NBC’s ‘The Voice’ rankings: Sawyer Fredericks, Kimberly Nichole, Joshua Davis lead top 12

We’re not going to lie and call this season of “The Voice” unpredictable. We feel like there are a few contestants on borrowed time, a bunch who have some flexibility in the middle portion of the competition, a few contenders, but then a favorite who is far ahead of the pack. Pending some insane change in the weeks ahead, we feel like you could almost drop the confetti already.

As for how we rank these contestants, let’s say that it is a combination of factors, from performance ability, past voting, coach popularity, and total screen time so far. Since all the contestants are now competing against each other, there’s no need to divide them up. It’s finally a free-for-all!

12. Hannah Kirby (Blake) – We love Hannah, but we feel like the show also doesn’t entirely get her just yet. She seems almost better suited to be one of those singers who comes off the show and actually ends up finding more success for herself than she does during it.

11. Brian Johnson (Adam) – A great guy without a doubt, but we’re not sure that he has the edge that you need to really do well on the show. We feel like he’s going to be stuck taking repeat visits to Ballad City.

10. Rob Taylor (Christina)  Despite getting a good performance spot and great reviews from the judges, Rob still needed help to advance to the next part of the competition. That does not bode too well for his long-term future in the competition.

9. Koryn Hawthorne (Pharrell) – A very good singer, but there are a TON of really good singers this season. Koryn is one we could see leaving the show next week, or making it for another few without much trouble at all.

8. Deanna Johnson (Adam) – Deanna had a great placement in the past show, and she also charted really well on iTunes with it. We don’t necessarily get the sense that America is all-in on her yet in the same way that the show is, but they’re close.

7. Mia Z (Pharrell) – We almost hate having her outside the top five, but when you look back up at our criteria, it just feels at the moment to be where she falls right now. If she does keep up her current trajectory, maybe it is possible that we see this change.

6. India Carney (Christina) – She’s coming off of a pretty great performance during last week’s show, and we are pretty confident in saying that Christina probably does have a pretty good shot at having a pair of finalists this year. India may not make it, but she should be close.

5. Corey Kent White (Blake) – It’s a young, male singer with country leanings. There is zero chance we are putting him lower on this chart at the moment based on past voting history alone. After all, it would be somewhat silly to.

4. Meghan Linsey (Blake) – We’re not completely sold on her musical direction at the moment, but we want to see anyone argue that her popularity is not a factor at the moment. She will be a difficult foe for the other contestants to take on thanks to her background and her talent.

3. Joshua Davis (Adam) – While you may not be thinking too much about him now, we get serious sleeper vibes from Joshua. He sold well despite performing early in the show, and when you look at past history, singers in his vein have a tendency to do extremely well.

2. Kimberly Nichole (Christina) – We do worry somewhat about her splitting some votes with India and Koryn, but we refuse to rank her lower on this list on the strength of her vocal magnificence alone. There have been many great singers on “The Voice” before, but she is the rare combination of a great singer and gifted performer.

1. Sawyer Fredericks (Pharrell) – There is no other way to go with the top spot here other than Sawyer. He’s been the consistent favorite from the first episode, and has both an awesome voice and also great iTunes sales behind him already. He could be the show’s first real wire-to-wire winner arguably since Cassadee Pope, the only other person we felt certain would win following the first round or two of the show.

Who is your favorite on “The Voice” right now? Vote in our poll, and head over here to get some other coverage of Monday’s episode! Also, sign up to get some further TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)