NBC’s ‘The Voice’ rankings: Josh Kuafman, Christina Grimmie battle to rule top ten
“The Voice” is gearing up for its top ten, and we have to give the show some praise here. We really like most of this crew! This isn’t a season where there are only a couple of really good people; we’ve heard moments where every singer within the top 10 is something special. The challenge for these contestants is more standing out and looking like genuine artists than proving that they can sing.
As always, we’re basing our rankings on performance quality, screen time, and also coach popularity (since this does seem to make some sort of difference).
10. Tess Boyer (last week: 9) – A great comparison here is Pia Toscano, at least in that Tess seems to be a very good singer who for some reason cannot fully connect to the voting public. She needs to likely strip away the focus on hitting the huge notes, and work a little more on the connection.
9. Kat Perkins (10) – Kat is better than the ninth-best singer on this list, but she needs a genuine moment to prove it. Save for one or two people, female rockers have struggled lately on the show to go far, and there are so many other talented people right now that this may be exaggerated further.
8. Audra McLaughlin (7) – The only difference for us between Audra and Jake is that last week, Jake performed a song that suited him better. Audra, meanwhile, performed a very odd song that pushed her out of her comfort zone … and not in a good way.
7. Jake Worthington (8) – Being on Blake Shelton’s team probably buys Jake another week or two, but so far, we haven’t seen anything that separates him from Dexter Roberts from “American Idol,” or any other country singer that has been on reality TV. It’s good to be traditional, but you also need to have something about you that is unique.
6. Bria Kelly (3) – Bria alternates between being very good and very screechy, but you have to remember that screen time is a valuable thing to have with this show. Since she’s gotten so much of it compared to some of the other contestants, she may be able to bounce back from weaker performances easier.
5. Delvin Choice (6) – We have a feeling that Delvin probably will not move much from this position the entire time he’s on the show. He’s always been very good, but we don’t quite know if he’s ever been truly great. The thing that he is lacking right now is that the clear direction, and the songs that are going to push him to that next level.
4. Kristen Merlin (11) – A huge jump for Kristen, and not just because of sympathy after the mic disaster. Before that happened, her performance was pretty darn remarkable. Ironically, the best country singer on this season may be on Shakira’s team.
3. Sisaundra Lewis (2) – Maybe we overrate Sisaundra versus the average viewer of “The Voice,” but when we look at most of the other performers, what extra something do they bring to the show? Sisaundra has so much talent, style, and originality. She just needs some more interesting songs to work with.
2. Josh Kaufman (4) – With one performance, Josh went from being a contestant we really liked to one of our favorites to ever be on the show. “Stay With Me” is something we actually vastly underrated when we listened to it the first time. Now, we’ve listened back to it more than any other song this season.
1. Christina Grimmie (1) – Despite our feeling ultimately that Josh had the performance of the week and one of the best of the entire season with “Stay With Me,” Christina still has to be considered #1 thanks mostly to that massive support base that she has. These people may be there for her no matter what, while we have to see what happens if Josh follows up that great performance with one that is a little weaker.
Who is your favorite right now among the top 10? Share your thoughts below, and click here if you want to get some more news related to the show. Also, sign up to get some further updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: NBC