The Voice Top 5 Results Recap: Did the Right Three Acts Make the Season 4 Finale? [Updated]
Usher and Shakira arrived at The Voice‘s Top 5 results night wearing black. Was it foreshadowing that their Season 4 journies were about to take a turn for the funereal?
After all, the neophyte coaches’ last respective contestants — Michelle Chamuel and Sasha Allen — were the only two acts who didn’t crack the iTunes Top 10 singles based on their Monday-night performances and thus didn’t see their iTunes votes multiplied by 10.
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Oh sure, you can’t determine who’s going home without factoring in phone and online votes, but iTunes has been a pretty solid tool that’s made Season 4 results shows as predictable as a Kardashian’s response to the flash of a photographer’s bulb.
But, of course, no results show can extend a full hour based solely on an announcement that can be spat out in 10 seconds. And so we were treated to a rare cavalcade of performances from Voice finalists of the past — Tony Lucca, Nicholas David and Terry McDermott (but sadly, not Amanda Brown) — as well as Fall Out Boy and a chopped-up Top 5 group rendition of a Poison power ballad. Let’s pause for a moment to cook up some mini reviews:
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Fall Out Boy (featuring Michelle Chamuel), “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark” | A reasonably solid performance from the emo rock band, though I wish they’d given Michelle a solo verse — or even a freakin’ solo line — so we could’ve actually heard her dulcet tones. (Girlfriend’s efforts on the “I’m on fire!” refrain did provide a vocal upgrade, though. Like Usher so hyperbolically put it, “she is medicine for our country, for our world.”)
Nicholas David, “Say Goodbye” | Once I got past the “I would breathe for you” line — yikes! I wouldn’t want someone stealing that function from me! — I definitely began to dig the Season 3 finalist’s subtle folk groove. Yeah, the lack of beard grooming still gives me the willies, but that’s just my own personal neuroses coming into play, so pay them no mind!
Tony Lucca, “Never Gonna Let You Go” | The Season 2 runner-up certainly sang with enthusiasm, but his acoustic rock jam felt like it washed up on the shore behind the Mumford and Sons wave. I just can’t see “Never Gonna Let You Go” catapulting him to the heights of his former Mousketeer cohorts. Here’s hoping he’s got catchier material on that forthcoming EP of his.
Top 5 Finalists, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” | Argh…the arrangement cut the verses into tiny individual ribbons for each member of the Top 5, and that’s just not how a song’s supposed to be sung. That said, anyone else end the performance wishing Sasha Allen had chosen this Poison jam instead of “I Will Alwaya Love You” on Monday?
Terry McDermott’s “Pictures” | Hopefully, Season 3′s Scottish rocker made a vow not to cut his sideburns until his wife delivers their new baby in a few weeks. (I kid, I kid!) Dude is definitely keepin’ the classic rock sound alive though, and his voice remains as big and bell-clear as ever.
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OK, so performances duly noted, the only thing that truly mattered was determining who’ll be competing in next week’s finale. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Sent to Safety (in Chronological Order)
Michelle Chamuel
Danielle Bradbery
The Swon Brothers
Eliminated
Sasha Allen
Amber Carrington
Yep, the Season of Blake Shelton and His Country Agenda continues. Dude has largely found a formula that works for his contestants and determinedly stuck to it — even as some observers (or at least me) have complained that it’s robbed the season of genuinely surprising, thrilling moments.
Michelle, meanwhile, the quirky, bespectacled alt-electro badass who’s tackled everything from Cyndi Lauper to Robyn to Bruno Mars to Taylor Swift, remains the last hurdle preventing a 1-2 finish for the goofy but extremely shrewd Oklahoman who sits the right side of the screen each week pointing to himself and playing the “I’m just the drunk who tries to stay out of their way” card. Could a country vote split give Michelle an edge heading into next Monday? And should I wait to hear the actual performances before I say “I sure hope so”?
And with that, let me turn things over to you. What did you think of Season 4 Top 5 results night? Did the right contestants get the boot? Which musical performance did you like best? Sound off in the comments, and for all my reality-related news, recaps, interviews and videos, follow me on Twitter @MichaelSlezakTV!
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