NBC’s ‘The Voice’ review: Jordan Smith, Jeffery Austin, Shelby Brown, top 11 perform
“The Voice” on Monday night came with another challenge for its top 11: Trying to prove that they can be not only consistent, but better going from one week to the next. This is extremely important when you consider that there is such a runaway favorite right now in Jordan Smith who is head and shoulders above the rest, and everyone is still trying to play a little bit of catch-up.
As always, we’re going to be updating this episode live. Stay tuned for more updates!
Shelby Brown (Team Adam), “You and I” – Was this the right song for her right now? We’re going to say yes without question! The country arrangement was a strong, but more than that she did a great job hitting most of the power notes near the end.
Evan McKeel (Team Pharrell), “Smile” – Did this make you smile? It was charming enough, but at the same time we almost hoped that Evan was going to do more to make this performance into something we would remember in the long-term. We’re just not sure that there was enough here to make it stand out.
Barrett Baber (Team Blake), “Delta Dawn” – Was this country performance worthy of the top 11? The biggest thing that we can say about this at the most is that it was serviceable. Nice stage presence, and solid vocals. It just wasn’t anything that we will remember.
Korin Bukowski (Team Gwen), “Only Hope” – Was this a comeback for Korin? We will say at least that this was the best performance of the live shows from her. We don’t think that it was enough to put her in the top 10 on iTunes yet, but it was a step up.
Amy Vachal (Team Adam), “Blank Space” – Did Amy’s performance leave us with a blank space … in our heart? It was probably not as edgy as we would have liked, but there was enough individuality in there that Amy has a good chance of sticking around yet again. She has a unique voice and a little bit of range, and in doing current songs, she can guarantee that some younger fans will be behind her.
Zach Seabaugh (Team Blake), “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not” – Did this deliver the spirit Zach hoped it would? It was fun, and Zach is probably one of the best dancing country singers we’ve ever seen on the show. We just wonder whether or not there was anything that special vocally here.
Madi Davis (Team Pharrell), “Love is Blindness” – Is Madi even more of a contender? We’d say so. What a beautiful, complex, breathtaking performance. Lovely notes and a genuine connection to the song. We hope this allows some of the voters to see more of who Madi is, and what she is bringing to this competition.
Braiden Sunshine (Team Gwen), “True” – Was this more than just a decent performance? Hm … going with “no” here. Braiden remains a nice kid who probably is loving this experience, and could be big a few years down the road. It’s just so obvious at this point that everyone else is so much better prepared for this than he is, and it’s a bummer for him. We don’t meant to tear him down in a cruel way.
Jordan Smith (Team Adam), “Who You Are” – Was this another big performance? Jordan has a knack for these, and in between the huge note and the tears, probably a good portion of the entire country is rooting for him right now. Even though he is a favorite, he still has that underdog feel to him.
Emily Ann Roberts (Team Blake), “Why Not Me” – Did Emily put a spin on this country classic? This was really fun, really natural, and we’re glad that Jordan, Madi, and our final artist were all here tonight to mix things up and allow us to have a little bit of fun in closing off the night.
Jeffery Austin (Team Gwen), “Dancing on My Own” – Did this meet our expectations in our head? We’d say so. It was the slow-downed version of the song similar to the one we heard Calum Scott do on “Britain’s Got Talent,” and it was fantastic. Seriously, Jordan and Jeffery can both win this season and we’ll be happy.
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