The Voice Top 9 Recap: Which Singers’ Fans Picked Them a Winner?
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For the first time in Season 24, The Voice put its contestants’ fates in the hands of viewers last week, allowing their votes to decide who advanced. Monday, the sing-off invited those grips to tighten as fans also suggested the numbers that the Top 9 would be performing. Which contenders got lucky, and which got un-? Read on…
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Ruby Leigh (Team Reba), “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — Grade: B- | Fans did fine and also dandy by the 16-year-old by suggesting John Denver’s classic for her. Unfortunately, Ruby wasn’t 100% up to the task at hand. By no means was she terrible, but she was awfully pitchy — a far cry from the near-perfect singing we used to get from her back in the episodes where the show was pre-taped (thus allowing the vocals to be sweetened post-production).
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Huntley, Lila Forde and Mac Royals, “exile” | Apparently, The Voice decided to take a cue from Dancing With the Stars by assigning Taylor Swift songs to rando trios of contestants. Um, OK. On T. Swift’s team-up with Bon Iver, Lila stood out with a vocal that sounded deceptively fragile; she was so confident, it was actually rock solid. Mac reminded us of his range, going from a light lilting tone to a stronger belt. And Huntley… well, his voice can’t help but sound rich. But didn’t it seem like he was singing with cotton balls in his cheeks?
BIAS (Team Gwen), “Bless the Broken Road” — Grade: C+ | After tearfully dedicating his fan-suggested Rascal Flatts number to his wife, BIAS laid bare his sensitive side. Which was nice and all, but it didn’t actually make him any more compelling a singer. Even when he pulled from his bag of tricks — a surprise rasp, for instance — the effect was more “Yeah, OK” than “Wow, OMG.” So it wasn’t necessarily a good thing that Niall praised BIAS’ consistency; he’s consistently average.
Jacquie Roar (Team Reba), “Alive” — Grade: B+ | In rehearsal, Jacquie laughed that fans told her that they liked it when she belted, so they wanted her to belt a whole song — in this case, Sia’s hit. And… for the most part, she nailed her take on Daughtry’s version. As an added bonus, she did so with a more reined-in performance than she’s sometimes given — no “Why is she smiling?” moments. “You knocked it out of the park,” said John, marveling at Jacquie’s range. Her coach seemed as impressed by her ability to descend stairs in heels as her singing. But that would be an altogether different competition, now wouldn’t it?
Jordan Rainer (Team Reba), “Ol’ Red” — Grade: A- | On her fan-suggested song by the show’s GOAT Blake Shelton, Jordan delivered personality plus (even if her gimmick of raising her trademark sunglasses fell kinda flat). Vocally, she was at the top of her game, packing every line with enough firepower to blow away listeners two counties over. Once again, Reba seemed duly dazzled by her contestant’s ability to sing and walk down stairs at the same time.
Nini Iris, Jacquie Roar and Mara Justine, “Don’t Blame Me” | On their pretty successful Taylor Swift collab, this trio harmonized gorgeously and seemingly effortlessly. Jacquie was sultry and Nini, attention-getting. But the real takeaway for me was hearing those powerhouses next to Mara: They paled in comparison to that kid. They were giving it their all, for sure, but Mara just had more “all.”
Huntley (Team Niall), “Way Down We Go” — Grade: A+ | Fans did Huntley a solid by suggesting Kaleo’s hit for him; the number couldn’t have been more perfect. And you bet your ass he made the most of every moment on that stage. Not a false note in the entire performance whether he was roaring at the top of his lungs (or maybe the middle, considering how massive his voice is) or dipping lower, lower still into the depths of his register. Maybe I’ve been wrong all along and Lila’s not the surefire winner but Huntley.
Mara Justine (Team Niall), “Parachute” — Grade: A | After hearing Mara run through her fan-suggested Chris Stapleton number in rehearsal, her coach had one word to offer in response: wow. And that might have been an understatement. On stage, Mara was nothing short of stunning, maintaining admirable control of her mammoth voice to allow the song to breathe and grow. When finally she let loose and all-out wailed, it was so stunning, it left me as breathless as her (and I was just sitting on my ass!).
BIAS, Ruby Leigh and Jordan Rainer, “Mean” | Jordan called it when she suggested that she, Ruby and BIAS could sound like a “country-fried steak sandwich” on their Tay Tay cover; their harmonies were divine. Separately, Ruby got a little drowned out by the band, BIAS had a tendency to kinda yell his parts (at least he didn’t get drowned out), and Jordan… for my money, she sounded just right — nice and tangy.
Mac Royals (Team Legend), “Love T.K.O.” — Grade: B | The only R&B singer left in the contest, Mac was encouraged by his coach to turn up the drama on his fan-suggested Teddy Pendergrass cover. When the spotlight fell on Mac, he did just that, performing with enough swagger and charisma for three people. But the number perhaps didn’t give him enough chances to really show off. His vocals were fine, alternately smooth and rough-’n’-ready (at least until that whiffed last note), but there wasn’t a moment there to make you go, “Damn! That was incredible!”
Nini Iris (Team Niall), “No Time to Die” — Grade: A- | Ah, cool choice: Fans recommended that Nini tackle Billie Eilish’s Bond theme. The song fit her like a velvet gown. And as much fun as it is when Nini goes wild, it was almost more impressive to hear her pull back and remain restrained until she got to the big chorus and went full throttle, as her coach would say, Nini-izing the song. (Is it blasphemy to admit that I’m not sure Billie herself could have reached such massive notes?)
Lila Forde (Team Legend), “River” — Grade: A+ | Sensibly, fans requested that Lila sing Joni Mitchell — and a Joni Mitchell Christmas song, no less. If that doesn’t send Lila straight to the Finals, I don’t know what would. Needless to say, she was vocally flawless, navigating that tricky melody as easily as a tightrope walker might stroll down regular ol’ sidewalk. “You have the ability to touch my heart so deep,” Reba exclaimed. And she ain’t the only one. John sounded legitimately choked up by Lila’s performance.
So, any song selections that really stood out to you as mistakes? Any performances that made you go, “Whoa!”? Vote in the polls below, then comment away.
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