‘The Voice’ Season 11’s Final Four Revealed!

If one good thing can be said about The Voice this fall, it’s that no single contestant ever dominated Season 11. This season had no Javier Colon, Jordan Smith, or Alisan Porter, so it kept us in perpetual suspense — which made for some very good TV. Not even Wé McDonald, the golden child who received that primo placement on NBC’s post-Olympics preview episode, or Billy Gilman, the former country child star with platinum albums to his credit, were locks for the finals.

Spoiler alert: Wé and Billy did make it to the finale this week. But some other promising contenders surprisingly did not.

So last week, Team Adam’s Brendan Fletcher, a former dark horse, seemed poised to make the final four, after his beautiful “True Colors” performance hit No. 2 on iTunes. And a few weeks ago, Ali Caldwell — whom Adam Levine actually once compared to Jordan Smith — seemed like one to watch, thanks to her amazing tribute to Leonard Cohen. And over the last two weeks, Christian Cuevas appeared to be coming up from behind, with his game-changing, star-making performances of “Million Reasons” and “To Worship You I Live (Away).” But in the end, none of those singers survived Tuesday’s semifinals elimination bloodbath — in which four of the top eight contestants went home all at once.

On Tuesday’s nail-biting results show, Team Adam’s Billy, Team Blake’s Sundance Head, and Team Alicia’s Wé made it through via America’s popular vote, after respectively charting on iTunes at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 12. It was no surprise that Team Miley’s Aaron Gibson went home automatically — he’d only made it to No. 42 this week, and he’d already barely escaped elimination three times — but when Brendan also went home in seventh place, and didn’t even get a chance to sing for the Instant Save, that was a shock.

Or maybe it wasn’t such a shock. While Brendan’s Monday performance, “Angel,” did chart at No. 11 — a notch above Wé — it’s understandable that a dreary cover of a weepy Sarah McLachlan ballad that is associated in most viewers’ minds with abused shelter pets failed to fully connect with viewers.

So that left Team Miley’s one remaining hope, Ali, to compete for the Instant Save with Team Alicia’s Christian and Team Adam’s bro-country boy Josh Gallagher. This would definitely be some suspenseful TV, and possibly the closest Instant Save showdown in Voice history.

Christian went first, with a popular, if overdone, singing-show staple, Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” (Again with the breakup songs!) Allow me to lapse into vintage Randy Jackson-on-American Idol-speak: Christian’s performance started off tepid and restrained, but in the end, he worked it out, dawg. He did his signature emotive thing with it. But was Christian really in it to win it? I wasn’t so sure. He already seemed slightly defeated, as if he actually believed that he could not, well, make America love him. “Don’t leave us yet! You could still win this thing!” Carson Daly insistently told him, but Christian looked sad and unconvinced.

Up next was Ali. When Carson announced she’d been singing “Sledgehammer” for the Save, I thought, regardless of whether she did the Peter Gabriel classic or the Fifth Harmony hit, it’d probably be the wrong song choice. But it turned out to be the Rihanna song of the same title, and actually, this was great: theatrical, soulful, passionate, and filled with plenty of vocal acrobatics and fighting spirit. This was a dynamic, go-for-broke, flawless “Save Me” performance. Ali was in it to win it! #VoiceSaveAli!

And, finally, there was Josh. Josh had a breakthrough moment and peaked at just the right time in the season with his Monday performance of “Danny’s Song,” which went to No. 3 on iTunes, but when he reverted back to his predictable bro-country ways Tuesday with Lee Brice’s “I Drive Your Truck,” I was unimpressed — especially after Ali’s tour de force. So I figured about Ali was about to sledgehammer her way straight through to the finals.

I figured wrong. I really should not have underestimated the country audience’s loyalty. Josh prevailed, with 44 percent of the vote. (Ali got 33 percent, while Christian only received 25 percent.) My condolences to Miley Cyrus, who, despite her best efforts, will not be represented in next week’s finale.

With Season 11’s much more charismatic and creative country man, Sundance, in the top four, it’s pretty unlikely that Josh can win this competition. So I can’t help but feel bitter, thinking Josh stole a spot from a more deserving candidate. That fourth spot should have gone to Ali — or, if it had to go to another male contestant, Brendan, under other circumstances, would have been a more interesting option.

Oh, well. What’s done is done. We now have our top four, and if either Wé or Sundance triumphs next week, I’ll be delighted. (Billy, with his pedigree and industry contacts, doesn’t really need the win. He’ll be just fine.)

But Season 11 is still really anyone’s game. So pop that popcorn and tune in next week, when we crown our new Voice winner.

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