least get to hear Katherine's voice once, even if she isn't my taste.

[pivot]

Hate to say this, but I doubt Kata will get far in this show. A gay country singer just isn't going to do well. Tolerance isn't a strong point for country music fans.

Kristen from Team Shakira in Season 6 was a gay country singer and should have made the finale but they changed the rules at the last minute to push through that overrated Christina from Adam's team.

[Padma]

Is it possible they're going to show Katherine tonight?

Conversly, since she knew she lost, could she have asked to be shown as little as possible? If her family did not know she was going on the show or she didn't want her defeat to show badly on her family. Its a cultural thing to always have to be at the top. To our Western eyes we don't get it, but for Asians it can be a negative reflection of her entire family.

It would be nice, but weird, to at least include Katherine tonight. I mean, this is a highlight night of the 20 finalists. Wouldn't it be strange to suddenly include someone they'd made invisible three times already--and who didn't win her knockout? I guess they could show more of Caroline and somehow squeeze in a teensy-weensy bit of Katherine at the same time. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

As for the rest of your post, that's a very kind spin on it. I don't want to speak for a whole culture (oh, but what the heck!) but having spent a lot of my life immersed in multi-generational Chinese-American cultures, the opposition she would have faced (if any--and probably "yes") to being a singer would have come a long time before she got accepted to The Voice. At the point where she was chosen, that would be a proud moment--and if she didn't feel it was I'm pretty sure she would have just dropped out, if the issue was embarrassing her family.

 

She won the chance to do a blind audition. She won her audition (Team Adam, no less). She won her battleround. By the time you've made it to the knockout round, that's -really- something to be proud of.  And, since she stayed in it until eliminated, I doubt her family expressed any reservations at all. It was probably pretty cool to have their daughter/sister/cousin/etc. performing on live television. I can imagine a -lot- of excitement and anticipation to see her performance each time. Only to find that Katherine, alone, was edited out all three times.  In the knockout, her partner even got quite a bit of air-time. But nothing for Katherine. That is horrible.

 

I'd certainly sign your petition, simplyme. The least they could do is put her performances up on Youtube. I'm sure, since the season's still ongoing, they still have them. Maybe I'll write a letter to the show, something I never do. They shouldn't treat contestants that way--and although I'm sure Adam had nothing to do with it, it makes him look bad, too, as her coach, and is something he may be sensitive to as well. /rant

 

My choices for three to keep would be::

Adam: Owen Laith Shalyah

Blake: Adam  Mary Sarah  Paxton 

Christina: Alisan Tamar Kata (surprisingly)

Pharrell:  Hannah Emily Moushumi

 

I think Pharrell's team is the weakest and Alisan is still the frontrunner, but at least all four have a potential winner.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Padma

[DeLurker]

Conversly, since she knew she lost, could she have asked to be shown as little as possible? If her family did not know she was going on the show or she didn't want her defeat to show badly on her family. Its a cultural thing to always have to be at the top. To our Western eyes we don't get it, but for Asians it can be a negative reflection of her entire family.

She would have had to sign a variety of releases to appear on the show and I can't imagine a world where the Show would be sensitive to a contestants request.

 

Her identity is still protected if she needs to go into Witness Protection.

 

ETA: Cause wear and where are not interchangeable.

Edited April 6, 2016 by DeLurker

[backformore]

Is there a twitter presence for this show?  Anyone want to ask about Katherine?

[PhD-Purgatory15]

www.rickey.org is saying that Nate, Nick, Justin and Daniel are the WCs.

 

So that pretty much is a bummer, outside of Justin who I think has some talent and star quality...he just got hosed by Blake's choice of song for his battle with Mary Sarah.

 

I would've much rather Adam picked Mike or Katherine (although we all knew that wouldn't happen), Christina could've brought back I don't really know (it wasn't going to matter)....maybe that Chelsea who got beat by Kata in the battle cause that was a raw deal. Pharrell (who has an all female team) probably most needed to pick up a guy.....but I just can't stand Nick's falsetto. Although the KO with Moushumi was a coinflip because she wasn't great so I guess there is a little justice in his return.

 

Last year all four wildcards went out in the Top 24 to Top 12 culling. I'd be shocked if the same thing doesn't happen again. Maybe Nick has an outside, outside chance to sneak into Pharrell's top 3....but IDK.

Edited April 5, 2016 by PhD-Purgatory15

[jjjmoss]

The other triple montage is Rebekah from S7. Also Team Adam. Wiki says she tweeted "While I am appreciative of the experience, I am baffled by The Voice's blatant disregard and disrespect of my time and efforts."

 

Katherine hasn't directly commented, but a number of her fellow contestants have talked about how unfair it is.

The closest she comes is praising Caroline: "Thank you Caroline!!! Ugh I'm so mad that we didn't get to see you though YOU SLAYED."

Edited April 5, 2016 by jjjmoss

[Quickbeam]

There is so much filler in these shows....they couldn't spare a couple minutes for Katherine Ho? Ever? I found that incomprehensible.

[anonymiss]

I liked Joe and I wasn't sure about his arrangement but the middle to end was great and I liked that he was trying to be refreshing. His performance certainly was--it didn't feel like same ol' karaoke standards that the majority of the episode was. 

[amaranta]

I don't get the Katherine Ho montage decisions at all.  So I just listened to a couple of her performances on YouTube; one Voice video and another from what seems to be her bedroom.  Unless she had total meltdown or really screwed up I can't hear a reason not to show her.  Her voice isn't killer; it falls into the pretty and kind of sweet category.  As in she'd likely make a good Disney princess.  But no, it doesn't seem fair.  Good luck, Katherine!

 

 

 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

She simply wasn't the preordained, pretty teen princess. That S10 slot was saved for Caroline from the moment she gave a good audition in S9 and didn't get rewarded because she sang so late in the order and only Pharrell had one spot left. In hindsight, had Katherine known what was in store for her I think she might have been ok with Caroline's arc (which would have meant not have Blake or Adam turn this season)....she could've been one of the 3 or 4 redemption returnees for S11.

I do realize Shalyah is another 15 year old this season, but her voice makes you think she's at least 19 or 20. Caroline's petite stature and voice makes you think she's younger than 15 at times.

Wildest Dreams was pretty good. That's a tricky song rhythmically and she did a good job with it.

Edited April 6, 2016 by PhD-Purgatory15

[DarkRaichu]

There is so much filler in these shows....they couldn't spare a couple minutes for Katherine Ho? Ever? I found that incomprehensible.

Nope. The endless recaps are much much much more important.  Americans' attention spans are pretty short.  There were millions and millions of people who'd get lost without the constant recaps of what happened right before THREE MINUTES long commercials.

[realdancemom]

I agree that the way the show treated Rebekah in S7 and Katherine is horrible.  They probably had family and friends waiting to see them on TV and they only get a brief mention.  It's especially terrible that they don't even get tapes of their performances to show in auditions or even family.

[roamyn]

Thank you, Padma for clarifying & correcting me regarding Asian American expectations.

I thought then maybe she was a witness to some crime, or a victim and that a judge requested that she not be shown. However, if TPTB have done this before, then apparently they made some arbitrary decision.

And how gracious she was to shown sadness for Caroline, rather than herself.

[viajero]

Not a lot of suspense in this episode as I thought there was a clear winner in all the knockouts and of course the steal was telegraphed.  Also, outside of Bryan B, no one else came close to the level of talent of many of the winners of the first night of knockouts.

 

Anyway, my ranking of the performances:

 

1. Bryan Bautista - I loved what he did with the arrangement and he showed considerable range.  He's clearly on an upwards trajectory.

 

2. Caity Peters -  i really like her lower register and she did a good job of connecting emotionally with the song.

 

3. Kata Hay -  Easily her best vocal performance so far, even if she still has trouble with enunciation.  I also like her energy on stage. I get why her type of exuberance rubs some people the wrong way, but it doesn't bother me.

 

4. Brian Nhira - He brought the energy and has decent vocals, but I didn't find him all that believable.

 

5. Caroline Burns - We didn't see much, but what I saw I liked well enough.

 

6. Laith Al-Saadie - That was not a good song for him, but he survived because he managed to follow Adam's advice and dirty it up a bit.

 

7. Abby Celso - Yet another Voice contestant done in by poor song selection. Having said that, her vocals were still quite good and at least she didn't put me to sleep, like ...

 

8. Mary Sarah - I had to rewind this twice to make it all the way through without my mind wandering off. She's always on pitch, but gave a very dated overly perky performance of a very blah song. I felt like I'd already seen this exact same performance before from her.  Unfortunately I suspect she's going to go far because she's upbeat, blonde, bland, and is obviously not a risk taker.

 

9. Joe Maye - His most uneven vocals of the season and I found his performance a bit overwrought, though at least he connected with the song.

 

10. Brittany Kennel - Very bad time to have her worst performance of the season, also due mostly to poor song choice.

 

11. Nate Butler - That would have been fine on a low budget cruise ship, but was way too loungy for this show.

 

12. Jessica Crosbie - She had no business getting this far and showed us why.

 

13. Trey O`Dell  - Ditto.

 

Based on what we've seen so far, I would favor the following people getting through the next round:

 

Team Adam: Shalyah, Owen and Caroline/Brian (tied)

Team Pharrell:  Hannah, Caity and Emily/Moushumi (tied)

Team Christina: Alisan, Bryan B, and Tamar

Team Blake: Adam, Katie and Paxton

 

I think that overall Christina has by far the strongest team.  I personally like the singers on Pharrell's team next best, but suspect that Blake has a stronger team in terms of who is likely to get votes in the live shows.  Adam has the weakest team.

 

So far my favorite female singers are Alisan and Hannah, while my favorite male singers are Adam and Bryan B.  I think that would make a pretty good final 4.  But there are several others capable of stepping it up in the live shows and I wouldn't be surprised if I change my mind.

[roamyn]

See, I wasn't particularly impressed with Bryan B over some of the others.

I like your team choices, vljaro, but would swap out Bryan B with Ryan. And Owen (boring!) with Laith.

I could see myself buying a CD of Laith & Hannah's, and possibly Alisan. I could see myself going to a Laith or Brian N concert.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I mostly agree with your picks viajero.

 

I'm operating under the assumption that none of the Coach's bring back artists will qualify by making top 2 on votes or getting the Coach's save though.

 

I think for Adam, the top two will come from Owen, Laith or Shalyah. I really think Laith needs the fan vote. I'm not so sure Adam would use his judges save on him. I do however think Adam could use his save on Caroline (with a good performance). Even though she was the lone KO montage, he has seemed very invested in her growth arc much like Blake was with Xenia in one of the first couple seasons. It's hard for me to see Brian making top two on votes or receiving his save.

 

With Blake it feels like the votes will be pretty skewed towards Adam and Mary Sarah. I just think her personality (and looks if I'm being honest) will draw more people in than Katie who is probably a better all-around vocalist. Joe has zero chance. But a judges decision between Katie, Paxton, and his bring back artist (if the spoilers out there are right on this) will be one of the more fascinating decisions of all next week.

 

Christina. I've already commenced ignoring Alisan. That said, she's the lock of all locks. The second voted spot will be rough. Ryan, Bryan and Tamar all have a lot of horsepower and talent. I'd lean slightly in Ryan's direction I guess. My guess is Christina would reward youth/marketability in that scenario and go with Bryan over Tamar. Kata is the longest of long shots. Country artists on non-Blake teams who've actually made it to lives (there can't be that many) haven't had the greatest track record.

 

Pharrell's team is the most muddled. I think Hannah is a favorite to get voted through, and Lacy is his longest shot. But the middle three could really shakeout in just about any order. I'll say Caity gets voted through, and Pharrell saves Moushumi instead of Emily. But that's pure speculation. Pharrell's bring back choice may also be more of an option since this team is the weakest, or co-weakest with Adam's.

[Padma]

Re. the montaged girl... I figure some contestants just bomb repeatedly under those conditions and we're spared seeing them do it, and I'm happy for that.  

Except that she won twice --and lost once to Caroline who advanced to the lives--so, compared with several others we saw who weren't good and lost, how bad could she have been? Adam chose her in the blind audition and advanced her in the battleround. And since they showed a lot of Caroline's performance in the knockout, I'm pretty confident they've shown us much worse. I agree though, that leaving her completely out three times gives a message that her performance is not worth our time. Personally, I think they could have edited out some combination of coaches' chit chat and Carson repeating backstories we've all already heard at least once to give two singers a few minutes to perform on air.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Padma