S12.E17: The Live Playoffs, Night 1

[Vyk]

From TV Guide:

Quote

The top twenty-four artists from two teams perform in front of coaches Alicia Keys, Adam Levin, Blake Shelton, and Gwen Stefani for their chance at a spot in the top twelve.  Each coach brings back one eliminated artist from their own teams to compete.  Votes are cast through real-time voting, and two artists from each team advance to the next round by audience vote.  The coaches can each advance one more artist of their choice from their teams.

So it's back to two teams performing per Playoff night.  And supposedly, the two teams performing on night one are Team Alicia and Team Blake, leaving Team Adam and Team Gwen to perform on Tuesday night.

But damn, Show.  Not only having Comeback artists, but also real-time voting?  The widely-panned twist of seasons nine and ten (especially season ten, where it actually resulted in two very much undeserving Comebacks getting through) actually mixed with the even-more-widely-panned twist of season eleven?  Is the show trying to get canceled?  Or at least lose more viewers?

ETA: Spoilers have been brought out into the open now since the contestants have just confirmed which teams are performing tonight on their Twitters.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Vyk

[Jabu]

To remind you, here are the team rosters heading into the Lives:

Team Adam
Hanna Eyre
Josh West
Jesse Larson
Mark Isaiah
Lilli Passero

Team Gwen
Hunter Plake
Brennley Brown
JChosen
Troy Ramey
Quizz Swanigan

Team Alicia
Chris Blue
Ashley Levin
Anatalia Villaranda
Vanessa Ferguson
Stephanie Rice

Team Blake
Casi Joy
TSoul
Lauren Duski
Aliyah Moulden
Aaliyah Rose

[Vyk]

Since the dances and the songs to which they're set are often given on the DWTS part of the board, I figure it shouldn't be so wrong to give up the songs being performed tonight by the two teams performing tonight:

Team Alicia
Anatalia: "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King
Ashley: "I Can’t Stand the Rain" by Ann Peebles
Chris:  "Love on the Brain" by Rihanna
Jack: "Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me" by Elton John
Stephanie: "Every Breath You Take" by The Police
Vanessa: "Lean On" by Major Lazer

Team Blake
Aaliyah: "Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders
Aliyah: "Mercy" by Duffy
Casi: "Parachute" by Chris Stapleton
Felicia: "Defying Gravity" from the Broadway musical Wicked
Lauren: "Someone Else’s Star" by Bryan White
TSoul: "Knock on Wood" by Eddie Floyd

Nice to see Anatalia trying something slower and sweeter.  Ashley is taking a big risk here.  Chris's preview I heard before coming here, and I think he's on the right track, as are Stephanie and Vanessa.  Jack has no chance unless the Cassidy/Partridge Family voters are out in full force.

Sounds like Blake is seriously bussing Aliyah and Aaliyah to get his desired result, but Casi doing a polarizing Chris Stapleton song that wasn't one of his better sellers?  Not smart.  Felicia sounds pretty good in her previews, but Lauren and TSoul sound boring.  I hope they sound better on the show.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Vyk

[Jabu]

Updated the rosters now that the Comebacks have apparently been confirmed:

Team Adam
Hanna Eyre
Josh West
Jesse Larson
Mark Isaiah
Lilli Passero
Johnny Hayes (Comeback)

Team Gwen
Hunter Plake
Brennley Brown
JChosen
Troy Ramey
Quizz Swanigan
Johnny Gates (Comeback)

Team Alicia
Chris Blue
Ashley Levin
Anatalia Villaranda
Vanessa Ferguson
Stephanie Rice
Jack Cassidy (Comeback)

Team Blake
Casi Joy
TSoul
Lauren Duski
Aliyah Moulden
Aaliyah Rose
Felicia Temple (Comeback)

[Valny]

I'm sorry, I thought Felicia's Defying Gravity was NOT good. Was I hearing something else that Blake did? Her last notes were good but I was just off to me.Also thought she was drowned out by the band in some spots. I actually liked her knockout performance but she didn't sound as good this time.

Aailyah's Brass in Pocket.  Meh.... wasn't loving this either. I was flipping channels so I caught it at about the middle spot, so maybe she sounded better at the start?

[Kayleigh1717]

I was excited that Felicia was the comeback artist, but wish she had done a different song.

Not generally a country music fan, but thought Lauren's song was beautifully done

Aliyah Moulden is growing on me. 

[Kayleigh1717]

Love Stand by Me, but did not really care for Anatalia's version

Jack made me cringe and dive for the mute button

Vanessa was amazing

Stephanie, I have been a fan of from the beginning, but was underwhelmed tonight

[Diana Berry]

I can see why Blake didn't go with Casi.  It wasn't the strongest performance and Lauren knocked it out of the park ( why take away from her voting block).  I actually liked Aliyah's rendition of Brass in pocket.  Color me shocked.

[Jabu]

Current rosters/cheat sheets:

Team Adam
Hanna Eyre
Josh West
Jesse Larson
Mark Isaiah
Lilli Passero
Johnny Hayes

Team Gwen
Hunter Plake
Brennley Brown
JChosen
Troy Ramey
Quizz Swanigan
Johnny Gates

Team Alicia
Chris Blue (saved by America's vote)
Vanessa Ferguson (saved by America's vote)
Stephanie Rice (saved by Alicia)

Team Blake
Lauren Duski (saved by America's vote)
Aliyah Moulden (saved by America's vote)
TSoul (saved by Blake)

[Noreaster]

My favorite performances of the night were Lauren and Vanessa.  I gave them both votes.  

For Blake's team, I also voted for TSoul.  I don't really like his genre and somewhat dated style but I felt his performance was very strong and he deserved to advance.  I was bored with all the others on Blake's team.  I especially don't care for the two youngsters.  

For Alicia's team, I also voted for Ashley.  Pretty good.  Didn't care for Chris Blue as much whose vocal tricks and moves are too much for me.  Similar feelings about Stephanie's performance where I feel she overdoes the grit and is way too intense.  Anatalia and Jack ranked the worst for me.  

[Valny]

17 hours ago, Diana Berry said:

I can see why Blake didn't go with Casi.  

I know, I seemed like he really loved her and was team Casi big time.

I had a feeling Alicia would choose Stephanie. I don't know all the names, but how did the girl with the longish blonde hair sound?

Edited April 18, 2017 by Valny

[Dots And Stripes]

I'm really surprised Blake chose T-Soul over Casi. I realized tonight I love T-Soul's speaking voice but his singing voice is only so-so. I think he may have also benefited from being more recent in Blake's mind.

Really happy for Vanessa. I voted for her on Team Alicia. I don't get Chris. Twitter lit up for him but I don't get it. I think he's talented but I never connect with his singing.

I wonder if Stephanie was hurt by going last on her team. Twitter votes spiked after each artist performed and sometimes they seeed to lag. I thought for sure she would be a top 2 vote getter on Team Alicia tonight. 

Being able to compare things on twitter made tonight more fun for me. It was a big hint that Aliyah was doing well in the voting, although really the top 4 on Team Blake started to pull away from Felicia and other Aliyah. 

[Noreaster]

If I remember correctly, Blake rarely uses his coach save on a country artist. (I think the one exception was Emily Ann who cracked top ten on iTunes but got less votes than the two country guys).  So I wasn't surprised by the non-Casi save. 

[Dots And Stripes]

16 minutes ago, Noreaster said:

If I remember correctly, Blake rarely uses his coach save on a country artist. (I think the one exception was Emily Ann who cracked top ten on iTunes but got less votes than the two country guys).  So I wasn't surprised by the non-Casi save. 

The Swon Brother's were Blake's pick too.

I definitely thought Casi was hurt by Lauren being in somewhat the same lane. Still, I don't think that should have been a deal breaker. As it is, T-Soul is going to have to compete against Chris and I don't think that's a good competition for Team Blake. 

[Noreaster]

23 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

The Swon Brother's were Blake's pick too.

That season, Blake brought only country people to the live playoffs.  So he had no choice but to save a country contestant.  

This board has debated about Blake's country strategy in the past...whether he thinks about vote-splitting, genders of the country folks, etc.  I looked it up and posted about it somewhere (maybe the strategy thread).  There was no consistent pattern except he pretty much never saves a country person in the playoffs.  I think he feels that if the country contestant doesn't have sufficient public support early on, he/she is not worth saving. 

ETA: Found my post.  It's a few seasons old but I think this point has held up with the exception of the Emily Ann season.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Noreaster

[Babalooie]

I just don't get why Jack had all those chances. Does Shirley Jones still have that much clout?  Friends with the producers?  I couldn't listen after the first few lines.  I'm sure he's a nice guy, but not ready for this show.

[waving feather]

I would have chosen TSoul too if I were Blake. As good a singer Casi is, nothing about her particularly stands out for me. TSoul is much more interesting for me personally. I doubt he would go far in the competition but I would rather watch him.

[kelslamu]

Really could not stand Aliyah's rendition of Brass in pocket.  Honestly, I only liked Vanessa, Stephanie, T-Soul and Lauren Duski.  I hope the next teams do better all the way around.  I had to turn down Chris Blue's song.  Maybe I just don't really know the song, but wasn't into it at all.

[Court]

I detest the real time voting. I never watch live. 

[Dots And Stripes]

I feel like a lot of artists tonight exceeded my expectation. That makes for a great show, not just because there were a lot of entertaining performances but because artists can leave feeling good about what they did. On a show that isn't so great at making stars, I at least liked see artists have a good experience with their time on the show.

[Vyk]

Interesting night.  Alicia's team actually shook out well in terms of her having a real chance to win this season, while Blake's team was probably weakened severely.

Casi: Her vocals were strong and solid, as always, and she gave the show a wonderful start.  Yet at the same time, I felt a tad underwhelmed from her prior performances in the three pretaped rounds.  She had the same energy and stage presence, though, which helped me keep my eye on her.  But she was drowned out by the band a few times.  But Blake parodying Ren and Stimpy's "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" with her name was cute.  Still, I think she warranted another chance.

Felicia: Felicia, Blake gave you this second chance because he thought that you and Casi had a close result in your Knockout.  You should've proved why you deserved it.  But you went out of your way to prove why you didn't.  Doing a song from a Broadway musical?  Come on!  Not smart!  At least you didn't get through and cost a well-earned spot to one of the others who'd earned their way to the Playoffs.  Interesting, though, how the artists are told after elimination that they're Comeback artists now.

Aaliyah: That was . . . actually not bad.  Probably the best performance she's given since she entered the competition.  But still, compared to everyone else around her, she didn't have a chance.  I think she chose too late to really step up her game.

TSoul: Choppy start, but once the music got going, he really kicked things into the gear.  I was impressed.  He did have to fight with the band a few times, though.  He barely managed to win out.

Aliyah: That was an excellent performance on her part.  Wow.  I didn't expect many good things from "Mercy," but she owned it and owned it amazingly.  Well done, and very deserving of the public vote.

Lauren: Fantastic way to end Team Blake's performances.  The song wasn't the most interesting or engaging, but her vocals were, yet again, beautiful, flowing, and strong.  And as Adam said (and I hate agreeing with him), her breathing was steady all throughout.  I believed every word of it.  She definitely deserved her votes.

Chris: I will continue to block out anyone who complains about his vocal tricks and moves.  I think it's all part of his charm and helps with his stage presence.  He performed excellently and in a more engaging manner than ever before.  This was in the most in control of his voice and falsetto that I've ever seen him.  No doubt he was going to get through (though if you doubted it, he got more Twitter votes than anyone on either performing team tonight), and I'm glad he did.

Anatalia: It was nice that she actually dialed it a long way back.  She really let her voice come out, and she sounded lovely.  She used some good dynamics, keeping it down in the early goings and then waited to turn it up to ten or eleven.  The modulation she did with her run and the growl that went with it were amazing, too!  I thought it was a strong performance all around.  Too bad it wasn't enough, but I could tell from her iTunes sales for each of the three pretaped rounds that America just wasn't feeling her.

Jack: A terrible start that was made worse as the song went along.  The ending was the most tragic part.  Really a shame, too, because an Elton John song was perfect for him.  I don't know what Alicia was thinking by bringing him back, unless she really was hoping for his family's fanbase to help him.  But clearly, it wasn't enough, and she was right to let him go.  If the Cassidy fans didn't save him here, they wouldn't save him down the road.  Good riddance.

Vanessa: I love that she did something so current, even though it was a risk if she couldn't beat the original vocals.  But she did, and she rose to the occasion quite admirably.  I dare say that that could even be better than her Knockout.  She started out well on the piano and even continued doing well when she left the piano.  I never realized how good her stage presence was until that moment.  And then, a smooth transition back to the piano, maintaining her voice the whole time.  I really have come to love her voice quite a bit and am glad that America seems to have felt the same way.

Ashley: I will say that that is probably the first time I thought she did well in quite some time.  None of that unnecessary twang, just pure vocals.  But I still don't think it was enough, and neither, apparently, did America.  And neither did Alicia.  I guess she saw the futility of carrying along a country artist.  On a side note, what I wouldn't have given to see Sophia Urista's performance of this last season if her and Josette Diaz's Knockout hadn't been montaged.

Stephanie: I am also going to disregard anyone who says that she uses too much emotion.  Even if she does, so who cares?  Based on her background and story, can you blame her?  I think she brought just the right amount of emotion to her performance and used it to bring out a beautiful, solid performance.  Great use of dynamics, nice slow build, and what a terrific overall presentation.  One that was deserving of votes.  I was surprised, given that she had the second highest Twitter vote count, that she still needed Alicia's save.  Still, glad she made it.

When it came to the vote, I expected Lauren to get through.  Aliyah's amazing performance definitely deserved a pass, as well.  Really surprised that Blake didn't save Casi, at first, until I realized that he wants one artist in each genre if he can manage it.  He saw that Lauren would have the lane clear as the sole country female on his team and saw the chance to keep it clear for her.  So goodbye, Casi.:(  Aaliyah had no chance, so adios, Aaliyah.  But in choosing between his R&B artists, I think Blake decided to reward TSoul for picking him so unexpectedly.  That, and he appeared to be doing well with Twitter votes and on iTunes.

As for Alicia's results, I got the three I wanted.  For sure, I wanted Chris and Vanessa to get through, though I'm pleasantly shocked that Vanessa got the viewer vote.  Chris getting it was a given.  He has been dominating Twitter and iTunes and has the biggest fan following of her team.  After that, I could've dealt with either Stephanie or Anatalia making it through.  So I'm glad that Alicia chose one of them.  And based on how they did with the fans, I think Stephanie was the right choice.  Really, any three-person permutation out of Chris, Vanessa, Stephanie, and Anatalia would've made me happy.

So with Casi and Anatalia now gone, Blake and Alicia officially get rid of their last four-chair-turns.  In addition, the last Asian goes home with Anatalia's elimination.

Good episode.  I hope Team Adam goes first tomorrow, though, because his team is the weakest and quite possibly the most boring and least interesting.  Team Gwen is stronger and way more interesting and has more of a mystery of how things should fall there.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Vyk

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Prior to any singing at all tonight, I felt relatively confident that America would vote Lauren and Casi through on Team Blake and Chris and Vanessa on Team Alicia (75% hit rate!!).....which I thought would free Blake up to pick TSoul as his coach save and Anatalia for Alicia as hers.

Snap thoughts (my brain is too jumbled to do a serious, deep dive on each performance). Aaliyah as a 14 year old should not have been singing "Brass in Pocket", Felecia should not have had to sing a Broadway song, Aliyah upset the apple cart and Casi I think really suffered from going first. I really thought that might've been her best performance since her blind and she just oozed "ready for Country Music success" on that Parachute song. I actually liked the song for Aliyah but I thought the ending was waaay overwrought and overcomplicated. It took me out of what was pretty good performance up to that point.

TSoul was veering super close to SNL parody of a soul singer (aka Casey Abrams on American Idol)...

Somewhat surprised that Blake bailed on Casi, although clearing the path for Lauren to be the only country artist out of the entire Top 12 virtually guarantees she's getting to the finale. So that makes a lot of sense from Blake's perspective. I feel like the more over the top TSoul gets, the earlier he's going home because he is losing that broader appeal. I could see him going out somewhere between 11th and 9th.

It dawned on me tonight, how little I care for anyone on Team Alicia minus Stephanie Rice who was stunning and absolute deserved Alicia's save. I just flat out skipped Chris and figure I will continue to do so for the rest of the season. Vanessa...yay for an interesting song choice and interesting arrangement/performance. She's slowly getting back in my good graces lol. Ashley was there so there's that. Jack shouldn't have been and it was pretty damn obvious last round and this round (pours one out for any one of Davina, Kenny P., or Gaby)...

Anatalia should've went back to the well one more time. The first time she does something without the pedal mashed to the floor.....and she gone. For those who didn't watch the final season of AI, her mom was nothing like how she was portrayed on this show. During Hollywood week she was a horribly meddlesome stage mom of a teenager.

[Vyk]

7 minutes ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Somewhat surprised that Blake bailed on Casi, although clearing the path for Lauren to be the only country artist out of the entire Top 12 virtually guarantees she's getting to the finale. So that makes a lot of sense from Blake's perspective.

Op-op-op!  You forget one tiny detail, @PhD-Purgatory15.  Brennley is still around and could very easily survive tomorrow's episode.  At that point, Lauren has competition in the country lane.

8 minutes ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Vanessa...yay for an interesting song choice and interesting arrangement/performance. She's slowly getting back in my good graces lol.

On a side note, did you see her face when she got through?  Priceless!  She clearly thought that either Stephanie or Anatalia had the second spot.

Ah, well.  On the plus side, I'm just glad that neither of the Comebacks made it through.  These people worked their asses off to get this far without needing the lifeline, so they deserve to not have to worry about getting upended by someone coming back after having been eliminated fair and square during the pretaped stages of the game.  I know I'd previously said that I'd have been okay with Felicia getting through, but . . . that was before that atrocious song choice.  Yikes.

However, either or both Comebacks for tomorrow's show has a decent chance of upsetting their teams' apple carts.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

This is true. If 15 year old Aliyah could pull the votes on Team Blake, then 15 year old Brennley  can certainly pull the votes on Team Gwen.

Regardless, I don't feel near as confident picking who America will vote through on Gwen or Adam's teams tomorrow night.....they each feel much more wide open than tonight's competitions.

[Vyk]

1 hour ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Regardless, I don't feel near as confident picking who America will vote through on Gwen or Adam's teams tomorrow night.....they each feel much more wide open than tonight's competitions.

Because Adam's team is so weak compared to the other three, I can agree about this being wide open for them.  Anyone could surpass anyone for the fan vote (though I think Mark's getting through, for sure, thanks to teen girl and teenybopper vote).  Gwen's team I still believe is the strongest, but based on fan followings, I absolutely would be surprised if anyone but some combination of her four most popular artists, Brennley, Hunter, JChosen, and (I'm just not gonna bother hiding his name anymore) Johnny G., get through.  It really is a four-horse race among them.  I can't imagine Troy or Quizz having much of a chance tomorrow.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Vyk

[Kramermom]

Felicia has a beautiful voice and that was a VERY difficult song but she didn't do it very  well.  Was it just me or was something off?  Was the band too loud and drowned her out?  I can't pinpoint what I didn't like about it so I thought maybe someone who knows will weigh in.  Thanks!  I am very impressed with the in-depth posts here.  I learn so much and hear a different perspective.

Aliyah sounded very flat to me.  I don't like that song to begin with so maybe that's my problem with it.  She is a cute girl with a great voice though and she'll probably find her niche somewhere.

[Vyk]

Current iTunes results:

61. Lauren Duski - "Someone Else’s Star"
74. Chris Blue - "Love on the Brain"
129. Stephanie Rice - "Every Breath You Take"
204. Vanessa Ferguson - "Lean On"
228. Aliyah Moulden - "Mercy"
339. TSoul - "Knock on Wood"

I guess this cements Lauren as Blake's main contender, and Chris as Alicia's.  Stephanie and Vanessa might be around a while, too.  TSoul and Aliyah I can see falling out relatively soon, though.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Vyk

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Kramermom, I almost said something similar in my first post.

I thought there were a couple moments in Casi's lead off performance that Bandzilla reappeared. But it was really, really bad throughout large sections of Felecia's performance. Now, maybe she was bringing more power and dynamics during the run through/warm ups and the band performed as they thought they should but she didn't have that extra gear when it came time to do it live. Maybe? But something was definitely off with the volume of the band and it lingered off and on the entire show.

[Vyk]

I think they need to have sound checks with the band to make sure the artists aren't so drowned out in the future.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Vyk

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I could see Stephanie getting back to back to twitter saves or something like that (if and when it comes to that). I'm just not sure she's going to resonate with the wide spectrum of Voice voters, but I do think she's going to have a rabid sub-set of fans that will twitter like crazy to keep her in the show for a while. Not sure how she gets past the Top 8 to Top 4 bloodbath that'll happen in about a month though...

Edited April 18, 2017 by PhD-Purgatory15

[waving feather]

Again, I think Lauren is gifted because she makes everything she sings sound heartfelt. Her vocals weren't the strongest but I was still able to enjoy it because of that reason. Not every singer has that ability. She needs to improve on her stage presence, though. At times she still looked nervous. So in short, at this point in time, I would not attend her concert but I would definitely buy her records.

Aliyah is not my favorite vocalist but I enjoy her performances when I'm watching her because she has stage presence.

[Eyes High]

11 hours ago, Valny said:

I'm sorry, I thought Felicia's Defying Gravity was NOT good. Was I hearing something else that Blake did? Her last notes were good but I was just off to me.Also thought she was drowned out by the band in some spots. I actually liked her knockout performance but she didn't sound as good this time.

She was screamy and she had some severe pitch issues, to my ear. Lovely voice, but Defying Gravity was not her song. 

I thought a number of the singers had pitch issues, though. 

Edited April 18, 2017 by Eyes High

[Vyk]

Last update for now before I turn in:

58. Lauren Duski - "Someone Else’s Star"
66. Chris Blue - "Love on the Brain"
106. Stephanie Rice - "Every Breath You Take"
188. Vanessa Ferguson - "Lean On"
225. Aliyah Moulden - "Mercy"
343. TSoul - "Knock on Wood" (this one's already dropped rather than risen)

With the other six gone, I realize I don't really need to concern myself with them, so I left them off this time and have even edited them out in my post above.

Also, not a good sign for TSoul in the long-term if he's already dropping while the others are still rising, whether greatly or steadily.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Vyk

[TaraS1]

Carson should have stepped in and told poor Jack to stop - like a referee stopping a particularly brutal boxing match.  I've only been watching The Voice for the past four or five seasons, but that's easily one of the worst performances I've ever seen on this show.

Chris is a semi-local boy, so I'm rooting for him.  

[SunnyBeBe]

Well that vote decimated Alicia's team to me.  I was thinking she had the strongest team, but, after the vote and her pick.....there is no one on her team that appeals to me. I liked Ashley and Anatalia.  So....

The same happened with Blake, except I do like Aliyah.  I have already grown tired of Lauren.  Don't care for TSoul. 

I don't care for anyone on Adam's team either.  

I LOVE Brendley on Gwen's team and she's my pick, unless something really happens to change my mind. 

Overall, I think there is a lot of good talent, just not much that appeals to me, except what I've already described. 

(Was it just me or did there seem to be a lot of people off key last night? Maybe, the earpieces were messed up or something and they couldn't hear themselves.)

[waving feather]

Jack Cassidy's performance was so bad. Like, I haven't seen a performance that bad on a talent singing show for the longest time. It became so entertainingly bad towards the end. LOL! I worry for the state of Alicia Key's hearing ability for bringing him back and especially for hooting and hollering enthusiastically after the performance. Girl, what ya smoking?

Edited April 18, 2017 by waving feather

[Newberry]

19 hours ago, Valny said:

I'm sorry, I thought Felicia's Defying Gravity was NOT good. Was I hearing something else that Blake did? Her last notes were good but I was just off to me.Also thought she was drowned out by the band in some spots. I actually liked her knockout performance but she didn't sound as good this time.

Aailyah's Brass in Pocket.  Meh.... wasn't loving this either. I was flipping channels so I caught it at about the middle spot, so maybe she sounded better at the start?

I also found Defying Gravity a little ear shattering. I more enjoyed the quieter version the Glee kids did a few years back...

[SunnyBeBe]

There were some struggles last night, but, I still think that my favorites are some of the strongest vocalists.  Cross fingers.  I do like Aliyah, but if Brendley doesn't make it, I may just fold up for this season.  It gets tough watching coach's zeal over average performances, especially, when I know that the likelihood is low for them to get much more than $100,000.  Still, that's a nice prize.  I'd be all over it.  lol  But, I just wish they didn't have to pretend that the winner is going to become a superstar.  I mean, if the winner isn't going to, neither are the others.  Granted, some have had some success, but, it's very limited.  

[viajero]

I thought Team Alicia really brought it.  I would rank the performances of all of her artists (except Jack) above everyone on Team Blake except Lauren and, perhaps, Aliyah.   Her team also provided my favorite three performances of the night in Chris, Vanessa and Stephanie (in that order).  I thought Chris gave his best performance yet.  Given that he got the most votes on such a stacked team, he has to be seen as something of a front-runner.  Having said that, I'm also very much on Team Vanessa.  Her last two performances have been superb.

I find Aliyah interesting in that I had already noted previously that she has a really good voice; surprisingly mature for her age, I think she suffered  from poor song selection.  But "Mercy" was perfect for her and she finally showed us what she's capable of.  If Blake can get the song selection right, she could be one of the surprises of the season.

Jack gave the only truly bad performance of the evening, as even Aaliyah Rose stepped it up a little and Felicia had some good moments mixed in with the not so good.

[Jillybean]

I'm so confused by the real-time voting. Does that mean only the East Coast viewers have the opportunity to vote? I'm not watching this ish live...NHL playoffs are going on, for crying out loud!

[Vyk]

1 hour ago, Jillybean said:

I'm so confused by the real-time voting. Does that mean only the East Coast viewers have the opportunity to vote? I'm not watching this ish live...NHL playoffs are going on, for crying out loud!

Those in MST and PST can vote in real-time on the app or on Twitter, provided they know to tune in at six (in MST) or five (in PST).  I did just that on both nights.

[Jillybean]

16 hours ago, Vyk said:

Those in MST and PST can vote in real-time on the app or on Twitter, provided they know to tune in at six (in MST) or five (in PST).  I did just that on both nights.

So you vote without watching the performances? 

[Noreaster]

18 hours ago, Jillybean said:

I'm so confused by the real-time voting. Does that mean only the East Coast viewers have the opportunity to vote? I'm not watching this ish live...NHL playoffs are going on, for crying out loud!

Yes, only people in the Eastern and Central time zones, which make up roughly 80% of total US households, can watch the performances before voting. 

I believe it will return to normal next week where the voting window closes at noon ET the next day.  However, there is also instant save voting on the Tuesday results episodes.  The bottom two or three contestants are revealed toward the end of the show (around 8:40pm or so) and have to perform. Viewers then have five minutes to tweet for the person they want to save.  

Edited April 20, 2017 by Noreaster

[Jillybean]

Thanks for your responses. I was an American Idol viewer and there's quite a learning curve to understanding the Voice format.

[Noreaster]

2 hours ago, Jillybean said:

Thanks for your responses. I was an American Idol viewer and there's quite a learning curve to understanding the Voice format.

No problem.  The Voice actually frequently makes changes to the rules so it's not easy for long-time viewers to keep up either!  This is only the second season that they've done real-time voting in the live playoffs.  It used to be overnight-voting and then the results would be announced in a Wednesday 1-hour episode.  I much prefer that old way...I don't like having to watch live in order to participate.  And it stinks of course for the Mountain and Pacific time zone viewers.  

[Vyk]

10 hours ago, Jillybean said:

So you vote without watching the performances? 

We MST dwellers have no choice if we want to help our favorites (though some help that was for my favorite on Team Gwen).  Neither do PST dwellers.  We have to vote then and there on Twitter and the app in order to at least try and give them a boost.