The Voice Semifinals Recap: Find Out Which Singers Returned... and Which Sounded Like They'd Soon Be Leaving
The Voice went live for the first time in Season 27 Monday with a jam-packed episode that not only found the Top 8 performing for a chance to advance to the finale, it gave four eliminated contestants a shot at reentering the competition. Which quartet got lucky? John Legend chose Olivia Kuper Harris. Michael Bublé went with Kaiya Hamilton. Kelsea Ballerini (thank goodness) opted for Jaelen Johnston. And Adam Levine selected Conor James. Now then, onto the performances...
Kolby Cordell (Team Adam), "Drink You Away" (Grade: B+) | On Justin Timberlake's bluesy number, Kolby, whom his coach called his best Steal, turned out what might have been his finest performance to date. (Former coach John said that he thought so, too.) I felt like I was listening to steam rise off of a hot highway after a rain. Still, I wasn't sure that this was gonna be the kind of crowd-pleasing song that was going to to keep Kolby from being cut when the Top 8 — er, 12 — became the Top 5 Tuesday.
Alanna Lynise (Team Kelsea), "I'm Not That Girl" (Grade: C) | Tackling Elphaba's heartbreaking ballad from Wicked, a newly engaged and expecting Alanna delivered an almost pretty rendition of the song that should have been a zillion times more emotional than it was. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't good, either, and didn't make me feel diddly (and I was ready and raring to feel from the minute Alanna revealed the number she'd be doing). Kelsea disagreed — shocker — saying that this "matched the magic that you have every time."
Jadyn Cree (Team Bublé), "I Think We're Alone Now" (Grade: C) | Sticking with what works (or should have worked) after doing "99 Red Balloons" last week, Jadyn remained in the '80s with a cover of Tiffany's Tommy James cover. Unfortunately, it didn't work quite so well this time around. Jadyn was pancake flat. No oomph at all. If it wasn't for the fun, New Wave-y video of her playing in the background, I would have been totally bored. Natch, Michael didn't hear it that way. "You're always unique," he cheered. If only she was always unique in an appealing way.
Olivia Kuper Harris (Team Legend), "Someone to Watch Over Me" (Grade: A) | On the Ella Fitzgerald classic, John's Super Save pick served up a strong reminder of how crazy he had to have been to have dropped her in the first place. Her vocal was nothing short of magnificent. Not only that, but Olivia utterly owned the stage and injected a welcome dose of personality into the number, making it inarguably her own. For once, I wasn't braced to chuckle when a contestant's coach said how fantastically the singer had done — she really had done wonderfully!
Iris Herrera (Team Kelsea), "Messy" (Grade: D) | Ooo, cool song choice! But was Lola Young's hit the right song choice? Sounded iffy in rehearsal and, alas, even iffier on stage. I applaud Iris' daring, she just wasn't able to pull off the number — or, it seemed, hit a note. (Tinika Wyatt got cut for this?!?) Perhaps tellingly, Kelsea didn't say much about the performance, just that she appreciated Iris' commitment to her artistry.
Lucia Flores-Wiseman (Team Adam), "Black Hole Sun" (Grade: A-) | OK, if you'd asked me what I thought was the last song Lucia would possibly end up doing in the Semifinals, Soundgarden's would probably have ranked high on the list. But I'll be damned if she didn't pull it off. Apparently, I really would enjoy listening to Lucia sing literally anything. (My grocery receipt? Dinner order?) That said, I have a feeling that this isn't going to be a vote-generating performance. Too left of center for the majority of the Voice audience.
Bryson Battle (Team Legend), "Without You" (Grade: B-) | Ah, perfect number for Bryson; he's at his best when he gets to go big, and it doesn't get much bigger than this power ballad. On stage, the 22-year-old... wait, what? Yeah, he faltered. I expected him to be amazing, but I felt like he struggled. When he wasn't belting, he seemed unsure, and even when he was belting, I was like, "Is that as pitchy as I think it is?" Carson Daly said that the performance was "almost vocally flawless." I have a hunch more people will agree with him than me on this one.
Jaelen Johnston (Team Kelsea), "I Drive Your Truck" (Grade: A-) | Perhaps the Super Save pick that we are all likeliest to agree on, Jaelen made the most of his second chance, giving us a raw performance that (I dunno about you but... ) left me feeling like he'd driven his truck over my dang heart. His coach was just relieved that the internet would stop treating her like a bad guy. But way beyond that, I imagined that she'd gotten herself a contestant in the finale who might actually win.
Adam David (Team Bublé), "Bring It On Home to Me" (Grade: A) | Adam has one of those voices that you stop everything when you hear it so that you can listen more closely. He's just... gripping. Here, he took on a bluesy Sam Cooke number that was right in his wheelhouse, smashing a well-modulated performance that all but left smoke coming out of his mouth. "I'm sweating," Michael said when Adam was done. Understood. That was straight-up fire.
Kaiya Hamilton (Team Bublé), "Ain't Nobody" (Grade: B+) | Michael's Super Save artist was champing at the bit to tear into Chaka Khan's hit, and once she hit the mic, I could hear why. She absolutely killed on the choruses — what a monumental voice she has. The trouble was, she seemed a whole lot less sure of herself and the song on the verses. Michael was so thrilled by what he'd heard that he tried not to talk too much, lest he take away from what he saw as the flawlessness of the performance.
Conor James (Team Adam), "Chasing Pavements" (Grade: A) | From note No. 1, I was loving Conor's Adele cover. The notes seemed to float over the mist that filled the stage. Sure, I had to do a double take when Adam's Super Save singer paused at a fire hydrant prop — yes, I figured out it was a street set — but his massive voice served him tremendously well. This is what I had hoped Bryson's "Without You" was going to be like: well-modulated, thought through and extremely impactful.
Renzo (Team Legend), "Dream On" (Grade: B+) | Prescribing Renzo a dose of "screamery" was just what the doctor ordered. On Aerosmith's classic, he served rock-god realness. At first, I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to come anywhere near close to Steven Tyler's high notes — but he managed to get there. Well, close, anyway. Was it the best thing ever? No. But it was still pretty impressive.
Whose performance did you think was the best? Vote below, then sound off in the comments about which Super Save artist pick surprised you the most.