NBC’s ‘The Voice’ review: Alisan Porter, Adam Wakefield, Shalyah Fearing try to rule top 9 show

Monday night’s episode of “The Voice” is not necessarily a make-it-or-break it one for many of the remaining nine contestants, but we’d argue that it is incredibly important when it comes to momentum. These singers are all going to hit the stage in hopes of trying to get people on their side before next week’s epic elimination, where we’re cutting the field down in half before the big finale.

As per usual, we’re doing this article live, so there’ll be updates to this list of performances as the night goes on! Stay tuned…

Paxton Ingram, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” (Team Blake) – Coming into this, we were really worried about the song. It was shaky at times, but better than we thought it would be. Paxton’s going to be in danger anyway, though, if for no other reason than that he’s performing first on the night.

Mary Sarah, “My Church” (Team Blake) – It’s a great song choice, but did Mary rock it? She did move about the stage well, and while we’re probably never going to be the biggest fan of her vocals, you’re going to have a hard time convincing us that she did not put her all into this. It’ll get a ton of support on iTunes thanks to both the genre and the subject matter.

Nick Hagelin, “Hold On, We’re Going Home” (Team Christina) – Did Nick bring great life to the Drake track? Personally, we quite enjoyed it! His voice was stronger than we’ve seen it in some time, and he carried some element of emotion into the lyrics. We’re not sure we’d say it’s his best so far, but it was the best of the first three performances.

Hannah Huston, “Say You Love Me” (Team Pharrell) – Hooray for Hannah doing something current! It’s a shame that this performance actually felt like a few different things meshed together. It really didn’t get going for us until near the end, and that has us slightly concerned for her moving into the next elimination.

Shalyah Fearing, “A Change is Gonna Come” (Team Adam) – Was this song a change in Shalyah’s trajectory? We wanted it to be, but it feels more like it showed off more of her advantages and disadvantages. For one, she tried to substitute a connection by merely hitting huge notes. She’s great at it, but there does need to be more here.

Laith Al-Saadi, “We’ve Got Tonight” (Team Adam) – There’s really not a need for Laith to go out of his lane, is there? Laith is Laith, we don’t know what else there really is to say about him. He’s very good, but he never pushes the envelope that much.

Adam Wakefield, “Love Has No Pride” (Team Blake) – We weren’t exactly afraid for Adam, who has been solid as a rock. Another great performance from Adam. He’s so steady that the only concern is that people forget to vote for him. His musicianship is really in part what is so impressive.

Alisan Porter, “Cryin'” (Team Christina) – For the second straight week, someone is doing Aerosmith. Alisan’s voice is killer, but we don’t really think this show showcased everything that she can do since she had to be at 11 almost the entire time. It was still strong, but we’d say that Adam at this point was our #1 on the night.

Bryan Bautista, “1 + 1” (Team Christina) – You have to love Bryan’s gusto with this song choice. EXCELLENT. The best performance from him by far, and this is precisely what we expected from him after his blind audition this season. Suddenly, he’s in the game!

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