NBC’s ‘The Voice’ top 8 rankings: Josh Kaufman, Christina Grimmie, Kristen Merlin battle

Is this a good season of “The Voice” when it comes to performances? Definitely, but we understand those who say that there are still other issues. When it comes to the competitive nature of this season, we’re looking at a possibly boring finish. This has been the easiest season to telegraph since the one Cassadee Pope was victorious in, and that’s what happens when you have someone who is not only a great performer, but also comes into the show with an existing fanbase. We’re not saying that this is a bad thing, but if you are going to put someone like Christina Grimmie on the show, you may want some competition with similar followings to go against her.

Our rankings for now are based on a few things: Performance quality, iTunes rankings, and voting history so far (which includes the coach you are with, since that does seem to matter).

8. Kat Perkins (last week: 10) – Oh, the pains of being a female rocker on “The Voice.” For some reason, it is very hard to convince people to vote for you unless your name is Juliet Simms. We want to blame her bottom three performance on having to go first last week, but with that considered, we thought her vocal was actually in the top half of the night and should have made up for it.

7. Delvin Choice (5) – Poor Delvin. Despite being a solid performer, there is just something that isn’t connecting with viewers the right way. He’s not selling as well as he should, which suggests to us that Adam could be the next coach to be down to just one artist … and it could happen very soon.

6. Audra McLaughlin (8) – At some point, the rubber will meet the road when it comes to Audra, Jake, and Kristen Merlin. It is certainly possible that three of them could be in the top 6, but for whatever reason, we have a hard time seeing any more than one of them in the top 4.

5. Jake Worthington (5) – Jake seems like a nice guy, but to non-country fans you’re probably bored by him. There’s not anything different that is being brought to the table, but he does continue to sell well online and has that Blake Shelton bump working for him.

4. Sisaundra Lewis (3) – Sisaundra is in an interesting place. She gives some of the best performances, but for some reason the people who listen to her do not necessarily go out and actually purchase her songs online. Is she making up for this with online votes? We have a feeling that the next two weeks will give us the information we need in that regard.

3. Kristen Merlin (4) – We weren’t the biggest fans of Kristen’s “Let Her Go,” but we did still recognize that it was a very solid take on the song. iTunes loved it more than we do, which makes us feel like Shakira actually has a singer capable of going far … and it’s a country singer.

2. Josh Kaufman (2) – Josh needs to pick more relevant song choices than “This Is It” if he wants to be a real contender for the title. The pressure is in part going to be on Usher for that when it comes to really committing. Given that Josh is his only artist now, maybe that will help in the way it worked with him and Michelle Chamuel.

1. Christina Grimmie (1) – It is rare to say this at this point in the competition, but anything short of a collapse will allow Christina to at least be in the finale. She’s given two exceptional performances in two weeks now, and you add that to her being the most-popular person on the show by a mile. It’s basically like giving Superman another set of superpowers to work with.

Who is your favorite among the top 8? Share below, and click here to see which coach will have a brand-new look on the show Monday. Also, sign up now to get some further updates courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: NBC