It was Team Adam and Team Christina’s turn to take The Voice stage for their first live performances, and there were some major hits and misses, plus a performance from Sia.
Sia
Sia took the stage to kick off the night, performing her hit “Elastic Heart.” Sadly, there were no appearances by Shia LaBeouf or Kristin Wiig, but we did get treated to Sia’s famous face-shielding hair curtain in close-up.
Team Adam
Tonya Boyd-Cannon
Adam gave Tonya Boyd-Cannon a lesser-known Elton John song “Take Me to the Pilot” for the first live performance of the night, and anyone who wasn’t already a fan of the song, certainly is now. The song’s gospel style was perfect for Tonya, and she took us all to church with her fun, powerful performance. She was incredibly engaging, and Adam encouraged all the rest of his team members to be more like Tonya.
Joshua Davis
Joshua Davis got the chance to bring a lesser-known gem to the stage, with George Ezra’s “Budapest.” Adam chose the song because he wanted Joshua to sing a song that sounds old, but isn’t. Singing a lesser-known song would allow Joshua to put his own spin on it. It proved to be the perfect song, and Joshua’s beautiful voice was like honey in our ears. All the coaches praised his tone, and Christina said Joshua’s kids must love to hear him sing.
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson is new to Team Adam, having been stolen from Team Blake. Adam chose “At This Moment” by Billy Vera and The Beaters, because Brian is an emotional guy, and it’s such an emotional song. Adam told him that his pitch is so spot-on, that he can afford to completely let himself go in his performance. And that he did, giving such an emotional performance that his eyes were closed for a lot of the time. Blake called Brian a perfect vocalist, which is saying a lot. His performance also reminded Blake and moms everywhere of a memorable scene from Family Ties.
Nathan Hermida
Adam chose “Chains” by Nick Jonas for Nathan Hermida, because it’s a sexy R&B song, and Nathan has always fancied himself an R&B artist. Adam loves to pull out Nick Jonas songs to serve as breakthrough moments for his contestants, but this one was not nearly as successful as Chris Jamison’s performance of “Jealous” last season. Nathan had some pitch problems, and lacked the falsetto to really do the song justice, dynamically. Yes, it was a step forward, performance-wise, but was it enough to win over America?
Deanna Johnson
Deanna Johnson has had a bit of a rough road so far on The Voice. Adam sees potential in her, and has taken several chances on her, even though her performances haven’t always been that strong. She struggles with stage fright, but she’s comfortable singing in church. So Adam decided to bring the church to The Voice, with “Down to the River to Pray.” To make it completely clear that we were going for a church theme here, Deanna was backlit and dressed like an angel in a white cape dress. She was obviously thrilled to be singing this song, smiling ear-to-ear for the entire performance. She did a great job, but she can’t sing church songs every week. What happens when she returns to the secular stuff?
Team Christina
Sonic
Christina chose Mary J Blige’s “I’m Going Down” for Sonic, because we haven’t yet heard anything that authentic from her. She was excited to see Sonic take the vocal and make it her own. Sonic’s passion and intensity was perfect for the song, however, she did have a little bit of trouble with her pitch. The coaches applauded her for the way she didn’t let it stop her, and from watching her on mute, you’d have no idea she was struggling at all. She’s obviously a pro, but will the pitch problems be too much for America to forget?
Kimberly Nichole
Christina put in a special request with her pal Linda Perry for Kimberly to perform the 4 Non Blondes hit “What’s Up.” The song has never been approved for The Voice before, but Christina felt Kimberly would nail it, because she’s a great rock singer who likes to perform songs with a message. And nail it she did, sounding the way all of us imagine we sound when we are singing along to this song in the car (Don’t lie. You know you’ve done it.) The true highlight of the night, however, was Kimberly’s adorable 90-year-old great-grandmother in the audience, wearing her best Aretha Franklin bow hat.
Lexi Davila
Lexi Davila has proven in her previous performances that she has perfect pitch and lots of soul. Christina chose Celine Dion’s “All By Myself,” because she wanted to see Lexi show some emotion by performing something vulnerable, yet powerful. There’s no question that Lexi’s got the pipes, but the performance just didn’t seem all that believable. Plus, for someone performing a Celine Dion song, she really needs to work on her enunciation.
India Carney
India Carney is unquestionably one of the strongest vocalists on The Voice this season. However, her biggest problem has been that she hasn’t quite formed a connection with the audience. To achieve that connection, Christina gifted India with one of her own songs, “Hurt,” a very emotional song that would require India to dig deep to really sell the emotion of the song. She looked powerful right out of the gate, because her hair looked totally badass. But then she showed a side we have never seen of her before, performing like a completely different – still totally awesome – artist. Pharrell said the credits might as well be rolling after her performance.
Rob Taylor
Christina chose The Weeknd’s “Earned It” for Rob Taylor, because the song is very dynamic, both melodically and musically, and and would allow him to embrace who he is vocally, while tapping into a current R&B sound. This was Rob’s best performance yet, and certainly his sexiest. He showed he can be right at home on popular radio, and just might get some fan’s hearts beating a little faster. Pharrell applauded the effortlessness of his performance, while Adam praised the way he puts his whole body into every note.
Tune in Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on NBC to find out the results of America’s vote.