The Voice Season 5’s top 20 contestants took the stage live to earn America’s votes, but they had to match up to the precedent set by multiple performances from coach Christina Aguilera, and an amazing closer from her most promising contestant.
This is an exciting week for The Voice, as this is the first time America gets the chance to cast their votes for their favorite contestants. We saw some truly amazing performances from what may be the most talented season yet, and it was likely only a preview for the incredible shows that lie before us.
The Christina Show
Coach Christina Aguilera kicked off both performance shows with a live performance of her very own. They were both excellent performances, however, with two performances in one week, it raises the question: Does Christina know she is not The Voice? She certainly has The Voice, but she also already has an established career.
Each season, she performs several times to promote whatever singles she is promoting at the time. Oftentimes, these performances take place several episodes in a row. While the show has certainly proven to be a better platform for the coaches than any of the contestants, it’s best to operate under the guise that it is really all about the struggling artists. Ergo, let’s save the performance time for the contestants.
All this having been said, her performances were outstanding, and it makes it difficult to complain too much. Monday night she performed “Feelin Good,” her duet with Flo Rida, off of his upcoming album. She looked great, very sparkly, and sounded great, as always. On Tuesday, she did a complete 360 for her performance with A Great Big World of “Say Something”, their just-released single which she rerecorded with them.
While Monday’s performance was good, Tuesday’s more restrained performance proved exactly why Christina is such an incredible performer. It is totally not what you would expect from Christina: no big belted diva notes, or extravagant runs, etc. she obviously feels a deep connection to the song, and aside from overacting a bit for the camera, her emotion was real, and the tenderness in her voice seemed to reach through the screen.
The contrast in these two performances over the course of two nights shows just what a dynamic performer Christina is.
The Live Play-offs night 1:
Team Adam and Team Blake
Shelbie Z
Shelbie Z kicked off the live shows with a performance of Reba McEntire’s “Fancy,” because she wanted to show off her strength as a rock-country artist. With her powerful country voice and dynamic stage presence, Shelbie proved herself a great asset to Team Blake, with her coach even saying that if he had been in a coma and woke up to that performance, he would have thought she was one of the biggest stars in country music.
James Wolpert
After a tough performance in last week’s knockouts, James Wolpert had to clean his slate and remind America why he’s made it this far in the competition. Adam chose Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You”, because James believes his strengths lie in simple arrangements. The performance was an absolute breakthrough, showing a simpler side to the intense rocker, and showed off his vocals beautifully. Coach Adam gazed dreamily at James for the whole performance, and afterwards said he couldn’t be prouder.
Nic Hawk
Charismatic Nic Hawk took on Robin Thicke’s huge summer hit “Blurred Lines”, and tackled the entire song, top to bottom. He sang, he rapped, he danced, and he wore a sweet 80’s outfit. The only things missing from his performance were a twerking Miley and the boobs from Robin’s scandalous music video (which Blake was pretty disappointed about). While Nic wasn’t thrilled with his own vocals, the judges were all impressed that he was able to tackle the song from all angles, while still delivering such a fun and charismatic performance.
Ray Boudreaux
Ray Boudreaux represented his hometown Nawlins style of “swamp-pop,” which is all about heavy horns, rhythm sections, and soulful singers. He chose fellow New Orleans artist Marc Broussard’s “Home”, which was that perfect swamp-pop style that so wonderfully shows off all Ray has to offer. His voice is rich and unstoppable, and while the song was a bit repetitive, you could see how much it meant to Ray to sing it, and he was able to share that connection with audience.
Austin Jenckes
Blake Shelton chose The Black Crowes’ “She Talks To Angels” for Austin Jenckes because he is such a genuine guy, and really means what he sings, and this song would give him a great opportunity to connect with the live audience. It was yet another solid performance from Austin, who always manages to inject so much passion and emotion into every song he tackles. Emotion aside, his voice and pitch were on point.
Grey
Coach Adam chose Paramore’s “Still Into You” for Grey, because he felt she needed to stop out of her wedding singer comfort zone, and move into “rock awesomeness.” Grey started her performance with the band, and whether or not it was a comfort zone thing, she seemed to have a great time during her performance. Her nerves did betray her with the occasional pitchy note, but otherwise, she managed to breathe life into the song and make it her own.
Will Champlin
Will Champlin showed a different side of himself this week with his performance of One Republic’s “Secrets,” for which he created his own arrangement. This was not the crazy, exhaustingly-intense and energetic Will we’re used to from the previous rounds. This Will was incredibly intense and focused, even playing the piano for much of the performance. The song was almost unrecognizable at times, sounding like a Will Champlin original, but that’s not to say it wasn’t amazing. He’s shown there are many layers to him as an artist, and he sounds like he’s been an established musician for years.
Preston Pohl
Preston Pohl performed B. o. B.’s “Nothin’ on You” for his first live performance, to show off the unique tone in his voice. It’s a challenging song to sing, because so much of it is a rap, but he managed to find his way around it. Possibly because of the rapid-fire lyrics, the song didn’t seem to do justice to Preston’s awesome voice, even sounding forced at times. But Preston is a charismatic performer, and a coaches’ favorite, and they wasted no time in commenting on her unique voice once again.
Cole Vosbury
Cole Vosbury’s beard was even more outstanding for the live play-offs, where he performed Rod Stewart’s “Maggie Mae.” Blake chose the song to show off Cole’s singer-songwriter side, but Cole struggled in rehearsals to make the song his own, since his ear wanted him to sing the classic song as-is. It’s impossible not to like this song, and impossible not to smile when you hear the beautiful sounds coming out of that beard. Cole certainly made the song his own, and the audience, not to mention the coaches, loved it. Coach Blake went so far as to say that Cole could win the whole thing.
Tessanne Chin
Jamaica native Tessanne paid tribute to her supportive home country by performing fellow Jamaica native (for whom Tessanne used to sing backup) Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers to Cross.” It’s near impossible to critique anything Tessanne does, because her voice is just so outstanding. Every one of her performances is impressive, and pitch perfect, but the emotion and gratitude Tessanne feels for her hometown and their support shone through in this performance, which made it all the more enjoyable.
Keep reading to find out how Team Cee Lo and Team Christina fared in their first live performances!
The Live Playoffs night 2:
Team Cee Lo and Team Christina
Amber Nicole
Cee Lo selected season 3 winner Cassidy Pope’s “Wasting All These Tears” for Amber’s live playoffs performance, to prove she can do anything, even country. It was an emotional, dynamic performance, and pitch-perfect for all but the one big dicey note that unfortunately stuck out like a sore thumb. That one note aside, though, the coaches felt she showed a new side of herself, and rose to the challenge that Cee Lo had set for her.
Jonny Gray
Jonny Gray took on the 90’s classic “Bitter Sweet Symphony” by one-hit-wonders The Verve, because Cee Lo felt it perfectly represented his Americana, grunge attitude, and also because Jonny does best when he’s singing a song with a message. It was another strong performance from Jonny, though the one criticism was that the first half of his performance was too accurate, and too close to the original, before he made it his own and brought out a more explosive performance at the end.
Tamara Chauniece
Tamara Chauniece demonstrated her girl power finest with the Gloria Gaynor classic “I Will Survive”, which Cee Lo chose for her because she is such a “strong-willed young lady.” Tamara strutted her stuff across the stage, effortlessly carrying the weight of that huge song, all while making it her own and keeping the audience excited. Adam said it was her “best performance, at the best time,” while Blake thanked her for looking so good.
Kat Robichaud
Powerhouse Kat Robichaud slowed it down this week with Mary Lambert’s emotional “She Keeps Me Warm” (You know it as the chorus to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s “Same Love”). It didn’t have the same spastic pizazz we’ve come to expect from Kat’s performances, but it showed off her rich alto beautifully, even though it would have been nice for her to have added a little bit of her Kat crazy. But she made up for it at the end of the performance, when she confused everyone by serenading and hugging a random person in the crowd, and then reprimanding Adam Levine about it.
Caroline Pennell
Sweet Caroline Pennell sang The White Stripes’ “We Are Going To Be Friends,” a song that Coach Cee Lo has had in mind for her since the blind auditions, since it’s “the sweetest song anyone could sing.” It was a perfect choice for the sweet, delicate-voiced Caroline, showing of the beautiful tone in her voice, but she was also able to change it up and make it her own. And she still mesmerizes Blake, to the point where “I could literally be getting an amputation, and if she was singing, all I’d be thinking about is cotton candy.”
Josh Logan
Team Christina’s Josh Logan had the difficult task of performing Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” in front of the man himself: coach Cee Lo. He played the guitar and showed off his bald head for the first time this season, and seemed perfectly comfortable taking on Cee Lo’s hit. He certainly had the vocal chops to pull it off, but the coach’s one complaint was that he added too many runs and vocal acrobatics, that it actually overwhelmed the performance. Even Christina danced around this same criticism, and we know Christina loves a good run or twelve.
Olivia Henken
Christina set out to prove that country girl Olivia Henken can handle more than just country, and therefore gave her Katy Perry’s “Roar”. She certainly has the vocal chops to pull it off, and was able to bridge the gap between pop and country. However, it came off a bit pageanty, and her voice was lacking any of the personality and edge found in Katy’s. The coaches felt she is a strong country artist in the competition, and the country coach himself, Blake Shelton, doesn’t like another talented country artist floating around, who is not on Team Blake.
Stephanie Anne Johnson
Christina chose Ray Charles “Georgia on my Mind” for Stephanie Anne Johnson, because with her unique tonality and interesting inflection, she would be able to make the classic song her own. It’s impossible to not love any version of this song, and Stephanie’s take was no different. It wasn’t as quirky as last week’s performance, but she still managed to inject her own flavor and style into the song, as well as demonstrating that behind all that character lies a beautifully powerful voice.
Matthew Schuler
Matthew Schuler came in like a Wrecking Ball, performing the Miley Cyrus song of the same name, because Coach Christina felt that is exactly the way he has approached this competition. She wanted to give him the opportunity to show America what he can do with a pop song, and boy, did he ever. Not only was his voice great, as always, but he showed beautiful emotion throughout the song, as well as flawlessly exhibiting a range of dynamics to draw the audience in. The other coaches were mock-disgusted with Matthew, because he is so talented, and didn’t pick any of them as his coach. Blake turned to his team in the audience to let them know, “This is the guy.”
Jacquie Lee
Coach Christina has formed a special bond with the youngest contestant in the competition, Jacquie Lee. She sees a lot of her young self in Jacquie, including her incredible pipes. She chose the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic “I Put a Spell on You” to show off those pipes, though the tiny Jacquie likely exceeded even Christina’s wildest expectations. There’s almost nothing to say about Jacquie’s performance, other than that it was probably the best in The Voice’s history. Needless to say, Christina was awfully proud of her protégée. It’s truly a performance that has to be seen to believed:
What’s Next?
Next week, the top 12 contestants will compete outside of just their teams for the first time this season. America will vote after Monday night’s performances, and on Tuesday, we will find out which contestant will be going home. Plus, Sara Bareilles will take The Voice stage to perform her new hit, “Brave.”
As the coaches have hinted at, next week they are going to have to start getting mean. Because while they have showered praise on each other’s contestants each week, it was only because they weren’t really competing yet. But now that their own contestants will be competing with these other talented musicians, it’s likely the coaches will be a lot more critical of everyone’s performances.
The Voice top 12 will perform next Monday at 8 p.m., with the results revealed Tuesday at 9 p.m. after The Biggest Loser.