S12.E20: Live Top 12 Eliminations

[Vyk]

From TV Guide:

Ten artists are revealed as safe by America's votes.  Two artists compete for the Instant Save, and one will be eliminated.  Coaches Adam Levine and Blake Shelton perform with their teams.

Discuss the results of the first elimination episode here.

[Jabu]

Current team rosters/cheat sheets:

Team Adam
Jesse Larson (saved by America's vote)
Lilli Passero (saved by America's vote)
Mark Isaiah (saved by Twitter vote)

Team Gwen
Brennley Brown (saved by America's vote)
Hunter Plake (saved by America's vote)

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

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

And with that, this is the top eleven.

[Quickbeam]

I thought that was fair. Mark performed better than Troy. 

[Vyk]

See, Gwen?  This is why you listen to your gut (and the audience), not Alicia.  If JChosen or Johnny had been your choice last week instead of Troy, this wouldn't have happened.  Your team would still be intact right now.

Appreciated Team Adam's tribute to Christina Grimmie, even if it has been close to a year since it happened.  But Jesse butchered what should've been a lovely song.  Lilli sounded decent on it, and Mark at least sounded okay.

I don't know who this G-Eazy is, but I'd rather not see him again.

Team Blake's performance was just . . . tragic.  TSoul was probably the worst.  I could barely understand him.

Shocked by Lilli being safe when she charted so low.  Also surprised about TSoul and Aliyah making it through.  Not surprised that Brennley and Lauren got through immediately.  Really made me sweat with Chris, Hunter, Vanessa, and Stephanie.  Jesse?  He's clearly going to be that guy who sticks around longer than his performances warrant.  Just count on it.  Mark being in the bottom?  No surprise at all.  Troy being there?  Mild surprise, given that he charted decently, but not completely given that last week revealed him having the lowest fan following of Team Gwen.

Troy's performance was so much better than Mark's.  I can't believe America didn't see that.  But Mark appeals more to the teenyboppers, and he has the Team Adam benefit of going last, so that helped him.  Twitter vote was surprisingly close to call, though.

Oh, and the fact that the majority of the top twelve tweeted to save Troy -- and yes, Mark's own teammate, Lilli, is included in that -- tells me that Mark probably isn't respected or even liked by the others.

Well, Gwen is a man down because she had to listen to Alicia last week.  She had to.  Now she'll perform with only two people next week when neither JChosen nor Johnny would've even been close to the chopping block this week.  On the plus side, Team Alicia at least remains intact, ending the streak of black coaches losing members in the first week.

[Dots And Stripes]

Time for my semi-annual rant about Team Adam performing last in the saves. That was a very close vote, and the type where order of performance might matter. I still see no reason why Team Adam always has to go last. Going down the line from Adam to Blake would be just as orderly.

Troy kind of lost steam and Mark sounded strained when he went for bigger notes. Neither is long for this show.

[Diana Berry]

I see a Mark getting the teen twitter save for the next few weeks.

[Vyk]

7 minutes ago, Diana Berry said:

I see a Mark getting the teen twitter save for the next few weeks.

Unfortunately.

[pivot]

Holy hell how is Mark still here? He is terrible but then so is Lilli who somehow scraped through.

[Court]

I don't care for Troy much but I tweeted to save him because Mark deserved to be sent packing after last night. 

I was really hoping the bottom two would both be from Team Adam. 

[Vyk]

Ah, and one other thing to point out.

With Troy eliminated, all of the four-chair-turns are gone.  This season will be the first one since season four to not have any four-chair-turn in the finale.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Before even talking about the results, can we all have an impromptu funeral for whatever the heck that was that died on stage as Team Blake's "performance"...triple yikes.

I had a really bad feeling that Mark was going to be a twitter buzzsaw against whoever he was going to go up against (TSoul, Lilli, I was really worried if it'd had been a Mark/Stephanie match up). It just felt like he'd get a nitro boost from whatever teen girls do still watch the Voice and twitter religiously. Adam's super strong pitch (out of character really) for Mark probably didn't hurt either. Just didn't foresee Troy as his opponent. Free Fallin wasn't Troy's best but I thought it was solidly middle of the pack and out of the danger zone for at least this week. That was not to be apparently.

G-Eazy is apparently from the Macklemore branch of Rap's family tree....

Edited April 26, 2017 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Vyk]

2 minutes ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Just didn't foresee Troy as his opponent.

Really?  I sure did.  He had the lowest fanbase of everyone in the top twelve except for Mark and TSoul.  I knew an early faceoff was possible for him.

Also, apparently, Team Gwen was supposed to perform tonight instead of Team Blake.  Something must've happened, though, because they got moved to next week at the last minute.  Part of Team Blake's performance being so bad was probably because they were suddenly moved to tonight without much time to perfect their performance.

[Quickbeam]

What was that horrible, misguided song Team Blake sang? Crippled up inside? Who talks like that anymore? 

[ProudMary]

44 minutes ago, Quickbeam said:

What was that horrible, misguided song Team Blake sang? Crippled up inside? Who talks like that anymore? 

It's a John Lennon song.  One of his early solo songs shortly after the Beatles broke up.  So tonight, we had a Lennon song and a McCartney song.
Also, Troy botched the words during Drift Away.  He was really shaky there.

[Chyromaniac]

Yeah - for some reason they don't play that one much on the Beatles Brunch...

Edited April 26, 2017 by Chyromaniac
adding qualifier before someone "actually"s my joke...

[roamyn]

2 hours ago, Vyk said:

See, Gwen?  This is why you listen to your gut (and the audience), not Alicia.  If JChosen or Johnny had been your choice last week instead of Troy, this wouldn't have happened. 

 Troy's performance was so much better than Mark's.  I can't believe America didn't see that.  But Mark appeals more to the teenyboppers, and he has the Team Adam benefit of going last, so that helped him.  Twitter vote was surprisingly close to call, though.

Oh, and the fact that the majority of the top twelve tweeted to save Troy -- and yes, Mark's own teammate, Lilli, is included in that -- tells me that Mark probably isn't respected or even liked by the others. .

 Completely disagree.

Troy was worse than yesterday.  Mark wasn't as good as yesterday, but he was MILES better than Troy.

Agree with you, though, abt JChosen & Johhny.

[Vyk]

Just now, roamyn said:

Mark wasn't as good as yesterday

Um, he wasn't even good yesterday, and I think his low numbers prove that.

[roamyn]

15 minutes ago, Vyk said:

Um, he wasn't even good yesterday, and I think his low numbers prove that.

You might not have liked him, but these 50 year olds thought he was good.

[tpplay]

I'm astounded that Mark is still with us.  And I'm OLDER than those 50 year olds.  And I liked Mark before the lives.  But tonight - I think Troy sang rings around him.  Just so wrong.

[Court]

While Blake's team performance was bad, I do appreciate that he lets his team sing. If there's another one, I hope it's better. 

[JMarie99]

Wow I had no idea that "Crippled Inside" was a John Lennon song. And I was a Beatlemaniac from the very beginning. Besides the fact that Team Blake's performance was horrible, I kept thinking that the country music industry needs sensitivity training if they are going to put out a song like that. Just goes to show how far we've come, at least as far as language is concerned. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with the word "crippled" - but it just sounds so out of place now. 

I am not a country music fan but this show has introduced me to country songs I really like. And Lauren Duski has become my favorite. It shocks me to even say that. 

I'm glad Lilli got through despite the horrible song choice. WTH is Shania even doing on this show? As my brother-in-law once said (back when Shania was in her heyday), she sounds a whole lot better with the volume turned off. Lol. 

I'm glad Vanessa finally took off her hat. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but it was getting boring and for some weird reason it was distracting me from her performances. She's really good and my second choice after Lauren but I'm not always crazy about her song choices.

Now that Vanessa has removed her hat, hopefully Stephanie will do the same? I did like her "White Flag" though. One of my favorite songs and I appreciated that she did it so well even though she had never heard it before. 

Troy is the kind of guy I would love to hear playing at my favorite bar/restaurant on a Saturday night, but he's just not right for this show. As far as Mark beating him in the Twitter save, I think that proves that it is the teenyboppers who are voting for him, not the grannies. Most of the grannies I know (including this one) don't do Twitter. 

[Padma]

That's an okay T11, except that I greatly prefer Troy's singing style to Mark's and thought he was better in the sing-off. (Very surprised that it wasn't Lili and TSoul in the bottom 2.) I was surprised and disappointed by Carson. Can't remember exactly what he said when Troy finished, but it was kind of downbeat, like, "Let's see if Troy'll be able to move out of the bottom, blahblah, (and a lackluster) nice job." Then Mark sang and Carson was "Excellent! Good job, Buddy! Let's see if the voters really liked it!" I chalked it up to a bias toward Adam's team, but maybe it was something else. It bugged.

I've never heard "Crippled Inside" much less would have ever guessed it was a John Lennon song. Is that how the original was arranged? Because I was completely confused. The arrangement was so bouncy, the singers all so smiley and happy and they're singing about being crippled inside.  It seemed so completely disconnected. If its supposed to be irony, it didn't work at all.  Was that the original arrangement? "Crippled inside" is a very harsh description. That was NOT a very soul-searching, despairing or, introspective performance.  I was very confused by it..

[Vyk]

25 minutes ago, JMarie99 said:

Now that Vanessa has removed her hat, hopefully Stephanie will do the same?

She took her hat off just last week, during her Playoff performance.

[JMarie99]

Sorry - I missed that!  I was listening more than watching last week. Thanks for the correction. 

[waving feather]

Based on general trend, the last person to sing for the instant save gets saved almost every time. And they always have it going from Blake to Adam, so Adam's team members win the instant save most of the time. It's unfair. They should change it up and make it random. Let Adam team go first once in a while.

[Noreaster]

I watched the performances on Youtube.  Neither Troy or Mark were good, but at least Mark looked like he was trying.  Troy's performance was so low energy.  I know that's partly his singing/performance style but man, "Drift Away" is such a loved classic rock song that just a decent rendition would likely have gotten a ton of votes.  Frankly, I thought Mark was going home if he landed in the bottom two based on how much some folks disliked him.  Twitter saves between two people can be as much about eliminating as it is about saving. 

Personally, I thought there were worse performances from the night before.  Lilli deserved to be on the bottom.  It sucks that she was sick but that stuff happens and on performance alone, she was one of the worst. I guess either big fan base or sympathy vote?  I also thought Aliyah belonged on the bottom. Troy and Mark were not really that bad, just kind of boring in my opinion.  

Edited April 26, 2017 by Noreaster

[Nalan]

13 hours ago, waving feather said:

Based on general trend, the last person to sing for the instant save gets saved almost every time. And they always have it going from Blake to Adam, so Adam's team members win the instant save most of the time. It's unfair. They should change it up and make it random. Let Adam team go first once in a while.

They could have them draw numbers backstage since they typically go to commercial break before the Instant Save performances start.  Why not just do it that way?

[viajero]

I was fine with the bottom 2 as I think they were the weakest overall from among the Top 12 if we look at their trajectory over the season.  I was a bit torn about which one should go home.  Though I think Troy has been the better of the two up to now, Mark's instant save performance was significantly better (or less bad).  The fact that the voting was so close makes me suspect that it was the performance on the night that was the deciding factor rather than some supposed legion of teeny-boppers tweeting for Mark.

In any case, I would still be surprised if Mark manages to survive until the Semifinals.

[Nalan]

21 minutes ago, viajero said:

In any case, I would still be surprised if Mark manages to survive until the Semifinals.

If he does, he's gone without getting the chance to sing for his life.  I'm sure of it.

[Nedsdag]

I know I am late to the party, but watching Aliyah during the live eliminations proves my point that Mark Burnett and Co. made a huge mistake lowering the age limit. She was about to melt down before her name was called. It sort of gave me Rachel Crow/X Factor meltdown flashbacks.

Thank goodness Blake was there to comfort her both after what happened and during their group performance. However, this was unnecessary.

[Wicked]

I felt the same way watching her, she isn't mature enough to deal with it.  This show can be very random and unfair.  Very talented people get sent home while less talented people stick around.  Adults should understand what they are signing up for, but 15 is too young to really understand that any fame they get from the show is very temporary.

[waving feather]

Yeah, I'm not sure what Aliyah is thinking at the moment but she looked like her life is going to end if she was eliminated. What's going to happen in a week or so when she's truly eliminated? It was a good thing they called her name first instead of Tsoul. He was great at comforting her. It made me like him a lot, actually.

[SunnyBeBe]

Yeah, maybe, someone needs to sit down with Aliyah and review all The Voice winners and what happened to them.  It might help lower her expectations.  I know there is still the money, but, there's always scholarships down the road.  I can't see her winning this thing, but, maybe, she just wants to be one of the finalists.   I like her quite a bit.  Certainly, more than most around here do.  She and Brennley are my favorites, but, I really need to hear something different from Aliyah next week.  

Edited April 27, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[Nalan]

Interesting.  So Gwen was supposed to perform with her team on Tuesday.  Team Blake was a substitution.  Apparently, she has a ruptured ear drum obtained from a rehearsal with her team this past Saturday.  That's why Team Gwen's performance was pulled.  She also had to cancel a charity performance in Vegas tonight because of that.

I don't know why they couldn't have just subbed her team's performance with Team Alicia's performance instead so one male and one female coach's team could've performed.

Either way, Gwen's been told that she has to do it this next Tuesday, regardless of her condition.

[ProudMary]

On 4/26/2017 at 3:36 AM, Padma said:

I've never heard "Crippled Inside" much less would have ever guessed it was a John Lennon song. Is that how the original was arranged? Because I was completely confused. The arrangement was so bouncy, the singers all so smiley and happy and they're singing about being crippled inside.  It seemed so completely disconnected. If its supposed to be irony, it didn't work at all.  Was that the original arrangement? "Crippled inside" is a very harsh description. That was NOT a very soul-searching, despairing or, introspective performance.  I was very confused by it..

Yes, pretty much.  The arrangement for Team Blake had a bit more twang in it, to my ear but the original did have a bouncy melody.  Here's the original from John.  It got quite a lot of airplay on album oriented rock stations back in the early 70s.

[viajero]

6 hours ago, Wicked said:

I felt the same way watching her, she isn't mature enough to deal with it.  This show can be very random and unfair.  Very talented people get sent home while less talented people stick around.  Adults should understand what they are signing up for, but 15 is too young to really understand that any fame they get from the show is very temporary.

On the other hand, Brennley is the same age and seems to be handling things more maturely.  While its true she can show her age when excited, she handled losing her battle to Lauren quite well. 

Kids in their mid-teens can have very different maturity levels, including the ability to handle tension and disappointment.  But 15-year-olds involved in competitive sports certainly have to learn how to handle the ups and downs of winning and losing.  In fact, it can be a very good lesson to learn at that age.

If I have any problems with lowering the age limit, its not so much whether the kids can handle being in a competitive environment, but rather that it encourages them to try out before they are ready.   A good example from this season is Hanna Ayre.  I think she has a great deal of natural vocal talent, but was simply not yet ready to compete at this level.  Just imagine how far she could have gone in 2 or 3 more years.

[Nalan]

16 hours ago, Nedsdag said:

I know I am late to the party, but watching Aliyah during the live eliminations proves my point that Mark Burnett and Co. made a huge mistake lowering the age limit. She was about to melt down before her name was called. It sort of gave me Rachel Crow/X Factor meltdown flashbacks.

Thank goodness Blake was there to comfort her both after what happened and during their group performance. However, this was unnecessary.

 

13 hours ago, Wicked said:

I felt the same way watching her, she isn't mature enough to deal with it.  This show can be very random and unfair.  Very talented people get sent home while less talented people stick around.  Adults should understand what they are signing up for, but 15 is too young to really understand that any fame they get from the show is very temporary.

 

11 hours ago, waving feather said:

Yeah, I'm not sure what Aliyah is thinking at the moment but she looked like her life is going to end if she was eliminated. What's going to happen in a week or so when she's truly eliminated? It was a good thing they called her name first instead of Tsoul. He was great at comforting her. It made me like him a lot, actually.

 

3 hours ago, viajero said:

On the other hand, Brennley is the same age and seems to be handling things more maturely.  While its true she can show her age when excited, she handled losing her battle to Lauren quite well. 

Kids in their mid-teens can have very different maturity levels, including the ability to handle tension and disappointment.  But 15-year-olds involved in competitive sports certainly have to learn how to handle the ups and downs of winning and losing.  In fact, it can be a very good lesson to learn at that age.

I don't think age has anything to do with it.  As said, Brennley was taking it a lot better when she thought she'd been eliminated after the Battles.  Hanna Eyre seemed to take her ouster at the Playoffs very well, too, as did Aaliyah Rose when she thought she was toast at the Knockouts, and then was toast at the Playoffs.  Anatalia Villaranda also took it very well, even though her disappointment was slightly apparent.  Quizz Swanigan, while he looked bummed to lose his Knockout, was still mature about it (and then shocked when Gwen stole him), and he took his Playoff elimination graciously, too.  The only teen to take it as hard as Aliyah looked like she was going to was Savannah Leighton (whose reaction was hidden to protect her and probably the show's image).

But if anything, we've had plenty of older artists cry or stop short of doing so.  Hell, back in the Battles, Kenny P tried to hold it together when he was eliminated.  Felicia Temple looked like she was holding back tears during the Team Blake elimination in the Playoffs.  A grown woman and a nurse looked like she was ready to cry.

Speaking of Felicia, while we're on reactions to eliminations, she had quite the "WTF?!" face when Aliyah made it through the Playoffs:

Someone on Idol Forums called her out on that reaction on Twitter, and she went off on him/her.  Must not be as nice of a woman as the show made her out to be.

Edited April 28, 2017 by Nalan

[Noreaster]

Post-elimination conference call with Troy Ramey:  http://starrymag.com/troy-ramey-the-voice/

Not unlike other experienced contestants, Troy talked a bit how he had to perform and present himself a little differently on TV than he would in real life.  

[tpplay]

On 4/27/2017 at 9:06 PM, Nalan said:

Interesting.  So Gwen was supposed to perform with her team on Tuesday.  Team Blake was a substitution.  Apparently, she has a ruptured ear drum obtained from a rehearsal with her team this past Saturday.  That's why Team Gwen's performance was pulled.  She also had to cancel a charity performance in Vegas tonight because of that.

I don't know why they couldn't have just subbed her team's performance with Team Alicia's performance instead so one male and one female coach's team could've performed.

Either way, Gwen's been told that she has to do it this next Tuesday, regardless of her condition.

Well, that's empathic.  Good Lord.  I guess all corporate entities are alike.