The Voice 11 Recap Live Blog Semifinal – Top 8 Performance VIDEOS
We’re LIVE BLOGGING The Voice 11 Top 8 Semifinal performances here. If you’re wondering who is singing what, Click for The Voice Song Spoilers. Tonight, the stakes are SO HIGH as the top 8 sing for your votes and a chance to compete in the finale. Vote by The Voice App, online, iTunes and Apple Music. Results will be revealed tomorrow night when FOUR singers are eliminated.Coaches Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus will be on hand to introduce their team members and comment on the performances. For more information on how to vote, head over to NBC.com. VOTING IS OPEN AT THE TOP OF THE SHOW.
DUETS TONIGHT! Miley Cyrus is decked out in purple Christmas tinsel. For real.
Christian Cuevas – Team Alicia – To Worship You I Live (Away) by Israel Houghton – It’s Christian’s DREAM to sing a worship song in the competition. Smartly, he saved it for a crucial point in the show. The God card is typically magic. Plus, he’ll be singing parts in Spanish. Christian begins softly and follows with some ramped up emotion. Christian’s worship bliss should rack up the votes. He’s actually raising his hands…like they do in church. At the big climax, he busts out the Spanish. A gospel choir sings in the pit. He wanders out among them. HANDS waving in the air. Christian is crying. HELLO FINALS. Adam is sad Christian isn’t on his team. And being a guarded person, Adam envies his ability to let go on stage. Blake notes Christian’s ability to make the audience feel what he’s feeling. Alicia is so proud of Christian, who chose the song. “I saw you lose yourself…beautiful gorgeous performance.” Alicia asks everybody to vote for Christian – Download at iTunes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMKs5VPb0Qs
We McDonald and Aaron Gibson – Four Five Seconds by Paul McCartney, Rihanna and Kanye West. – HA. I see what they did there! Pretty clever. Nice job kids. They have more chemistry than I would have expected. They also walk into the pit. Is that going to be a thing tonight? No coaches comments after the duets. Thank you Jeebus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtcrUReL0tQ
Ali Caldwell – Team Miley – I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston – Miley is sure the performance will be the biggest of the show. Ali confesses that Whitney is her Idol. She’s been waiting forever to sing this song! Miley wants to mix a few Dolly flourishes into the arrangement. Oooh. Another beautiful dress this week. Floucy, pink and covered with roses. She starts off quiet and Dolly-like. The song builds slowly. As played out as “I Will Always Love You” is, Ali is really making it her own. A beautiful, non-bombastic interpretation. She saves the big notes for the finish. Ali gives the song a country-gospel feel. I approve. A vocal masterclass. Miley is on her feet clapping. An orchestra of strings accompany Ali. Alicia loved everything about it. Ha ha. Alicia was excited for the sparklers. Another dig at the boys about last week’s pyro. Alicia calls her ability to restrain the thing that makes her a powerful artist. Miley feels like the two of them together are like Whitney and Dolly! – Download at iTunes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEfM7sz9g6g&t=3s
Brendan Fletcher – Team Adam – Angel by Sarah McLaughlin – Brendan can’t believe he’s #2 on iTunes. Adam believes he can pull just about anything off. Adam thinks it’s smart to embrace the singer’s tender side. Brendan connects to the song after a friend passed away recently. I can’t stop thinking of sad puppy dogs when I hear this song. Kind of cliched now. They add a few blues touches to the arrangement. Hm. I’m hearing some pitch problems? It’s a nice rendition of the song. And that’s all I got. I wish Brendan had gone out on a limb just a tad more. Adam arranged the performance like a Bonnie Raitt song. So, why not pick a Bonnie song? This performance was too sleepy. Brendan didn’t seem to be feeling it. Blake notes his steady growth throughout the competition. Blake wants to hear some Michael McDonald. Adam pleads with folks to vote for something different…vote for Brendan. – Download at iTunes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84H_dzkTwh4
Josh Gallagher and Sundance Head – Feeling Alright by Joe Cocker – Ha ha. Sundance is blowing Josh off the stage and sucking all the oxygen in the room. But overall…a bluesy and entertaining duet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0r6dOwbCJ8
Wé McDonald – Team Alicia – Scars to Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara – Dad, Wé’s rock, drops by rehearsal to fuss over his daughter. Aw. The song represents the kind of artist Wé wants to be, she says. THANK YOU Wé for singing a contemporary song. And also for showing us what we might expect from you after the show. No vocal gimmicks this week, just Wé singing a straightforward song from the heart. Her deep auburn alto wraps around the song like velvet. Gorgeous. She sings with conviction. I believe this. The high note is a little wobbly, but so what. WÉ IS BACK. She deserves a spot in the final. Miley loved how the song represented We’s artistry. She calls it a “Wé concert.” Alicia insists, “This is Wé’s vision…we are witnessing the growth of a star on the show.” She asks folks at home to VOTE. – Download at iTunes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_iMkuYXVdg
Aaron Gibson – Team Miley – Everything I Do (I Do It For You) by Bryan Adams – Aaron lost a bet about making the Top 8, and shaved his legs. Heh. William Shatner tweeted at Aaron, which is pretty random. Hee. Miley wanted to find a big classic hit that everyone at home could sing along with. In other words. NO RISKS with Aaron who is hanging by a thread at this point. “I’m completely single” declares Aaron. Pushing sex appeal this week, I see. If he makes the Top 4, Aaron will dye his hair pink. The arrangement this week is straightforward. There’s no DMBing of the arrangement. Aaron would never sing this song outside the show, nevertheless he’s delivering a strong vocal. Not the most exciting song on the planet–but an emotional performance. Miley says “I really believed that.” Then Miley confesses she had to twist his arm a little to sing it. She thanks him for doing it. Oh boy. Good for him embracing the cheese. Miley begs America to vote! – Download at iTunes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhwWTadg1bc
Billy Gilman and Christian Cuevas – Unsteady by X Ambassadors – They’ve become best buds! Christian couldn’t believe Billy was actually a contestant at first. Neither could we, Christian. The arrangement is slowed up. The two sing it to each other like a love song…which is a little odd. They both have big voices–a good pair up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5R2V7Nnvpo
Josh Gallagher – Team Adam – Danny’s Song by Loggins & Messina – Cresson Pa! I used to travel through there on my way back to Penn State. Rt. 22 baby. Which renders his twangy accent suspect. He sings the song for his wife. They don’t have much money either. Adam suggests adding some country instrumentation and background vocals. The song highlights Josh’s pure, bright tone. Toning it down this week was probably a smart thing to do, although it’s hard to imagine him advancing next week. “I know you know that you nailed that!” crows Adam. “Vocally that was the best of the night.” NO. “Your voice sounds better than it ever has…vote for Josh Gallagher,” he says. – Download at iTunes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4QlBFjUINg
Ali Caldwell and Brendan Fletcher – It’s Only Love by Bryan Adams – They admire each other! Two freaking Bryan Adams songs tonight. Nevertheless, these two are like the second coming of Mick Jagger and Tina Turner. OK. That’s an exaggeration. But these two are pulling off the rock soul thang. I’d love to see them both in the finals. It’s not gonna happen, unfortunately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9vwdbqNjQ0
Sundance Head – Team Blake – Love Can Build a Bridge by The Judds – Blake believes Sundance is doing so well because he’s played his dues. Winona calls in to wish the singer good luck. Sundance is carrying this song off on the strength of his vocals and passionate stage presence. It’s a simple, and powerful performance and I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t hit No. 1 again this week. No. 2 at least. Blake is practically speechless. “What can you say about Sundance anymore?” – Download at iTunes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF3sebS9UWI
Billy’s got the pimp spot…
Billy Gilman – Team Adam – I Surrender by Celine Dion – Adam is glad he’s doing a big Celine song, but not THE big Celine song. What? Back in his country days, he sang Celine to himself in secret. Adam reminds him to get lost in the emotion of the song. He knows Billy has been putting vocal histrionics ahead of connection and has been working with him all season. But he still doesn’t get it: Big note. Big note. Big note. KEY CHANGE! More big notes. FINAL GIGUNDO NOTE. The end. So. Much. Yelling. The crowd is on their feet. Adam notes that only Billy could have followed Sundance’s performance. A little bit of shade there. Adam calls Billy humble and asks America to vote. – Download at iTunes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFGmAyGBid4
