The Voice judges: From L-R – Adam Levine, Alicia Keyes, Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton
Let’s hear it for the girls! Following this week’s semi-final performances, America chose its top three The Voice artists to send through to the finale next week, and they are (announced in no particular order, supposedly):
~ Spensha Baker (Team Blake)
~ Brynn Cartelli (Team Kelly)
~ Kyla Jade (Team Blake)
Not only does that mean Spensha and Kyla’s duet was likely as sublime and timely as it seemed last night, but this result also assures that, coach-wise, someone won’t be putting a contestant forth to the finale, and Blake is even closer to making himself a seven-time Voice champion. Between this announcement and his performance of newest nostalgia number “I Lived It,” it’s a good night for Blake Shelton.
Blake’s performance isn’t the only celebrity cameo to come on to the show (read: stretch the time), though. We also get to hear pieces from Kane Brown and Panic! At the Disco, as well as get an update from last season’s winner Chloe Kohanski, who’s ready to release her new single “Come This Far” next week as another step in her journey to “re-define a genre of music.” If anyone has a chance of being The Voice‘s Kelly Clarkson/Carrie Underwood/Jennifer Hudson, it’s probably her.
Eventually, Carson Daly reveals which of the five remaining singers have done well enough to earn the chance to compete for the final spot (ugh, yes), and they are…Britton Buchanan (Team Alicia), Kaleb Lee (Team Kelly), and Pryor Baird (Team Blake). With that, we know for sure that Adam Levine has no one to send through because Rayshun LaMarr is out, right alongside Jackie Foster.
Quickly, the guys line up to make their plea for that final spot, and they make it pretty easy on voters, like so:
Pryor Baird – “Soulshine” by Allman Brothers Band
Annnnd once again, Pryor Baird sounds like he’s scream-singing with a distortion device lodged in his throat to make it sound like one consecutive rasp belt that never ends. How are we even still doing this right now? [Taps out.]
Kaleb Lee – “Simple Man” by Lynard Skynard
Welp. Where do we begin to describe all of the shortcomings here? For starters, Kaleb Lee is simply too far from the mic, so it’s hard to hear him singing, and at that distance, he almost sounds like a redux of Pryor Baird, and with him coming behind the guy in such quick succession, I almost wonder if he’s not just yet. The key difference is and has always been that he does have some dynamism to his voice that Pryor lacks, but this is one of those songs that should be back-of-hand status for a guy like Kaleb. Instead, though, he seems to buckle under the pressure of this moment. This may be his most meh performance of the season. Even Carson Daly notes that he can “hear it in [his] voice” that “this is an act of desperation right now.” Oof.
Britton Buchanan – “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn
The prior acts (pun obviously intended) made it pretty easy for Britton Buchanan to seal this spot up for himself, and this is exactly how he needed to do it. Yesterday’s rendition of Bruce Springsteen wasn’t all he probably meant it to be, so going in with a raw and emotionally evocative piece that is not even close to perfect — so many pitch points! — but which shows that he’s got a lot of heart to lay bare here is wise. With no one left to tout from his own team, even Adam Levine pumps the #VoiceSaveBritton hashtag, and it’s a runaway. He leads the others by double digits easily, and deservedly so. Even before the results are announced, the other coaches are basically telling their fellas they’ll keep in touch, so it’s clearly a wrap.
And now here we are with three ladies and one soft/classic rock singer prepping for the finale! Count on Spensha Baker to really lean into her country mode now that she’s the last rep of that genre left on the show, while Kyla can go full gospel all day if she likes, since there’s no one left to battle with in that arena either. Meanwhile, Brynn can keep right on popping, and the southern rock lane is now wide open for Britton as well. These four are similar in some ways but very different in style preferences, so they’ve got a real opportunity to try and set themselves apart next week. With some of the low-hanging fruit finally (mercifully) picked from this show, this line-up should make for a solid end to the season.
TEAM STANDINGS:
● Team Adam: N/A [out of the competition]
● Team Alicia: Britton Buchanan
● Team Kelly: Brynn Cartelli
● Team Blake: Spensha Baker, Kyla Jade
By Amanda Bell | Entertainment Weekly
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/voice-recap-final-4-011734521.html