The competition was narrowed down to the top eight contestants last night, but the standout performance of the night was from coach Blake Shelton and his wife Miranda Lambert, as they paid tribute to his home state of Oklahoma.
Blake and Miranda opened the show with her hit “Over You.” The tragedy in Oklahoma has hit close to home for the country superstars, because not only was Blake born and raised there, but the couple currently lives less than two hours away from where the tornadoes did so much damage. The song was perfect for Blake and Miranda to convey their emotions, and was made even more appropriate as Miranda changed the words from, “It really sinks in, you know, when I see it in stone” to “It really sinks in, you know, when it’s so close to home.”
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As for the eliminations: Team Adam and Team Blake once again remained intact, with three saved contestants each. Newcomers Usher and Shakira are now down to only one contestant each after last night’s elimination of Team Usher’s Josiah Hawley and Team Shakira’s Kris Thomas. Usher is left with only Michelle Chamuel, and Shakira with Sasha Allen, but both are strong competitors and likely to stick around a while longer.
Shakira joined her team for another emotional performance of The Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand By You.” Shakira’s impossibly short dress and thigh-high sparkly boots seemed a little bit inappropriate, given the context of the performance, but she is Shakira, after all. The performance was pretty good, and ended on a high note with a beautiful three part harmony between Shakira and her team.
Team Blake made their coach proud with a rousing rendition of Alabama’s “Mountain Music.” Their harmonies, led by The Swon Brothers, were once again excellent. Team Blake really sounds the best together of all of the teams this season. Perhaps they should consider forming a Blake Shelton tribute band when this is all over?
Usher joined team members Josiah Hawley and Michelle Chamuel to sing Burt Bacharach’s “The Look of Love” in their own make-shift onstage lounge. The song was an excellent choice not only for Josiah’s voice, but for his ability to seduce the audience. Michelle’s and Josiah’s voices sounded great when they sang together at the beginning, and even better when joined by coach Usher.
Judith, Amber, and Sarah from Team Adam performed the 70s hit “I’ve Got The Music In Me.” It seemed to be a weird song choice, though not one that the girls weren’t capable of singing. Outfitted in coordinated dresses of all spring colors, the girls owned the disco-tastic stage: complete with disco ball and beaded curtains. Though all three girls sounded great, it’s hard for Judith’s powerful voice to not stand out from the pack.
In this week’s “Confessional” segment, the contestants, coaches, and mentors discussed what they would be doing if they hadn’t gone into music. The contestants would be anything from puppeteers to voiceover actors, while Cee Lo would be a male exotic dancer, Adam a secret agent, and Shakira a contortionist, which she demonstrated by turning herself into a pretzel.
In the most awkward moment of the night, Carson spoke to Michelle Rodriguez and Vin Diesel, in the audience to promote Fast & Furious 6. Diesel, wearing sunglasses indoors, rambled on for a while about the film, and how proud they are of it, and how great Blake and Miranda’s performance was. Eventually they revealed that they were inviting everyone to the Fast & Furious 6 premiere later that night.
The top eight contestants will perform next Monday night at 8/7c.