NBC’s ‘The Voice’ rankings: Sawyer Fredericks, Kimberly Nichole, Meghan Linsey clear top 10 leaders
Will there be another challenger on this season of “The Voice“? We wonder, given that we have a clear frontrunner right now, two or three singers at a reasonable distance behind her, and then many others who are fading into the horizon. We’re not ruling out a surprise winner just yet; often, shows with a consensus favorite (see Susan Boyle on “Britain’s Got Talent”) have a surprise finish, mostly because so many who think the conclusion is foregone do not even bother to vote.
For now, though, the favorite is still the favorite. We’re ranking here based mostly on overall performance quality, but also iTunes sales, YouTube views, and other social statistics that give us a rough estimate of popularity.
10. Deanna Johnson – After needing the Save, there’s nowhere else to put Deanna right now. This is even something we touched upon last week; while there is certainly nothing wrong with doing faith-based songs, she may need to choose some more familiar with mainstream audiences if she wants to cast a wide voting net. For example, Craig Wayne Boyd had both the faith-based voters and also country voters.
9. Hannah Kirby – It was a surprise to some that Hannah was not in the bottom three, given that she kicked off the last show (never a good spot for voters) and also was not necessarily raking in the iTunes votes. It’s a testament here to Blake Shelton, and maybe also the quirky way in which she performs.
8. Rob Taylor – It took Christina Aguilera getting him to the live shows for him to be there, and although we do think that he can hit just about every note known to mankind, that does not mean that he always should. Sometimes, restraint really is a good thing!
7. Koryn Hawthorne – A very talented woman somewhat lost in the shadow right now of some of the other singers this season. This is where she really could benefit from a huge performance / great placement on the show.
6. India Carney – India has at times battled a little bit of inconsistency on the show; while she’s always been very good vocally, we go sometimes from really feeling her connection to not feeling it nearly as much. Also, there is a ton of tough competition here.
5. Corey Kent White – Vocally, we’d say that all three of the people above Corey have shown themselves to be superior. As we said earlier, though, it’s Team Blake. He’s also a young, good-looking man with a guitar. We know what these voters tend to go for.
4. Joshua Davis – Joshua is in some ways Sawyer’s big brother, even if he isn’t really. There are some similarities when it comes to musical sensibilities, and they also have a knack for really connecting to lyrics. We’re not sure Joshua is as unique, but he is probably appealing to an older, folksy crowd than most other contestants.
3. Meghan Linsey – Never discount anyone on Team Blake. Meghan probably just had her breakout performance of the season with “Girl Crush,” and while we know she is more than a country singer, this is a direction her coach will likely steer her in at times in an effort to get votes.
2. Kimberly Nichole – In terms of vocal ability, the best this season by a mile. It’s not even really close. What Kimberly runs into here is mostly an issue of trying to find a way to top herself every week when you’ve already shown so much of what you can do. This tends to be a little more challenge than someone who is known more for the connection part of the performance than their actual ability.
1. Sawyer Fredericks – Just a warning that this may not change the entire season. Even with a performance of “Imagine” that was somewhat limited vocally and had a major break in it, he still cleaned house on iTunes. There is just such a uniqueness about not just his voice, but his delivery, that you cannot teach. It makes him so different than the rest of the pack.
Who is your favorite among the top ten? Share now with a comment / the poll below, and head over here to read some other updates related to “The Voice” right away! Also, you can sign up to score some other news worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)