'The Voice' Top 12 Playoffs: I Won't Cry for Yesterday

Last week, The Voice Season 7’s dozen semifinalists were revealed via a surprising and somewhat infuriating process. I made my objections known. But now, it is time to move on. As a wise man named Simon Le Bon once said, in a song actually performed this week by one of the top 12 contestants, I won’t cry for yesterday.

Unfortunately, that Le Bon song was totally butchered on Monday’s top 12 Live Playoffs show — which makes moving on just a little bit harder. But thankfully, there were several actually enjoyable performances this week. Here’s the recap!

Sugar Joans (Team Pharrell) – I still think Sugar has an authenticity problem. And a growling problem. The girl’s got pipes, and her confidence (especially tonight, kicking off the episode) is always admirable. But I don’t totally buy her as an R&B artist. Is that really the kind of album she’d make? Gwen Stefani seemed to have doubts, after watching Sugar do a cabaret version of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River” this Monday. (I think it would’ve been cooler if Sugar had done the Talking Heads’ version. But hey, that’s just me.) This stagey performance rang false for me; Sugar’s Aretha Franklin/Dionne Warwick cover last week showed much more artistry, and was just plain hipper and fresher. Watching this only confirmed my belief that Pharrell Williams should have picked Elyjuh René over Sugar. Elyjuh would have slayed this Al Green classic. (I’m sorry. I really am trying to move on.)

Ryan Sill (Team Gwen) – Despite my disagreement over Gwen’s decision to save Ryan last week, I perked up when I heard that he’d be performing Duran Duran’s above-mentioned “Ordinary World.” Duran Duran rarely gets covered on any singing show — but please note, David Cook covered Duran Duran on American Idol Season 7, and HE WON SEASON 7. Coincidence? I think not. But Ryan is so not going to win The Voice with a Duran Duran cover like this. Contrary to whatever the bizarrely effusive, totally delusional, possibly drunk coaches said, this was a disaster. (I sincerely hope it doesn’t result in the Durans refusing to license their music to talent shows in the future.) Ryan started off a little wobbly, and then by the end, he sounded worse than Simon Le Bon did at Duran Duran’s infamous Live Aid gig — you know, the one where Simon’s voice cracked in front of, like, a billion people, which caused a disgusted Andy Taylor to quit the band and not share a stage with Simon for literally 18 years. Anyway, I hope America quits Ryan after this. I will cry for yesterday, and for tomorrow, if he makes it through.

Jessie Pitts (Team Blake) – Like Ryan, Jessie was a saved contestant on last week’s results show. But unlike Ryan, this week Jessie proved that she deserved to be saved. Her piano-girl cover of Swedish House Mafia’s EDM megahit “Don’t You Worry Child” was elegant and ethereal; she turned a massive clubbing anthem into something tender and intimate, drawing attention to the song’s poignant lyrics and drawing the audience in. This was my favorite Jessie performance yet. I might actually download this. I have a feeling a lot of people will download this, and Jessie will be safe — this time as America’s choice.

Damien (Team Adam) – Damien got all Pentecostal on us and took us straight to church with his rousing cover of “He’s Not Heavy, He’s My Brother.” Every note, every syllable, he seemed to truly feel — and he made the audience feel it all with him. Now this is a singer with authenticity! The room reaction here was huge: standing ovation from Pharrell, wild roars from the crowd. “I could not be any prouder,” Adam Levine beamed. My only concern here is… what would happen to Damien if he actually won this show? We can all assume that Republic Records wouldn’t know what to do with him and would give him the Tessanne Chin brushoff treatment. Or maybe he’d end up like Jermaine Paul, and not even get to release an album at all. The only reason I am bringing all this up now, when we’re still only in top 12 week is… I really do think Damien, for better or worse, could win The Voice. I hope he’s ready.

DaNica Shirey (Team Pharrell) – Finally DaNica, who is 25 going on 55, looked more her age this week, in a cute pink party dress and non-schoolmarmish hair. Kudos to the hair-and-makeup wizard that styled her. I thought DaNica would add even more edge to her act when she announced her intention to do a Radiohead song. Sure, it was the oft-covered alt-rock staple “Creep” (what’d you expect, “Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box”?), but this did seem like a move in the right direction. But… no. It was not. Technically, this was a solid vocal (DaNica is probably one of the best technical singers of this season), but there was absolutely no angst or otherness to this. She wasn’t a creep, she wasn’t a weirdo, and she wasn’t so very special… she was just bland. DaNica will probably be safe this week, because she’s a strong singer with, it seems, a strong fanbase. However, going forward, she should stick to her usual Jessie J, Beyoncé, and Alicia Keys ballads, and just embrace her uncoolness. (But she should keep her makeover, of course.)

Taylor John Williams (Team Gwen) – I have mixed feelings about Taylor’s cover of Bread’s “If” this week. I do have a soft spot for Bread’s soft rock, but I worry that the song, which came out in 1971 and probably isn’t familiar to younger viewers, might hurt Taylor. And I did appreciate seeing Taylor’s gentler, more vulnerable side here, but I missed his darkness, that old black magic that he weaved so well on his stormy “Mad World” and swampy “Stuck in the Middle With You.” I liked this overall, though. I was impressed by some of Taylor’s masterful high notes, which could probably be heard by all of the four-legged residents of the Portland dog hotel where Taylor used to work. And even when he was just sitting there on a stool, he was a compelling presence. The guy’s an artist, and he’s a star.

Reagan James (Team Blake) – Speaking of stars, Reagan absolutely sparkles onstage, even when she isn’t wearing sequined sports jerseys and gold bling. Thankfully, she was able to rely on her charisma this week, because her voice on Lenny Kravitz’s “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” was not cutting it. I think she was trying to do too much onstage, and unfortunately, her vocals really suffered as a result. This girl is way too young (Carson Daly is always going on and on about how young she’s this season’s youngest contestant) to get winded so quickly like this. I still think Reagan is fantastic and I do think she’ll be safe, but she needs to come back strong next week. Do some cardio, girl!

Luke Wade (Team Pharrell) – Oh dear. My heart sank/stopped when Luke came in two beats too early on Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.” He looked really rattled, and I was worried that it was all over for him. But then he “powered right through it,” as Adam said, and pulled off one of the best comebacks in singing-show history. As soon as he regained his footing, he delivered such a stupendous performance that all was forgiven/forgotten. This was positively swoon-inducing. It showed a different side of Luke, too: a more introspective, singer-songwriter vibe, as opposed to his usual blustery soulman/showman shtick. This was so good, I think even if the studio recording available on iTunes included Luke’s mistake, people would still download it in droves. And if he can avoid such gaffes in the future, he could win The Voice.

Matt McAndrew (Team Adam) – Last week, Matt was all light and easy-breezy-beautiful doing the Beach Boys while sitting on a stool. It ruled. This week, he turned everything around and did a dark, downright manic cover of Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” that climaxed with a dramatic knee-drop and a feral, Cobain-style howl. It was actually a little bit emo, and it was a lotta bit awesome. This also ruled! Matt is proving to be one of the most versatile contestants of this season, and definitely the coolest. “If I was [Los Angeles alternative rock radio station] KROQ, I’d be calling the show right now,” said Pharrell. Please, someone just give this guy a record deal already. A good record deal. Not one like, say, Tessanne Chin’s. I really would like to hear Matt McAndrew on the radio someday.

Craig Wayne Boyd (Team Blake) – Speaking of record deals, I’m still surprised — nay, shocked — that Craig never landed one after all of his years in Nashville. The man is just such a pro. Even on a show like The Voice, which has had many former major-label signings and seasoned backup singers grace its stage, Craig comes across as the most professional of pros. This week, his performance of George Strait’s “You Look So Good in Love,” was like something from the ACM Awards. It was like a clip from his own CMT special. And Craig probably will get his own CMT special one day, if he keeps having what Blake Shelton calls “breakout moments” like this.

Chris Jamison (Team Adam) – Ooh, that Adam is such a game-player. Sometimes he really knows what he’s doing, even if he should not have saved Chris over Taylor Phelan least week. But like I said before, it’s time to move on. Adam gave Chris a genius song choice this week with “Jealous.” No, not the Chromeo song, or the Gene Loves Jezebel song — both of which are awesome, but maybe not so awesome for Chris. I’m referring to that funky new Nick Jonas single. Then Adam put Chris in some suit-and-tie ish that further played up the dude’s all-American heartthrob appeal. Smart, Adam, smart. This was definitely Chris’s finest performance of the season, with every aspect coming together, thanks to some especially savvy coaching by Mr. Levine.

Anita Antoinette (Team Gwen) – Anita, a Jamaican reggae stylist, took a big chance by covering Bob Marley. It’s nearly impossible to improve upon a Marley original, particularly if you’re going to stay in the reggae lane; a Marley cover was in fact reggae singer Menlik Zergabachew’s undoing a few weeks ago. It was also risky for Anita to sing “Redemption Song,” specifically, because another Jamaican Voice contestant — yes, Tessanne Chin — had one of her greatest moments covering it in Season 5. But Anita, passionately belting the Bob ballad while surrounded by glowstick-brandishing fans, had her own moment with it. It was obvious from the fire in her eyes how much this song meant to her. And this performance was a very welcome departure from the feelgood fluff she’d been doing recently; if you weren’t a fan of Anita grinding to “All About That Bass” last week, then this more serious effort was, well, her redemption.

So now, it is prediction time. On Tuesday night, three contestants will be called by Carson to the chopping block, one will be saved by a real-time public Twitter vote, and two will go home. I’m guessing the bottom three will be Sugar, Ryan, and DaNica, with DaNica winning the Instant Save vote by a landslide. Tune in then to find out if I’m right!

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