The Voice season 5’s top 12 contestants pulled out all the stops for their live performances this week, and certain judges were so overcome by some performances, they couldn’t keep the stars out of their eyes.
This is shaping up to be The Voice‘s strongest season yet, and the contestants keep surprising with the caliber and uniqueness of their voices. It looks like it will be a stiff competition each week, and anyone could go home if America doesn’t rock the vote.
The Performances
Caroline Pennell
Team Cee Lo’s Caroline Pennell was the first to take the stage, with Avicii’s “Wake Me Up”. This was a more uptempo song than she has performed thusfar, and while it wasn’t her best performance, she still showed off her sweet voice and charmed the pants off of everyone.
Josh Logan
Josh Logan tackled Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” for his top 12 performance. He was criticized last week for having too elaborate a performance, with too many runs, so this week he and Coach Christina decided to go for a simpler approach. The acoustic performance showed off the warmth in Josh’s voice.
James Wolpert
Powerhouse Team Adam contestant James Wolpert performed The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” in a sweet red suit that worked perfectly with the dynamic theatricality that James brought to the performance. His vocals were on point, as always, and his pitch was perfect despite the difficult song. Adam seems head-over-heels obsessed with his star contestant.
Austin Jenckes
Team Blake chose Travis Tritt’s “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” as a ploy to get the country community to fall in love with Austin. It was another good performance from Austin, but his biggest strength is connecting to the audience and conveying the emotion of the song, and this performance seemed to lack that connection.
Jacquie Lee
After a show-stopping performance last week that showed she had a voice beyond her years, Jacquie Lee and Coach Christina chose Jack White’s version of U2’s “Love is Blindness” to show that Jacquie’s voice is still current and radio-friendly. Christina wanted this performance to show a darker side to sweet little Jacquie, and it paid off in spades as she tore the roof off once again.
Ray Boudreaux
Ray Boudreaux was worried about connecting with America after not winning their vote last week, so he and Coach Blake chose John Legend’s “All of Me,” because what better way to connect with America than by singing about love? Ray was worried about opening up, but his worry was misplaced, as he showed a whole new side of himself, and had even manly man Blake feeling twitterpated.
Kat Robichaud
Kat Robichaud returned to her rock roots with Awolnation’s “Sail”, after a low-key performance last week didn’t impress America. It was a hard-hitting performance, that included some crowd-surfing (A Voice first, to be sure.) It wasn’t her best performance, but it was great to hear Kat rocking again.
Jonny Gray
Team Cee Lo’s Jonny Gray sang Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise”, in an attempt to prove he’s a rocker with heart. He had a personal connection to the song, which helped him come out of his shell a little bit more. It was another solid performance from Jonny, despite struggling with rhythm issues with the band and the rhythm-less clapping audience.
Tessanne Chin
This week, Tessanne Chin sang Emeli Sande’s “My Kind of Love” for her husband and best friend. It’s a vicious song, with some vicious notes, and Adam cautioned her in rehearsals to make sure she attacks those notes, and doesn’t back off of them. She had no trouble going full force onstage, and stood out as the powerhouse diva of the competition.
Matthew Schuler
Matthew Schuler made a bold choice, choosing the Jeff Buckley classic “Hallelujah”, in order to show off the delicate parts in his voice, and pay tribute to his family’s history in the ministry. It was a beautiful and dynamic performance, showing off all the beautiful sides to Matthew’s voice. Coach Christina was very pleased, and even humbled by his performance.
Cole Vosbury
Cole Vosbury surprised everyone this week by singing Miguel’s “Adorn”. This was his first guitar-less performance, and as it turns out, he’s a charismatic performer behind that guitar. This was a much sexier, more soulful performance than we’ve ever seen from Cole, and hopefully we’ll see more of it in the future.
Will Champlin
Coach Adam felt Will Champlin hadn’t yet had his “moment” on the show, so he chose Imagine Dragons’ “Demons” for him to express all the emotions he has as a result of his struggles in the music business. It was certainly a passionate and energetic performance, which we’ve come to expect from him. However, it seems his passion got away from him a little bit, and there were some pitch and breath control problems.
Tonight’s Results
Tonight, America’s votes will be revealed, and in a new season 5 twist, America will be able to tweet to save their favorite of the bottom three contestants. We’ll find out the top 10 contestants who will be performing next week.
The Voice live results show airs tomorrow at 9 p.m. on NBC.