UPDATE: Kris Thomas from Team Shakira and Josiah Hawley from Team Usher are eliminated!
The newbies aren’t faring so well! In the first two weeks of the live finals, both Shakira and Usher have lost 2 of their team members, while Team Adam and Team Blake remain totally intact. A combo of inexperience and hopefuls gravitating to the veteran coaches has left the newbies with weak teams. The winner will come from either Team Adam or Team Blake.
That’s not to say the remaining team members, Michelle Chamuel of Team Usher and Sasha Allen of Team Shakira don’t have the potential to go deep. They are formidable competitors, but the former is too quirky and the latter to polished to appeal to the majority of folks who vote for contestants in singing competitions. If the fresh-faced Holly Taylor keeps singing gospel music, she could go farther than anyone expected her to.
But the front runner right now is 16 year old Danielle Bradbery, who claims she barely has experience, but is navigating the competition like an old pro. We never see that girl sweat. She just takes the stage and does her thing. She’s a total diva in the sense that after blowing everyone away on stage, in front of millions, she’s all “DON’T EVEN WORRY ABOUT IT!” as if it were just another day in the life of Danielle. The young singer’s resolve and ability to perform under extreme pressure is going to take her very very far in this contest. I hope she likes the look of confetti in her hair.
What we really need to discuss right now is the fact that ALL OF THE BOYS ARE GONE! And deservedly, so maybe there isn’t much to discuss after all. The boys who made the live shows weren’t as mind-numbingly awful as the Idol guys. Simply the girls are better and are selling more iTunes downloads. That’s not to say the coaches/producers didn’t stack the deck with talented girls, they just didn’t go as far as Idol did to prop them up.
I thought maybe we’d have a surprise boot of one of the girls tonight, but not this week. If Usher had handed Josiah the right song, he might have stuck around for awhile longer. Kris lasted longer than most of you expected. His performance this week was so misguided–again, Shakira picked a terrible song for Kris. He excels at singing earnest ballads. I think the guy could be marketed to teens and young women, with that sweet, non-threatening falsetto of his. But trying to turn him into the next Miguel or even Usher–that ain’t going to work.
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Two The Voice finalists will head home tonight. Who will they be? Stay tuned as I live blog the results.
The show opens with Oklahoma native, Blake Shelton and his wife Miranda Lambert. She sings her country hit “Over You” with Blake on acoustic guitar and background vocals. The song, about grieving and loss, is a sentimental choice.
As always, the show begins with a recap of last night’s performances. All 10 songs charted in the iTunes Top 200. And a song went to number 1 on the country charts.
Shakira and her team members, Sasha Allen and Kris Thomas, sing The Pretenders “I’ll Stand By You.” I can only tolerate Shakira’s extreme vibrato on the dancey latin songs she sings. I find myself really distracted every time she opens her mouth. The real vocal star here is Sasha. Kris? Well, he’s probably going home tonight. Enough said.
Michelle Rodriquez and Vin Diesel stars of the new movie, Fast and Furious 6, are in the audience to pimp the movie. Vin is super awkward-cakes when he has to think on his feet and is wearing lame sun-glasses in the studio. Michelle gushes about the action scenes. “We’re really proud of this one.” O Rly? A song by Usher “The Rest of My Life” is in the movie. Vin is bouncing around like he has to pee. Oh, he’s inviting EVERYONE to the premiere. No doubt, the movie is a Universal production. SYNERGY!
Adam loves his ladies and is SURE they will stick around. He’s feeling confident. Shakira compares herself to a lioness when it comes to protecting her team. She feels Sasha was the performance of the night. Usher is nervous for his team tonight. Well, he should be worried about Josiah.
Time for the Voice Confessional. If I were not a singer I would be… Blah blah blah TIME FILLER. Michelle and her sock puppets! “Me and Ush”. Hilarious. One of the Swons does impressions. Sharkira can pull her legs behind her head. Thanks for sharing!
Results! The first two artists saved by America are…. From Team Blake…Danielle Bradbery. DUH. America also saved…from Team Adam….Judith Hill!
Team Blake, including Danielle Bradbery , Holly Tucker and the Swon Brothers take the stage to sing “Mountain Music.” It’s a ho down, y’all as the fiddles kick in. Blake claps along from his seat. Doe Si DOOEEEEEE.
The remaining contestants in jeopardy take the stage. And America saved…from Team Usher…Michelle Chamuel. Obviously. America also saved, from Team Shakira…Sasha Allen. Hell yeah.
Usher, Josiah Hawley and Michelle Chamuel join forces to sing the Burt Bacharach/ Hal David tune, “The Look of of Love.” What a strange choice. Bacharach/David. Popular on the competition reality circuit. Michelle steps into the role of jazzy chanteuse with total ease. This girl inhabits a song, no matter what she’s singing. Of course, Usher is the real star here. Smoove! Josiah, performing in his weak falsetto, barely registers.
Christina Milian interview time. Ergh. She makes me want to throw things at my TV. Sasha wants fans to tweet song suggestions to her. Danielle thanks her fans.
More results! America saved…from Team Adam…Sarah Simmons. Yep.
Time for a performance from Team Adam. Judith Hill, Sarah Simmons and Amber Carrington sing “I Got the Music in Me.” Sarah Simmons is fierce, ya’ll.
More results. Ugh at the stupid questions Carson insists on asking the contestants JUST TO WASTE TIME. How does he THINK a contestant is feeling while they’re waiting to find out if they will continue in the competition or go home? One more artist saved by America is…from Team Blake…Holly Tucker! I KNEW she’d be safe this week. Yay! Jeebus! For the Win!
More results! “If I go home tonight, I have somebody to blame it on.” – Older Swon. Ha. America has saved…from Team Adam…Amber Carrington! And of course…America also saves…from Team Blake…The Swon Brothers.
Kris Thomas from Team Shakira and Josiah Hawley from Team Usher are eliminated!
Team Usher and Team Shakira–decimated! So are the BOYS. Only one male act remains. WOW.
SAFE:
- Danielle Bradbery – Team Blake
- Judith Hill – Team Adam
- Michelle Chamuel – Team Usher
- Sasha Allen – Team Shakira
- Sarah Simmons – Team Adam
- Holly Tucker – Team Blake
- Amber Carrington – Team Adam
- The Swon Brothers – Team Blake
