S10.E18: Live Top 12 Eliminations

[Tara Ariano]

Top artists advance in a results edition.

[Dots And Stripes]

Adam's "save Owen" pitch sounded a lot like an admission Owen didn't perform well tonight. Honestly I just haven't ever really "gotten" Owen.

[PepperMonkey]

Who went home?? I missed the end.

 

I'm glad Laith was saved, although Adam always looks like he wants to swallow a sock when Laith goes through. Everything else was pretty predictable.

 

I was kind of amused that Mary Sarah almost ended up in the bottom IF they are really sent through in order.

 

I'm so distracted by how much Hannah looks like Maggie Lawson from Psych that I can't even focus on her singing.

 

Mary Sarah may be in trouble going forward unless she really picks the RIGHT song AND sings it well. She hasn't done that in a few performances, IMHO.

 

Kind of can't believe Nick is still there. Who in the F is voting for him??? Or maybe he's awesome and I just don't get him.

Edited April 20, 2016 by PepperMonkey

[Quickbeam]

Yes to the Twitter save for Owen. I just like him.

[roamyn]

I doubt they were in order, except maybe Adam & Alisan.

I mean Paxton over Shaylah & Laith? I enjoyed him last night, but no way was he better than 10 of them. Even Bryan was at the bottom in iTunes, and had his name called before Shaylah & Laith.

It was a travesty that Emily & Owen were on the bottom, and honestly Owen was weaker in the Twitter off. I will miss Emily's special unicorn voice.

Edited April 20, 2016 by roamyn

[Keekski]

As usual, I'm 99% over this show when we get to lives. Cutting half the people in one week is a little much. 2 a week would be better.

[DownTheShore]

Owen only sang one song in this series that I enjoyed. I would have preferred that Emily had been saved.

[rollerblade]

Looks like Adam Levine borrowed one of Phil Keoghan's blouse for tonight's show.

[Primetimer]

America puts two talented singers on the chopping block and Twitter saves...you'll never guess.

Read the story

[venturestar]

I know Blake has a big fanbase that watches the show, but there must be a huge amount of people that vote straight team Blake regardless of how people perform. That's the only explanation I have for how Paxton, who wasn't very good and was sitting at below 100 on iTunes, beat Emily, who got to #27. Or, frankly, Mary Sarah who was completely bland and was only at 87.

 

Basically, people vote for Blake's team out of loyalty, but won't actually spend money to buy the songs.

[roamyn]

I know Blake has a big fanbase that watches the show, but there must be a huge amount of people that vote straight team Blake regardless of how people perform. That's the only explanation I have for how Paxton, who wasn't very good and was sitting at below 100 on iTunes, beat Emily, who got to #27. Or, frankly, Mary Sarah who was completely bland and was only at 87.

Basically, people vote for Blake's team out of loyalty, but won't actually spend money to buy the songs.

I'm not going to waste $ on iTunes for this or any other singing competition.

However, I did vote for Paxton (& Emily & Owen), because we liked him yesterday. Now, I'll admit that we had never heard the song before, so it was fresh to our ears, so we had no comparison.

[jjjmoss]

That was pretty surprising. Usually iTunes IS a good indication, but Emily was #3 in iTunes votes yet finishes 11th-12th? Bizarre.

 

And while I think she peaked in the audition, she at least impressed me that once, while certain others have zero impressive perfs. 

 

At the end of voting, iTunes positions were: 27 Emily Keener Lilac Wine (The Voice Performance)
47 Owen Danoff 7 Years (The Voice Performance)
86 Mary Sarah So Small (The Voice Performance)
164 Paxton Ingram Hands To Myself (The Voice Performance)

137 position difference feels quite big. Though in actual votes, looks like it's around 4600 vs. a bit under 1000. And 4000 votes from all the other methods combined could be done by, like, one family. 

[Padma]

Owen and Emily were the two cute low-key singer-songwriter types. It's sad that they were the ones up for elimination over #1 Nick, #2 Daniel, #3 Paxton.  I kind of hoped some combo of Alisan, Shaliyah and Hannah might be in the bottom along with Nick--with him eliminated, and them (and Xtina) getting a wakeup call that America hates oversinging.

 

Apparently, however, "America" loves oversinging. And off key performances. And boring song choices.  And Christina will go on with the message that every run and every belted out note--all through the song--is somehow conveying just the right amount of emotion and intensity no matter how loud and overwrought it all gets.  

 

I'm sorry they had the save this year--and the big elimination, too. I'd much rather have seen what Ryan, Joe, Kata and Katie could have done for a few more weeks, left Daniel and Nick at home, and eliminated 2 each week rather than a big pointless elimination last week. I'm sorry Emily was sent home so early, but at least the bottom 3 wasn't as someone predicted upthread--all three African Americans "voted down by white America"--Bryan, Shaliyah and Paxton. So at least there's that.

[viajero]

That was disgusting.  I guess it doesn't matter how badly you sing or how unimaginative or cheesy your performance, if you are a cute guy or on Team Blake, you can sail right through.

[PamelaMaeSnap]

So after participating in the #VoiceSave on Twitter for the first time ever, I woke up to having lost 12 followers LOL. None of them were people I actually followed back, mind you, but most of them are from my line of work which is known for having even geekier and more obsessed (and humorless) fans than The Voice -- and apparently there is no overlap.

 

That said, I could see why if someone they followed in hopes of pearls of wisdom (which I never tweet anyway, so whatever) instead got five minutes of #VoiceSaveOwen, they might unfollow.

 

At least he won. I #DoNotLike the #Twitter #VoiceSave and may not do it #again. 

[Mreid]

I thought for sure Paxton would gone last night, he had to be the one in the 10th position with the votes. I wish Emily stayed I really liked her voice.  I thought Alisan would win hands down but Blakes country fans always scare me 

[candall]

I love the concept of choosing competitors on voice quality instead of looks, but at this point there's so much filler and so little content, I feel like a chicken looking around for a stray kernel lying on the ground.

 

Isn't it maddening for you ardent fans that they string it out so thin?

[jjjmoss]

I was looking at what I believe are the genders for finalists so far.

In the first 5 seasons it was pretty much even, with 9 females + 8 males.

In the last 4 seasons (all male winners), 11 males + 4 females. Maybe a final four of Alisan, Adam, Laith, and Bryan?

[Noreaster]

To be fair, the male-heavy season 7 (going into top 12 and then the finals) throws things off.

So iTunes was a horrible indicator this week? Interesting. I'm more surprised about Emily being in the bottom than Owen. Not just because of iTunes, but she got such a great response from the coaches.

[saber5055]

Yes to the Twitter save for Owen. I just like him.

i knew Owen would be up for elimination, just because I like him too, even if America doesn't all that much. Then I was relieved when I saw his competition. I knew he would be Twittered through being up against the funeral-dirge singer. Maybe she has a good voice, I don't know, because her singing DEPRESSES the heck out of me. I keep looking around for the casket.

 

I just can't with Leith. That extra-looooooooong and ironed-out beard grosses me so badly. It's worse than if someone grew their pit hair and let it all hang out of their shirt down to their waist. Just ... NASTY.

Edited April 20, 2016 by saber5055

[bluepiano]

Kind of can't believe Nick is still there. Who in the F is voting for him??? Or maybe he's awesome and I just don't get him.

 

No, he's not, and you're right. He's terrible.

 

Nick shouldn't have been brought back after his elimination. Neither should Daniel. And now the teeny bopper voters are saving him. (Do people say "teeny bopper" anymore?). Same for Paxton. The cute guy vote is a powerful factor on all these singing competition songs.

 

Owen is certainly more talented than any of those three, although I think he needs to get back to singing the music that has the most meaning to him. Adam's been pushing him to be more "contemporary," but the result is that he's started to lose the qualities that made him interesting to begin with.

 

I think that Emily is pretty amazing, but probably did not get helpful coaching and guidance as to what works best on this show. Still, I would choose to listen to her any day over the screechers like Alisan and Shalya. (Who I suspect will be two of the final three, along with Adam).

Edited April 20, 2016 by bluepiano

[yourpointis]

I'm not going to waste $ on iTunes for this or any other singing competition.

However, I did vote for Paxton (& Emily & Owen), because we liked him yesterday. Now, I'll admit that we had never heard the song before, so it was fresh to our ears, so we had no comparison.

 

I'm of the same mind as roamyn. I'm not spending a dime on iTunes for this show or any other. I vote with the other methods. I voted for Paxton, Owen, Adam, Hannah, and I think his name is Joe. The rest bore me to tears. I wouldn't have voted for Emily if I was being paid to do it because to me she is like vocal Ambien no matter what she sings. Allisan (sp) has a voice, but I don't particularly care for her tone. I don't care who wins at this point as long as I have some contestants that I enjoy listening to and watching perform. I've also never cared whose team any contestant is on. It's all producer manipulated anyway. I only care about the contestants I like. I cannot speak for any other viewer. jmho

[realdancemom]

      I was going to write the same thing.  Apparently, America loves oversinging even if they are off key.

 

Owen and Emily were the two cute low-key singer-songwriter types. It's sad that they were the ones up for elimination over #1 Nick, #2 Daniel, #3 Paxton.  I kind of hoped some combo of Alisan, Shaliyah and Hannah might be in the bottom along with Nick--with him eliminated, and them (and Xtina) getting a wakeup call that America hates oversinging.

 

Apparently, however, "America" loves oversinging. And off key performances. And boring song choices.  And Christina will go on with the message that every run and every belted out note--all through the song--is somehow conveying just the right amount of emotion and intensity no matter how loud and overwrought it all gets.  

[Adusk81]

Nobody likes originality or creativity in this day and age so why be surprised that the only two singers who have any at all were the bottom two. Sigh.

[limecoke]

Apparently, if you don't scream, wail, oversing and execute 9000 runs per song, America doesn't like you. Strange. I'm glad Owen stays because I like him better than Emily, but she went too soon. Before Nick?? Before Daniel? Really?

I'm a little tired of Pharrell's weekly guilt trip on the voting. Adam had no choice but to respond in kind.

I have mixed feelings on Laith. I get that he has mad talent but I really only enjoy the blues when I'm scarfing down barbecue ribs and pulled pork at Famous Dave's.

Edited April 20, 2016 by limecoke

[Duke Silver]

Pretty boy Nick is still around?  LMFAO...great job America.

[Gel]

Is it just me or are the vocals horrible in the lives? I can barely hear the contestant half the time over the band and the backup singers. Plus, they are all more or less unintelligible; without close captioning I can't even make out the lyrics.

It's been fascinating how my opinion has changed on certain singers over the course of the show. I enjoyed Mary Sarah's blind, but now much much prefer Katie's voice. Her cover of Gypsy was the only one I bought. I don't know if it is the song choice or the acoustics, but suddenly Mary Sarah's voice sounds very thin.

And is falsetto now a thing? I admit to being soooo out of touch with current pop, but Daniel and Nick? Really?

Edited April 20, 2016 by Gel

[saber5055]

Does the "winning" coach get some sort of extra paycheck or something? Or just the "glory" of having the winning singer? I could care less which coach wins and which ones don't. Isn't this show suppose to be about discovering new talent, not the person who has the person on his/her team who ends up with the most Twitter votes?

 

I also wish coaches would let these people sing songs that best suit them and work on developing their own style, not force someone's else's on them. Yeah, Adam sings falsetto, but does that mean everyone else needs to as well?

 

I know, I know ... silly question.

[JusLaugh]

I think "America" should have gotten rid of Mary Sarah and kept Emily. She is more unique has a lot more talent. Besides, I'm kind of bored with the "blonde country chick" this show keeps around every season.

 

Owen was at the bottom because a big chunk of people can't relate to his style (same could be said for Emily) and the song choice was awkward. I think Adam should have him do some Tom Petty. I think he would do it well and most people have heard Tom Petty's songs so they could better plug in to the awesomeness Adam swears is in Owen.

[SunnyBeBe]

Can someone tell me the name of the group song thatt Adam's group did?  Over halfway through, I realized I knew the song, but they had changed the melody so much that I couldn't believe it.  Now, I've forgotten.  I wasn't too impressed with them, but I do like that song.

 

 Okay. I got it.  It's If You Want Me To Stay.  

Edited April 20, 2016 by SunnyBeBe

[MaryPatShelby]

I also wish coaches would let these people sing songs that best suit them and work on developing their own style, not force someone's else's on them. Yeah, Adam sings falsetto, but does that mean everyone else needs to as well?

 

I know, I know ... silly question.

No, not silly, I have asked myself the same question over the past several seasons. I remember when men sang like men. Heck, I remember when Adam Levine sang in a more masculine register. Then, all of a sudden, it became some kind of requirement that all men everywhere make sure to include falsetto in their singing. I hate it.

[simplyme]

The falsetto love has been around for a long time. There were singers in the 50s and 60s (mainly teen idols come to mind) who essentially used that high voice to distinguish themselves. It's a preference. Generally not mine, but it does exist and it isn't anything new. I can get past it if it's used more as an accent rather than as the voice for the whole song, and of course my tolerance varies with pitch issues and song choice. Tiny Tim hs never really been my favorite singer. :P Michael Jackson had some groundbreaking songs, and I appreciate his influence on musical phrasing and styling even if I can't say that I truly liked a lot of his stuff. Most boy bands make me shudder in horror.

Of course, then there's Freddie Mercury, who I would suggest had one of the best voices of modern times. I love a lot of his music. He certainly used his falsetto at times. So I'd say it all depends what you do with it.

That said, I'm not really a fan of what Nick does with his. I'd have preferred Nick or Daniel leaving to Emily or Owen.

[viajero]

I wonder if Emily and Owen lost votes not just because they were relatively subtle and low-key in their performances, but also because they did new or relatively unknown songs?  There has been a trend for some time now on this show that seems to favor doing classic hits from the 60's, 70's and 80's that most of the TV audience remembers fondly from their youth.  I've always thought this was a pity because there has been a lot of good more recent music that gets overlooked. 

 

7 Years is actually potentially a pretty good song for singing competition.  It has a nice melody, a good hook, and allows a singer to show off some nice vocal dynamics and range.  I do question whether Owen was capable of taking full advantage of all this. I would have loved to have seen what someone like Bryan Bautista could have done with it.

[Noreaster]

Nick shouldn't have been brought back after his elimination. Neither should Daniel. And now the teeny bopper voters are saving him. (Do people say "teeny bopper" anymore?). Same for Paxton. The cute guy vote is a powerful factor on all these singing competition songs.

 

I wouldn't be so sure it's "teeny boppers".  Last I checked (a couple of seasons ago or so), the median viewer age of The Voice was over 50.  I have no idea what the voting demographics are and how they break down by contestant, but it could very well be older folks voting for these guys.

 

I also wish coaches would let these people sing songs that best suit them and work on developing their own style, not force someone's else's on them. Yeah, Adam sings falsetto, but does that mean everyone else needs to as well?

I think it really depends on the artist.  Picking songs that best suit a contestant is really subjective.  Contestants don't always know what's best for their voices and their musical strengths.  Some actually need some guidance.  And then there are some song choices that just work better for this game.  The coaches, the producers, and the contestants have to find the right balance. Also, sometimes it's the less predictable song choices that, when executed well, provide some of the more memorable moments on the show.  

 

I wonder if Emily and Owen lost votes not just because they were relatively subtle and low-key in their performances, but also because they did new or relatively unknown songs?  There has been a trend for some time now on this show that seems to favor doing classic hits from the 60's, 70's and 80's that most of the TV audience remembers fondly from their youth.  I've always thought this was a pity because there has been a lot of good more recent music that gets overlooked. 

 

7 Years is actually potentially a pretty good song for singing competition.  It has a nice melody, a good hook, and allows a singer to show off some nice vocal dynamics and range.  I do question whether Owen was capable of taking full advantage of all this. I would have loved to have seen what someone like Bryan Bautista could have done with it.

I was actually thinking the opposite about Owen's song choice.  "7 Years" is so overplayed on the radio that I thought it might have hurt Owen.  He didn't really do that much different with the song and, in my opinion, his vocals didn't compare favorably with the original.  I do agree that doing a relatively unknown song might have hurt Emily. 

[Kromm]

My prediction now is that Alisan will go to the finale... but lose to whichever WGWG (or just plain WG) is against her. It's what this show and it's voters love.

 

Alternately it also likes oversinging.  In that case, Shaylah has a chance, because man she oversings. Alisan can head in that direction, but she at least hits the notes/is on key. 

 

Mary Sarah's chance depends on if she ditches the Carrie Underwood shit.  The vintage stuff worked for her precisely because nobody else could do it convincingly. ANYONE can sing a Carrie Underwood song, albeit at different quality levels, but still at least convincingly. 

[Noreaster]

Have we really seen "oversingers" win this show?  I think most contestants who sing genres with more runs and embellishments are usually eliminated before the finals.  

[Kromm]

Have we really seen "oversingers" win this show?  I think most contestants who sing genres with more runs and embellishments are usually eliminated before the finals.  

I think they go far.. they just don't win. They're inevitably beaten by either a Country Singer or a standard model WG with or without guitar. The exception might be Tessanne Chin, depending on if you think she oversings or not.

[jjjmoss]

Tessanne is pretty much perfect as a vocalist.

[simplyme]

I wouldn't be so sure it's "teeny boppers".  Last I checked (a couple of seasons ago or so), the median viewer age of The Voice was over 50.  I have no idea what the voting demographics are and how they break down by contestant, but it could very well be older folks voting for these guys.

The most recent info I could find was an article written in October 2015 based on information released on reality show viewer demographics from January-May 2015. It confirms that the median age of The Voice viewer is 53 (54 for the results show). Note that the median is not the same as the average. It's where there's an equal number of young and old watching. So for every 33-year-old who watches, there's a 73-year-old watching to get that number.

[Gel]

But which demograpghic is most likely to get on the computer to vote in the allotted time window?

[Noreaster]

The most recent info I could find was an article written in October 2015 based on information released on reality show viewer demographics from January-May 2015. It confirms that the median age of The Voice viewer is 53 (54 for the results show). Note that the median is not the same as the average. It's where there's an equal number of young and old watching. So for every 33-year-old who watches, there's a 73-year-old watching to get that number.

I agree with everything except that last sentence.  It should be for every person under 53, there is a person over 53.  Median, like you said, is not the same as average.

 

But which demograpghic is most likely to get on the computer to vote in the allotted time window?

We don't really know.  The voting window closes at noon the following day.  Plenty of time for viewers to vote. Different methods of voting available too...online (via Facebook or the NBC website), the app, itunes.  We have no data whatsoever except for itunes sales numbers. Who knows.

 

For the Twitter save, I would guess that this median voter age is lower than the voter age for the main performances from the night before.  But still, there's no data available here.  I'm guessing.  

Edited April 21, 2016 by Noreaster

[simplyme]

I agree with everything except that last sentence.  It should be for every person under 53, there is a person over 53.  Median, like you said, is not the same as average.

You're right. My bad. :)

We don't really know.  The voting window closes at noon the following day.  Plenty of time for viewers to vote. Different methods of voting available too...online (via Facebook or the NBC website), the app, itunes.  We have no data whatsoever except for itunes sales numbers. Who knows.

 

For the Twitter save, I would guess that this median voter age is lower than the voter age for the main performances from the night before.  But still, there's no data available here.  I'm guessing.

My middle class neighborhood is mostly people in their 60s and older. Most of them are now on Facebook and use certain favorite websites. When motivated, age is certainly not a limiting factor. I'd guess that younger viewers are the ones more likely to time-shift their viewing of The Voice (watch it on DVR or another medium rather than live), so they may have a slightly more difficult time voting before deadline, but that extended deadline helps a lot. That's supposition based on knowledge of how my friends and I watch TV compared to, say, my parents. I'd also guess younger viewers are more likely to use Twitter (as Noreaster posited) for the Twitter save, but a lot of other factors play into that.

I think people overestimate how many teeny boppers (SimplyMom uses that word too) are watching, but I also think there have been distinct attempts to draw in more younger viewers. Part of me saw the Miley Cyrus coaching move as partially motivated by that.

[Kromm]

I think people overestimate how many teeny boppers (SimplyMom uses that word too) are watching, but I also think there have been distinct attempts to draw in more younger viewers. Part of me saw the Miley Cyrus coaching move as partially motivated by that.

I think old farts are the ones who watch in droves. But it's the teeny boppers who actually vote more often.

 

Not sure which buys the actual iTunes downloads more (which of course also count as votes). I'd think the younger folk would be more likely to pirate or strip the audio off of YouTube, and the older folks more likely to pay Apple for it, but who knows? 

Edited April 21, 2016 by Kromm

[pivot]

I was looking at what I believe are the genders for finalists so far.

In the first 5 seasons it was pretty much even, with 9 females + 8 males.

In the last 4 seasons (all male winners), 11 males + 4 females. Maybe a final four of Alisan, Adam, Laith, and Bryan?

The show has been American Idoled. Same thing happened on that show and it is why I stopped watching. After awhile, you knew the women didn't stand much of a chance.

That said, Emily definitely should have gone home after that Twitter performance. She hit some seriously rank notes up there.

Adam once again had to be the star of his group sing.

I saw The Voice concert tour and Tessanne was incredible live. She got massive standing ovations and basically outsang everyone on stage by a country mile. She was phenomenal. It always bugs me that they screwed her over on her record deal.

On the other hand, Christina Grimmie was not good live at all and I get why she never became a star. She has negative charisma live.

[DarkRaichu]

Adam once again had to be the star of his group sing.

I would have been shocked if that did not happen.  Contrast that with team Blake performance where Blake's function was to showcase each member's vocal.

 

 

On the other hand, Christina Grimmie was not good live at all and I get why she never became a star. She has negative charisma live.

I kind of got that impression from her fashion segments from past seasons. 

[Sharpie66]

Over/under betting on the number of Prince songs to be featured next week?

 

I'm going with two, one on Monday's show and a group number on Tuesday.

[Noreaster]

Oh, I hope that The Voice doesn't overdo any Prince stuff.  They probably need to recognize the loss of such a pop legend but hopefully in good taste.  

 

On another note, I remember reading awhile back that Judith Hill had started working with Prince.  Were they still working together?  If that's the case, how unfortunate for her to be associated with another pop great upon his death (the first being Michael Jackson).   

[Padma]

I think Nick is very strategic in song selection--with an eye to vote-getting more than performance art--but hopefully its already too late for him or anyone else to do a Prince song. Maybe a group sing will happen especially at the start of Monday's show, but they didn't do anything for Merle Haggard so that might seem odd to give a tribute to one and completely ignore the passing of the other. I do wonder if any of the coaches knew him well personally--you could see how some of them might, particularly Pharrell or Xtina.

[simplyme]

I don't know, but Tamar was one of Prince's proteges and sang co-lead on one of his Grammy nominated songs and back up vocals for his album 3121. (I disliked the fact that she pretended she'd left the business for school and never really had her shot.) I imagine she's taking the news pretty hard.

[Wings]

 

Adam always looks like he wants to swallow a sock when Laith goes through.

 

 

Perfect!