The Voice‘s top 5 contestants were revealed last night, with some outstanding live performances including some holiday tributes and a ’90s favorite.
The Eliminations
This week’s eliminations were a little bit different than the past few weeks, as we are nearing the finals. Instead of a bottom 3, the contestants were whittled down to a bottom 2, and then fans were able to vote on Twitter using the #VoiceSave hashtag to save one of those contestants. The top 6 contestants were narrowed down to Team Christina’s Matthew Schuler and Team Adam’s James Wolpert.
James has been one of the standouts of the competition, and for the last few months, he’s been Adam Levine’s favorite person in the whole wide world. Unfortunately, James was feeling a little under the weather this week, and his performances were not his best. But after lots of desperate pleading and tweeting from Coach Adam, James squeaked by with a difference of 1% with the Voice save, which unfortunately meant Matthew was sent packing.
Group Performances
Jacquie, Matthew, Tessanne – ‘You’ve Got the Love’
Jacquie, Matthew, and Tessanne teamed up to perform The Voice-favorite artist Florence and The Machine’s “You’ve Got The Love.” These three contestants made a great grouping, and their voices paired well together. However, it seemed like an underwhelming song choice for a trio with so much potential.
Cole, Will, James, and Nuno Bettencourt – ‘More Than Words’
In one of The Voice’s more memorable performances, Cole, Will, and James teamed up to perform Extreme’s “More Than Words,” and they were joined by Nuno Bettencourt himself from Extreme. The performance was a little touch and go at points, with the boys occasionally stumbling over the words, but everyone watching was just so exciting to hear them perform this song that nobody really cared.
Top 6 – ‘O Holy Night’
The Voice’s top 6 finalists came together to ring in the holiday season with the festive classic “O Holy Night.” It was a beautiful arrangement of the song, with some great harmonies, but unfortunately, the contestants were overpowered by the excellent backup singers. You could hear the contestants during their solos, but any of the group parts were overpowered by the three backup vocalists.
Guest performances
Kelly Clarkson – ‘Underneath the Tree’
Former Team Blake mentor and part of The Voice family Kelly Clarkson kicked off the show with a performance of her new holiday single, “Underneath the Tree” from her new album Wrapped in Red. Kelly herself was wrapped in red for the performance, wearing a cute and very festive red dress. It was a fun performance, and “Underneath the Tree” is possibly the catchiest Christmas tune since Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
Blake Shelton and Xenia – ‘Silver Bells’
Blake was joined by his season 1 contestant Xenia to sing the classic Christmas tune “Silver Bells.” If you didn’t remember Xenia from season 1, this performance probably did nothing to jog your memory. While both Blake and Xenia have pleasant voices, their performance was pretty unremarkable, other than being an always-welcome holiday classic.
‘The Voice’ Confessional
This week’s The Voice Confessional had the contestants and coaches admitting what they would be doing if they weren’t singers. Cee Lo creepily said he’s be a veterinarian specializing in the birds and the bees. Cole would be a standup comedian, James would be an illustrater (drawing hams?), and little Jacquie would just be living with her parents.
They also confessed what they wish they knew before being on The Voice. Tessanne, for one, wishes she knew she’s be working with People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, because she would’ve dressed up a little. Blake, on the other hand, wishes he had known how to invest his money wisely, so he wouldn’t have had to take this job.
The Voice season 5’s top 5 will perform next Monday at 8 p.m. with the results revealed on Tuesday at 9 p.m. on NBC.