“The Voice: Season 11” coaches pose together with their artists after the Top 12 performances. (Photos property of NBC & MGM TV)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
I will be honest with you. Last night’s edition of The Voice was a mixed bag.
Team Miley’s Ali Caldwell emerged from the pack and became the season’s newest frontrunner. Also, both Aaron Gibson and Brendan Fletcher turned the Universal Studios Hollywood soundstage into a rocker battle. Meanwhile, contenders We McDonald, Austin Allsup, Sa’Rayah, and Sundance Head proved that they were still in the running. Unfortunately, the producer’s chosen one (Billy Gilman) slipped on a vocal banana peel and fell after butchering Queen’s “The Show Must Go On.”
Were any of these artists saved? Who was nominated for the first Instant Save of the season?
Host Carson Daly directly got down to business and began to reveal some results! Carson announced that Team Miley’s Ali Caldwell, Team Alicia’s We McDonald, and Team Adam’s Brendan Fletcher would be singing for America’s votes next week. Brendan joined his coach, Billy Gilman, and Josh Gallagher for an impressive “For What It’s Worth.” This was one of the better Team Adam performances from the past four seasons. While I thought Billy looked out of place without a guitar, I thought he carried the group.
As Adam and Brendan left the stage, it was time for Carson to reveal some more results. Team Blake’s Courtney Harrell (who survived last night’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” conundrum) and Team Adam’s Billy Gilman headed to the safety zone!
Coach Keys beautifully sang a few bars of “Blended Family” a cappella before debuting “Holy War” exclusively for The Voice. It was an outstanding performance that featured Adam on the guitar. (I recently reviewed Alicia’s brand new album and named it one of my Albums of the Week! Check out the review here!)
After Alicia and Miley had surprised several fans, Carson revealed that Team Miley’s Darby Walker (NO! No! No!) and Team Blake’s Austin Allsup (thank goodness) were safe from elimination. Darby only had a few minutes to compose herself before joining her team to perform Dolly Parton’s “There Will Always Be Music.” As much as I liked Miley, I really, really missed an epic performance from Team Christina.
The final three artists that were saved by America’s votes were Team Alicia’s Christian Cuevas, Team Adam’s Josh Gallagher, and Team Blake’s Sundance Head! This left Team Alicia’s Sa’Rayah and Team Miley’s Aaron Gibson as this week’s Bottom Two!
Sa’Rayah kicked off the round by performing Aretha Franklin’s “Rock Steady.” Despite a few awkward first measures, the Team Alicia songstress strutted her stuff on The Voice stage, and she delivered a fiery performance that showed off her range and laid down the gavel down on the stage. B+
Team Miley’s Aaron Gibson performed Ed Sheeran’s “Lego House.” Aaron had an awesome performance, but at the same time, he reminded me so much of Phillip Phillips that it displeased me. Also, I thought he had a hard time annunciating the rapid-fire lyrics. C+
Unfortunately, America seems to love a mutter mouth as they single handily picked Aaron to move on to next week! I am very disappointed that Darby made it farther than Sa’Rayah!
Next week, the Season 11 Top 11 take the stage.
