Team Adam and Team Usher kicked off season 4’s live performances and set the bar high for their competitors. We were also treated to a special performance by Monday’s coaches themselves: Adam Levine and Usher.
It was an action-packed night of performances on the very first night of live playoffs. The first half of this season’s contestants took the stage for live solo performances, with coaches Adam and Usher in the hot seat. Shakira and Blake sat back to enjoy the show, with Blake even repeatedly thanking the show’s sponsor Starbucks for the “special latte” he was drinking from his opaque Starbucks cup.
For this week’s live episodes, Team Adam and Team Usher perform on Monday night, Team Blake and Team Shakira will perform on Tuesday, and the results will be revealed in a special Wednesday night episode. America will vote for the first time this season, and their votes will save the top two contestants on each team. The coaches will be able to choose to save one of their remaining two contestants, and the other will be going home.
The coaches of last night’s teams came together for a performance of their own: Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” One of the highlights of The Voice is when the superstar coaches come together for some incredible group performances, and this was no exception. Their performance proved to be one of the best coaches’ performances we’ve seen in The Voice history.
Team Adam
Amber Carrington
Team Adam’s Amber kicked off the live performances with Rihanna’s “Stay,” the first ballad she’s performed on the show. Coach Adam was excited for her to show off the purity of her voice when she’s not tackling a rock song, and the country flair she brings to everything she does. Amber had the audience in the palm of her hand with this vulnerable performance. It wasn’t about vocal acrobatics, but beautiful delicate choices that made the song her own.
Sarah Simmons
Adam chose Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” for his early favorite contestant Sarah Simmons. Sarah dedicated her performance to a friend that passed away last year, so her challenge would be to reign in her emotions for the performance. Adam also noted that she needed to make sure she’s hitting her notes with purpose and not falling off. Though her outfit was hideous, her vocals were beautiful and haunting.
Caroline Glaser
Singer/songwriter Caroline tackled Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team,” which coach Adam selected because people wouldn’t expect the darker subject matter from her. The song was perfectly suited to her voice, though her challenge was to find a big “moment” in the song that people would remember. She may not be a stereotypical “powerhouse” vocalist like her teammates, but her voice is unlike any other in the competition.
Judith Hill
Powerhouse Judith Hill closed the show with the Nina Simone classic “Feeling Good.” Adam chose this song to give her the opportunity to knock it out of the park and show how much of a range she has. The performance started out in a very striking way, with a single spotlight on Judith in the audience, as she reached up towards the light. The performance was littered with diva moments, such as stopping the song and pacing around the stage building anticipation, before picking up the song again and hitting a big high note.
Group Performance
Adam took his team to his family’s clothing store and had some stylists help them select outfits for their group performance. They settled on a purple theme, Adam calling them purple people eaters. The Purple People Eaters sang Florence and the Machine’s “Shake It Up,” which proved to be a great girl power song. Amber stood out with the best vocals, and while little Caroline is afraid she’s out of her league against her powerhouse teammates, she tried her hand at belting and sounded like a baby Cher.
Team Usher
Josiah Hawley
Usher chose Muse’s “Starlight,” for dreamy crooner Josiah because he felt it was the kind of music Josiah could potentially do himself one day. The main challenge of this song proved to be breath control since the performance was a lot more demanding on Josiah’s vocals, and required more belting and falsetto. He showed a surprising amount of vocal power in his performance, the likes of which we have not seen from him before.
Cathia
Latin diva Cathia took on the big challenge of Whitney Houston’s powerhouse ballad “I Have Nothing.” In rehearsals, Usher actually waltzed with Cathia to help her focus on the rhythm of the song and make her voice dance. Shakira disagreed with Usher’s choice of song for her former team member, and felt he had set the bar too high for her. While he didn’t feel the song was beyond her, he did agree that Cathia didn’t rise to the occasion.
Vedo
R&B singer Vedo was challenged by Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds” because he had never heard the song before. Usher picked that song for him because it wasn’t a dance tune, and it would give him the opportunity to prove that he can stand still and deliver a song. Vedo connected with the emotion and message of the song, and his performance won over all of the judges.
Michelle Chamuel
Team Usher’s offbeat Michelle Chamuel toned things down this week with Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors.” The song hit very close to home for Michelle, bringing her to tears in rehearsals. In another one of his wacky exercises, Usher had Michelle sing into a mirror, applying the song and its message to herself. Her live performance was a show-stopper: far from her normal energetic romps, she pulled the audience in with her delicate, emotional vocals. The coaches agreed it was the breakthrough of the night.
Group Performance
Usher took his team to a kickboxing gym, of all places, to prepare for their group performance of Sam Sparro’s “Black and Gold.” They focused on endurance, and strengthening their diaphragm, which is the most important muscle for vocal strength. The performance itself was great, if not a bit lingering: it seemed to go on for a long time, and the song was kind of one-note. But the contestants themselves sounded great. And everyone was wearing…you guessed it, black and gold.
Stay tuned tonight at 8/7c when Team Blake and Team Shakira will perform live for the first time. The results will be revealed on Wednesday night.
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