NBC’s ‘The Voice’ review: Jordan Smith, Madi Davis, Zach Seabaugh perform in top 9 show

Tonight, the top 9 contestants on “The Voice” are hitting the stage for what has to be without a doubt the biggest night for them so far. Only four singers are making it through to the finale, so we have to be prepared to thin the herd here … and in a very big way.

As with every other episode review of the show, we’re going to be giving you coverage live as the night goes on.

Barrett Baber, “Ghost” – We first and foremost love the song choice for Barrett. “Ghost” is a great song and one that still needs more attention in America. Yet, we didn’t love the arrangement as much as we wanted to. We actually think that it would’ve fared better if there was no choir, and he went in a little bit more of a bluegrass direction. That would give him a chance to make this really different than anything we’re getting elsewhere on the show.

Shelby Brown, “Even God Must Get the Blues” – Are country singers going early in the show to give other people a chance? We wonder. Anyway, this was a very strong vocal. Not every note may have fallen perfectly in line, but Shelby made herself a really great case for why she should move forward … though it is unlikely she will.

Jeffery Austin, “Believe” – We were concerned about whether or not this was the right song for Jeffery at this moment, given that a Cher song is far from the most current thing that he could be doing on the show tonight. Yet, he completely crushed it. Great vocals from start to finish, a beautiful tone, and a lovely arrangement.

Braiden Sunshine, “Amazing Grace” – This was probably as good of a plea to make it into the finale as Braiden possibly could’ve given. He chose a religious song, teared up at the end, and also gave us constant reminders of his age. What more did he need to do to get votes? We’ll at least say that it was one of his better vocals.

Zach Seabaugh, “The Climb” – The song’s still a little bit hokey, but we’ll say that like Braiden, he performed it better than we thought that he would going in. With Shelby and Barrett going so early in the show tonight, we think that the door has been left open ever so slightly for either Zach or Emily to make it to the finale.

Madi Davis, “Big Girls Don’t Cry” – We really liked that Madi put herself out there, didn’t do a generic ballad, and gave an interesting vocal accompanied by an accordion and a ton of quirkiness. We have zero idea if this is actually going to work with voters, but we almost hope so looking at the lineup so far.

Emily Ann Roberts, “9 to 5” – We don’t necessarily think that Emily completely was the right person to sing these lyrics, but wasn’t it still a solid performance for her? She felt more relaxed on the stage than we saw her earlier in the season, and for people like her and Madi, they may benefit from choosing interesting songs in a sea of ballads.

Amy Vachal, “Make You Feel My Love” – This was the right move for Amy at this particularly point in time. Rather than tackling some big song or trying to put a spin on something, she went with a simple, sweet arrangement tonight. It was one of her nicer vocals, and it’s probably enough to get her a spot in the finale.