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With Ray and Caroline leaving the show
last week, we are down to six. Matthew was also in the bottom three
but was spared with the Instant Save. The six remaining artists are
all very talented, but only five can advance to next week’s
semi-finals. Last night, the remaining six each did two songs – one
chosen by the coach, and one chosen themselves as a dedication song.
Honestly, there really isn’t much to say about each artist at this
stage that hasn’t already been said on more than one occasion by
more than one person... so this will be more of a recap than a
review.
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Cole started the night off with “Rich
Girl,” a song chosen by Blake. Both decided to forgo the acoustic
guitar and, instead, went electric for this song. Going ‘plugged
in’ for this song was a smart decision, as it very much fit with
the feel of the song. I’m not sure the song itself fit well with
the image Cole has established thus far, but he did perform it
perfectly.
The second song (performed later in the
show), “Better Man,” Cole chose and dedicated it to his “first
love.” Though they are no longer together, he said that she still
makes him “want to be a better man.” This song choice was a much
better fit for him. His almost natural vocal ‘roughness’ added a
nice element to the song, but there were times where there was too
much rasp in his voice. Christina did notice this and gave him the
advice of not working his voice so hard in rehearsals, because in the
performance, it will sound like someone who has been singing too much
and too hard.
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Adam picked “Redemption Song” for
Tessanne to sing, and it was the perfect song choice for her. She was
sitting on a stool on the mini stage in the audience and just killed
it. Not only was she able to show her amazing range, but she was able
to fully showcase her passion and emotion. She was practically
perfect on every level. The crowd went nuts, and Adam was just
beaming with pride.
For her second song, Tessanne chose
“Unconditionally” and dedicated it to her parents. This was the
first mainstream pop song she performed, and this style really suits
her well. Katy Perry is one of my favorite artists, so I was very
skeptical... but Tessanne nailed it. She made it hers but didn’t
take anything away from the power or message of the song. I’m
pretty sure that rendition will made Katy proud, and Blake
called Tessanne “a world class vocalist.”
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Matthew’s first song was his
dedication song to his family, and he sang “Story of my Life.” He
started off too soft but did strengthen it by the chorus. When he
came back down again for the second verse, you could really see how
much the first verse was off. He was still soft, but he had the power
in his voice. It makes me think that his nerves took a bit to get
under control, and that may cost him votes this week. Adam made a
great point when giving his opinion. He told Matthew that he did like
the performance but still compared everything to “Hallelujah” - one of his best performances (topping the iTunes charts at #1), and
Matthew really hasn’t been able to achieve that caliber again...
“Hallelujah” was one of those ‘right song, wrong time’ kind
of situations.
Christina’s choice for Matthew was
“When a Man Loves a Woman,” because she wanted him to be very
soulful. In contrast to his first song, he started this one off with
too much power, and it just didn’t fit with the mood of the song.
He continued to build in the song, which created some minor pitch
problems and ended up putting way too much power into the song. It would have been
a better rendition if he brought it down a few notches. It’s
not always about how much power your voice has... you need to make a
connection with the song and the audience, which he did not
accomplish with this song.
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Will dedicated his song choice to his
wife and sang “A Change is Gonna Come.” He started the song off
playing the piano then stood up and went to the mic (a few feet
away). It didn’t work very well and seemed very awkward, but he did
bounce back and was very strong vocally. I have said it before that,
for the most part, Will is a very talented vocalist and has amazing
range and tone, but he just doesn’t have the presence on stage the
others do. Although Adam said it was a very emotional performance, I
thought Will focused too much on showing his power and not enough on
showing his emotions.
Will’s song from his coach was “Hey
Brother,” and he sang the song while playing the banjo. That one
instrument choice is what will probably secure him a spot in the Top
4. Once again, Adam picked the perfect song, and Will performed it
almost flawlessly. Adam really seems to know what will showcase his
artists’ strengths and what pushes them just far enough... now if
Will would just loosen up a little.
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The first song of the evening for James
was his dedication song to his dad. James chose “Fell in Love with
a Girl,” and I’m not sure I understand the choice. For me, it was
just a rather odd song choice to perform at this stage of the
competition. James started off okay, but around halfway through the
song, he lost his place and had a few seconds of silence where there
should have been vocals. Adam commented on this, but said he came
back from it nicely.
Adam’s choice for James was “I
Would Do Anything for Love,” and I was excited for this song. A
great song choice to fit James’ vocal range and power. The slow
build up exploded with energy, but it wasn’t as great
as I was expecting. Granted, James was a bit under the weather, and
that may have played a factor... He sounded great in the softer keys,
but seemed off once he hit the higher register.
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Jacquie’s first song was “Cry Baby”
and was picked by Christina. Jacquie was worried about the song being
too 'old' for her, as she really hasn’t experienced heartbreak yet,
but that worry was put to rest during her performance. The soul and
power of her voice resonated off the stage like nothing I’ve seen.
It was as though she has an old lady tucked away inside of her that
she can channel when she sings. Jacquie put her whole heart on the stage for everyone to see. The audience went wild, and even
Carson couldn’t really believe what he had just heard and saw on
that stage. Christina didn’t even stay in her chair... she walked
up onto the stage and talked about Jacquie’s rendition facing the
audience, standing by Jacquie’s side.
The dedication song Jacquie chose was
“The Voice Within.” She dedicated it to her coach, Christina, in
a beautiful and heartfelt message. The vocal performance was flawless
and awe inspiring. Her soft vocals in the beginning showed a side of
Jacquie that we haven’t really seen before. As always, she hit the
highs, and she hit the lows... and blew away everything in between,
which earned her a standing ovation and high praise from her coach.
All of the performances last night were
really well done, and every one of the Top 6 showed us exactly why
there are there. However, there were a couple that stood out over the
others, and with those, we can narrow down the bottom three.
Cole has captured the hearts and ears
of many people over the weeks, and last night was no different. He
showed his versatility and will be, with no doubt, moving on to the
semi-finals. Tessanne took us on a wild ride filled with passion and
emotion. Her vocally perfect performances and infectious stage
presence will certainly advance her as well.
On the other side, Matthew didn’t
live up to the standard he had set for himself a couple weeks ago
with “Hallelujah.” He did peak too soon in the competition and
instead of growing like the others, he has been moving backwards. He
is very talented, but after last night, he will find himself in the
bottom three for the second week in a row, and I don’t think the
Instant Save will work in his favor this time around... It will be the end of the
journey for him. Last week I had James in the bottom three,
but he wasn’t, and that surprised me. While he is a great vocalist,
I just don’t think he can stand against some of the others. Maybe
because he wasn’t feeling well this week, James really fell short of pack on both of his performances. CeeLo had commented on one of the #askcarson
questions that the final two would be James and Tessanne, but I don’t
agree. Based on everyone’s singing last night (and slightly
factoring past weeks), James will find himself standing with Matthew. With that said, either James or Matthew will be the one going home, and I think it will be Matthew... He peaked too early, and there are just too many Team Adam fans to save Matthew this week.
That leaves Jacquie and Will. Both were
amazing and both deserve to be in the semi-finals. I really don’t
think it matters which of them round out the bottom three, because
whoever it is will be safe with the Instant Save. Jacquie has
had a strong following from the beginning, and Will’s fans have
been growing strongly these past couple of weeks, so picking one to
stand with James and Will would be nothing more than a guess... I will say that next week’s semi-finals will have
Jacquie, Will, Tessanne, and Cole on the stage.
Watch The Voice every Monday and Tuesday on NBC! Check your local listings for times.
Go to nbc.com/the-voice for all the great info on the judges and artists.
Who caught your ear? Who’s your favorite? What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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