“The Voice: Season 11” Top 10 sing for your votes!

By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com

Breaking news!

Two artists will be eliminated tomorrow night during the results.

Tonight, the remaining ten artists sang for your votes.

Which artists raised their game? Who might face off for the Instant Save? Read on to find out!

Billy Gilman kicked off the night by visiting his country roots and paying homage to the woman who got him started in the music industry: Martina McBride. Billy tackled Ms. McBride’s “Anyway.” I love Billy’s voice, but I needed for him to connect with the audience emotionally. There is no denying Billy’s bombastic voice, but again, he failed to have an emotional performance that gives me chills. If he wants to move on to the finals, Adam and Billy need to regroup fast and find material that will move the audience to tears. B-

Team Blake’s Courtney Harrell sang former Team Blake advisor Cher’s “If I Could Back Time.” This was Courtney’s second time covering a Diane Warren song this season, and she made a valiant effort. I felt that Courtney was holding back at times and I wanted her to rip the roof of the Universal Studios Hollywood soundstage off. While she attempted to do that during the decrescendo of the song, Courtney should have been in Mach Five mode the entire performance; now she might be in jeopardy. C

Team Adam’s Josh Gallagher chose this season’s Knockout Round key advisor Tim McGraw’s “Real Good Man.” I could hear Josh on the radio after this season has wrapped. His tone and twang on the song were impressive, but for once, I wanted him to lose the guitar. Hopefully, America will rally around him and vote him through to the next round. B

Aaron Gibson has found his way in the Bottom Twice this season, so he already has two knocks against him. I liked Miley’s strategy for having him sing Sir Elton John’s “Rocket Man.” I still have Idol alum Charlie Askew’s larger than life interpretation of the song in my head, so Aaron had a lot of ground to cover. Like Miley said in the pre-performance, it reminded me too much of Dave Matthews. The performance was boring as hell, and I rather watch Charlie Askew perform this song any day of the week! F

After Maroon 5 performed their hit: “Don’t Wanna Know,” it was Team Alicia’s Christian Cuevas’ turn to perform. He chose to sing Lady Gaga’s “Million Reasons.” Christian has been hit or miss since his Blind Audition, but this was his breakout moment. He was the first artist of the evening to give the chills I have been waiting for. Every word that Christian sang broke my heart, and his performance moved me. A

Austin Allsup tackled “Missing You.” His soft and tender vocal performance gave me chills and made me smile. I am happy that Austin continues to deliver these superb performances and I believe that he could steal a spot in the finale.  A-

While I love Alicia Keys as a coach, I appall the songs that she has chosen for We McDonald to sing each week. “God Bless the Child” has been sung multiple times on Idol and both LaKisha Jones and Haley Reinhart have covered this Billie Holliday epic. However, We added a special twist to this performance: an operatic twist. When she got to the decrescendo and revealed that operatic range, I jumped for joy! All I have to say is: “See you in the finals, We!” A+

One of my all-time favorite duets from America’s Got Talent happened during Season Nine (2014) when a friend of the blog, Emily West, performed “True Colors” with her mentor: Cyndi Lauper. This duet gave me goose bumps and set the bar high for any other artist that would cover the song…including Team Adam’s Brendan Fletcher. I am so happy that Brendan showed vulnerability this week. He gave me chills, and because of his incredible performance, I believe that he could challenge Billy for a spot in this upcoming Season 11 finale. A

Sundance Head was the last Team Blake artist of the night. Sundance gave us a nice helping of Bluegrass this week when he tackled “Me and Jesus.” With the help of his coach, he transformed the Universal Studios Hollywood soundstage into a religious mosh pit. Sundance always puts a smile on my face, but sadly, this was not one of my favorite performances. It focused way too much on the instrumentation and not enough emphasis of The Voice. C+

Team Miley’s Ali Caldwell closed out the night with “Without You.” This song has been performed so many times in numerous singing competitions including American Idol! Both Joshua Ledet and Amber Holcomb delivered vocal home runs with their respective renditions and Ali joined the club! She captured my attention at the first note. Ali’s high notes gave me chills, and I believe that this was the performance of the night. A+

Tomorrow night, Dolly Parton and Pentatonix will provide your entertainment as Season 11’s Top Eight will be revealed!

I do not own any of the American Idol performances. They belong to 19 Entertainment, FOX & FremantleMedia North America. Meanwhile, the “America’s Got Talent” clip belongs to NBC & Syco Entertainment.