Team Usher and Team Adam had several strong singers take the Live Playoffs stage. (Photo property of NBC, One Three Media & Warner Horizon Television)
Tonight, Team Adam faced off against Team Usher on night one of The Voice’s Season Four Live Playoffs.
Which team dominated the night? Did we see the winner tonight? Read on to find out…
After Carson grilled all four coaches, viewers saw Team Usher head to a boxing club to prepare for their group performance of Santigold’s “Black and Gold.” Usher’s unorthodox teachings helped all four artists reach their potential in a performance that made their coach proud. B+
Team Adam’s Amber Carrington kicked off the night with a stripped down cover of Rihanna’s “Stay.” This was the first time that she performed a ballad on the show. Despite a few pitch issues, this was a good vocal and showed off her vulnerable side. Blake stated that she set the bar really high and Usher added that she was successful with showing off her vocals. A-
Usher’s favorite model (and my favorite punching bag for the season) Josiah Hawley tackled Muse’s “Starlight.” The “OMG” singer chose this song because he could see Josiah perform this type of music after the show. This was an abysmal performance from the word: “GO!” He was all over the place and did not convince fans to keep him for next week. D
Sarah Simmons tackled one of Sarah McLachlan’s classics: “Angel.” Multiple artists including LeRoy Bell and Javier Colon have sung this song in other shows. Originally, Sarah did not wanted to perform this because it reminded her about her close friend, who died last year. However, Sarah channeled her emotions into an astonishing cover that touched everyone and received strong comments from Blake and Shakira. A
Latin pop singer Cáthia tackled the late Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing.” During her rehearsal, Usher helped Cáthia with her vocal delivery that paid off as she delivered a stellar performance that was out of her comfort zone. A-
For the first time this season, Adam and Usher joined forces to pay homage to Stevie Wonder with a cover of “Superstition.” This was definitely one of the highlights of the night as Adam shredded on the guitar while Usher delivered a superb vocal. A+
Former University of Kansas student Caroline Glaser made her coach and former Jayhawks proud when she tackled Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team.” Blake stated that she transported everyone back to her coffee-house, while Usher stated that it was soothing. Overall, Caroline could be the dark horse to win this competition. B+
Atlanta’s favorite son VEDO tackled Phil Collins’s “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now” for his Live Round debut. In all honesty…it was an average performance. While the audience must have loved his performance and Adam stated that he was envious that he was not on his team, VEDO did not put his own twist on it and sounded like a usual R&B cover. C-
Before the women of Team Adam performed Florence + the Machine’s “Shake It Out,” they went to Adam’s family store to pick out clothes for them to wear for the show. Each of the women shined on their own and blended well as a group. This is one of the best groups of finalists ever put together and I believe one of them would win this competition. A
Usher’s final singer of the evening was Michelle Chamuel. The superstar coach tasked her to sing Cyndi Lauper’s anthem: “True Colors.” She won over skeptics with his touching performance and received rave reviews from the coaches, which included Adam stating that it was her breakout moment and Blake wanted his team to emulate Michelle’s performance tomorrow night. In fact, Michelle’s performance made Usher’s eyes water! Go Michelle! A-
Judith Hill closed the night with a cover of the standard “Feeling Good.” While she battled a rehabilitated vocal cord, Judith delivered a master class take on the Nina Simone classic. Blake stated that she was a diva and milked every moment, while Usher stated that Judith took them to church. A
Tomorrow night, Team Blake and Team Shakira will take the stage to show America what they got!
I think Cathia did a good job with Whitney’s song but like Shakira said about hallowed ground. No one will ever do a Whitney tune better and almost impossible to make it your own. Bad song choice by Usher and it could cost Cathia.