NBC’s ‘The Voice’ rankings: Where Adam Wakefield, Alisan Porter, Laith Al-Saadi stand in top 9
We have one more week on “The Voice” before the show pulls a Red Wedding and eliminates half the field, so with that, we’re hoping that the contestants really bring it this week. Those who are at the bottom of our weekly rankings still have a good shot of advancing if they can use this week to build momentum; beyond that, it’s really risky to just think that a good week in the top 8 could save them.
If you’re new to our rankings, know that we base these on performance quality, past voting history, screen time, and of course iTunes sales to date.
9. Nick Hagelin (Team Christina, last week: 9) – He hasn’t charted well on iTunes lately, and more than that, he also needed the #VoiceSave to keep him alive. There’s a very good chance that, pending a breakout vocal, he’ll be an easy candidate for
8. Bryan Bautista (Team Christina, 8) – So far, Bryan’s arc in the live shows has simply been “okay.” He had decent iTunes sales this past week, but he’s in dire need of some sort of huge moment to give him a chance for the finale.
7. Shalyah Fearing (Team Adam, 6) – We’re a big believer in Shalya’s talent as a vocalist this season, but she needs to have someone helping her to pick songs that are a little more unique to singing shows. We were legitimately concerned about her needing the save last week based on iTunes sales, and she could be in trouble again without a stronger song.
6. Paxton Ingram (Team Blake, 7) – On the flip side, Paxton is a guy who has been completely seen his fate turned around this season on the strength of songs. We think that both Bryan and Shalyah are stronger vocalists, but he / Blake have done a good job appealing to voters / consumers.
5. Mary Sarah (Team Blake, 5) – There’s not many changes the rest of the way this time, and the reason for that is simply a matter of everyone being so steady. Mary sells well, is commercially viable for Blake’s crowd, and knows her lane. We don’t see her winning, but she could make it fairly far.
4. Hannah Huston (Team Pharrell, 4) – Hannah’s the one contestant that we’re afraid of overrating, but we think that her performances have been so consistently strong that we have a hard time justifying her being lower on the list.
3. Laith Al-Saadi (Team Adam, 3) – Laith is to rock / blues what Mary is to country. There are really only two singers this season who we think have a good chance at winning, but Laith does have a very good shot of getting into that finale and having a nice career for himself touring after the show.
2. Alisan Porter (Team Christina, 2) – Alisan had a big comeback week both on the show and iTunes, but we’re taking a conservative approach in these rankings; knowing what we know about this show, we just have a hard time believing that a guy like Adam on Blake Shelton’s team is getting the second-most votes from viewers.
1. Adam Wakefield (Team Blake, 1) – We’ve talked a lot about Adam being favored here because of the “Blake bump,” and how his genre has an inherent advantage since country music fans support country artists like no other. We don’t want to discount in the process that Adam is legitimately a talented singer and musician who’s given some really good performances. Would Alisan be #1 if we disregarded past voting history? Probably, but even being #2 on this list is super-strong.
Want to get some other news on “The Voice” right now? Then be sure to head over to the link here, or sign up over at this link to get some other TV news on all we cover, sent right over to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)
chaffauth
May 9, 2016 @ 1:33 pm
I agree with your assessment of who will (should) land in the final 4. I have a hard time believing that Alisan won’t end in first place, though. Between her iTunes sales bonuses and an overall solid run so far, plus the fact that the show has been pimping her as the winner since the season previews started, it would be pretty shocking for her not to walk away with it. I’d love to see her stick to song choices like last week’s Patty Griffin tune. The tendency to oversing relaxes a bit when she’s working with some really stellar songwriting like that.
Laith is hands down the best all-around musician on the show and there is no justice in a world where he goes home before the final 4. He’s a musician’s musician AND a fan favorite. With the right song choices to draw in the “you’re only good if you’re singing a recent pop hit that I recognize” crowd and that features both his voice and his guitar, he shouldn’t have any problem ending in the finals.
I’d say Adam is the second best all around musician and he does have the country crowd in his pocket. I still would be shocked to see him vault over Alisan…I’d be thrilled for him if it happened, but I’m not counting on it.
Rainbow
May 9, 2016 @ 12:58 pm
Honestly, I don’t think Adam is getting more votes than Alisan- She hit #6 on iTunes last week, while Adam barely hit the Top 20- Alisan’s continuous iTunes success builds up- Her cumulative total is probably SKYROCKETED already (greater than any contestant). Already with 2 multipliers, all she needs is one more, prior to the Finale- And we are looking at a guaranteed Alisan win :)