Following last week’s fairly shocking semifinals results show, where several promising contestants went home, the first half of this past Monday’s top 12 competitive show did little to ease anyone's fears, because the episode was loaded with several underwhelming and uneven performances.
But in the second hour things began looking up. Frontrunners Alisan Porter, Adam Wakefield, Hannah Huston, and Shalyah Fearing continued to impress, while underdogs Owen Danoff and Paxton Ingram established themselves as ones to watch.
Mary Sarah (Team Blake) The retro cowgirl gave contemporary a whirl via Carrie Underwood’s ballad “ So Small.” Mary showed she has smaller pipes than Carrie, as she noticeably strained to reach those big Carrie notes.
Laith Al-Saadi (Team Adam) Rocker Laith clearly felt good with his song pick, Albert King’s blues classic “Born Under a Bad Sign.” And there is no one like him on the show this season – or on any Voice season, as Adam pointed out this Monday.
Daniel Passino (Team Pharrell)Daniel was one of two “Coach Comeback” wild-card contestants who surprisingly made it through last week, so this week, as a legitimate contender in the top 12, he had something to prove. And did.
Emily Keener (Team Pharrell) Doing Jeff Buckley’s “ Lilac Wine,” Emily tanked here, just like she did with “ Still Crazy After All These Years” last week.
Nick Hagelin (Team Xtina) Nick, the other “Coach Comeback” artist in this season’s top 12, basically “stole” a spot from one of Christina’s other very strong contestants last week. His decision to cover Blake Shelton’s own “Mine Would Be You,” and turn it into some sort of ‘90s boy band slow jam was inspired.
Adam Wakefield (Team Blake) As usual, the episode finally kicked into high gear when Adam hit the stage. He went with a personal pick, the Allmans’ “ Soulshine,” which he and his brother used to play in “crappy little bars” before his brother’s death.
Bryan Bautista (Team Xtina) Bryan decided to get mellow this week with Seal’s “ Kiss From a Rose.”
Owen Danoff (Team Adam) Owen wentverycontemporary with rising star’s Lukas Graham’s “7 Years” this Monday. It was a smart move, jettisoning himself out of that hipster/folkster zone.
Shalyah Fearing (Team Adam) 16-year-old Shalyah was the breakout performer of the top 24, but she over-sang last week. This week, singing Patty Griffin’s evangelical “Up to the Mountain,” she smartly reined it in.
Hannah Huston (Team Pharrell) Last week, Hannah was good, but this week, ambitiously tackling Etta James’s “ Something’s Got a Hold on Me,” she wasreally good.
On Tuesday night our top 12 faced an elimination night. The results were determined solely by viewers’ votes and iTunes downloads. Plus, the insta-save returned. Yay!
The first artists voted through to the top 11 were Team Christina’s Alisan Porter and Team Blake’s Adam Wakefield.
Then Team Christina’s Bautista — the “Kiss From A Rose"/Seal guy— was saved, along with Team Pharrell’s Daniel Passino, who was actually his coach’s comeback artist.
In the next round of results, Paxton Ingram advanced to the top 11. He was joined by Team Adam’s Shalyah Fearing, the youngest artist left in the Voice competition. Levine scored another win, as bluesy rocker Laith Al-Saadi was also voted through.
The next artists voted through by America were Team Pharrell’s Hannah Huston and Team Christina’s Nick Hagelin. Team Blake’s classic country artist Mary Sarah was the final artist to automatically advance, leaving Team Pharrell’s Emily Keener and Team Adam’s Owen Danoff to sing for the instant save.
Keener was up first, singing “ Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” by Willie Nelson and accompanying herself on the guitar.
Danoff, who also played guitar, followed with a performance of “ Lego House” by Ed Sheeran.
After the votes were tallied from Twitter, Danoff was the last artist to join the top 11. Keener was eliminated.
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