This is it! The Voice 10 finale week. On Tuesday, a new winner will be crowned. But first, on Monday, the four finalists, Adam Wakefield, Alisan Porter, Hannah Huston and Laith Al-Saadi, will perform one last time for your votes. How do the remaining singers rank going into the last week of performances? How would you rate them?
I’ve been saying for the last couple of weeks that the competition would be a showdown between Adam Wakefield and Laith Al-Saadi. But considering how Laith only entered the final via a wildcard, I have to amend that prediction.
Alisan came out of last week really strong. If she and coach Christina Aguilera play to her strengths–stripped back performances that allow Alisan to show off her range and vocal ability–she has a shot at winning. It would be good for the show to have a female winner after a 4 season streak of males. It would also be a change of pace for a coach other than Blake Shelton or Adam Levine to come out on top. The two have traded wins over the last 9 seasons with the exception of season 6 (Usher) and season 8 (Pharrell). A female coach has never won.
The finalists will once again sing original songs after season 9 singers performed Christmas songs instead. I think it will be a contest, ultimately, between Adam and Alisan, so it will be interesting to see what songs they are handed. I am expecting Alisan to be given some advantages. She was set up as the presumptive winner from day one–the singer who would break “the girl curse.” Unfortunately, Alisan will have an uphill battle against 4 time winner Blake and his army of fans, and a male country singer that pings all the boxes singing show fans seem to appreciate.
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Here are my rankings.
1. Adam Wakefield – Team Blake Shelton – Adam’s strong, effortless, radio ready vocals made him an immediate favorite. Blake and Adam have done a terrific job picking songs that represent who Adam is as an artist.
2. Alisan Porter – Team Christina Aguilera – Alisan has had some really strong performances, but Christina hasn’t done as good a job presenting Alisan as a relevant pop artist. Versatility is a good thing, but not at the expense of identity. Is she a throw back rock singer? A folk singer? A pop singer? Alisan can sing her face off, but at this point, she’s a big of an enigma. She needs to come out Monday with three strong and consistent performances in order to clinch the win.
3. Hannah Huston – Team Pharrell Williams – Hannah is this season’s dark horse. Pharrell, quite frankly, isn’t a very good coach. He tends to babble on about artists being authentic and believing in themselves. Cheerleading is nice, but as an inexperienced performer, Hannah needed a firmer hand. A strong performance and pimp spot got Hannah into the finals, but she’s destined at this point to come in third or fourth. I’m glad she made the finals despite Pharrell’s spotty coaching, because she’s a talented singer.
4. Laith Al-Saadi – Team Adam Levine – Laith is battling for 3rd place right now, which is fine. It’s all gravy for the blues singer who probably didn’t, in his wildest dreams, expect to get this far. It was his superior musicianship and compelling stage presence that defied the odds. No matter how he finishes this week, Laith will return to Michigan with a higher profile and better gigs. All he needs to do this week is take the stage and do that thing he always does.
Join us on Monday May 23 at 8 ET and Tuesday May 24 at 9 ET as we Live Blog finale week!
Olympic Themed Promo
http://youtu.be/rrZeEItv9hk
