The members of Team Blake and Team Shakira take center stage tonight on The Voice.
That means we’re in for live performances from Sasha Allen and Holly Tucker, recipients of four-chair turn-arounds when Season 4 started.
Plus the ever-entertaining Swon Brothers.
Meanwhile, have you seen where last night’s performances landed on iTunes over the past 24 hours?
Talk about some shockers. Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be Adam Levine tomorrow night.
TEAM SHAKIRA
Garrett Gardner
Garrett Gardner: He’s an underdog on this show, having just barely made a team when Shakira turned around at the last moment during his blind audition. Now the teen from New Jersey is all the way to the live rounds. Shakira has given him “Imagine.” And he’ll play piano this time. Come on, Voice coaches, more imaginative song choices, please. What I just saw was a young man dying to rock but singing a song that wouldn’t quite allow it. That said, Garrett didn’t do badly with the John Lennon classic. A few vocal slips here and there. But the power parts were particularly good. Singing first might hurt. Grade: B–
Kris Thomas
Kris Thomas: He’s the guy who had a record deal, lost it and turned to alcohol for a while. He also says he used to be teased about his high singing voice, but has learned to embrace it. He’s been given Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man.” Gee, seems like we just heard this on another singing show, huh? Strong start by Kris. And he’s unleashing everything too — a big glory note, that falsetto of his, a few runs. Once again, though, there were a couple of vocal missteps. Adam says Kris’ nerves showed. That didn’t bother Blake one bit. Usher says he has an incredible voice. Personally, I liked Candice Glover’s version better. Grade: C+
Karina Iglesias
Karina Iglesias: This is the gal who held her own with Judith Hill in the battle round and got stolen by Shakira as a result. At 35, she’s also the oldest singer left in this year’s competition. Shakira has her singing “Let’s Stay Together.” Karina says she’s dedicating the performance to Shakira, because she wants them to stay together. The music teacher is off to a nice start. Well, except she certainly didn’t take the don’t over-embellish advice, did she? She used about every vocal trick imaginable by the time she walked to the main stage. The good news: She pulled them off. All in all, a fine vocal. Probably the best we’ve heard from a Team Shakira member tonight. Grade: B
Sasha Allen
Sasha Allen: A former background singer and Broadway star, Sasha actually lost a battle round on Team Adam and was stolen by Shakira. That was prior to her wonderful version of “At Last” in the knockout round. Her song: “Oh, Darling.” Shakira is trying to convince Sasha to deliver the sexy. Sasha says she thinks she can do that. Well, it took about 90 minute but this show kicked into high gear with these last two performances. Sasha just sang the heck out of that song. As though I need to tell anyone who just watched that. That was even better than last night’s show-closing performance by Judith Hill. Usher makes a point of complimenting her outfit as well. Shakira thanks Sasha for delivering “a moment.” “These little ears have listened to a lot,” Shakira says, adding that Sasha is one of the best. Grade: A+
TEAM BLAKE
Holly Tucker
Holly Tucker: She has two albums and two EPs to her credit and started traveling and performing with her parents at age 12. That’s a good deal of experience for someone who’s still just 20 and probably one of the reasons Holly has done so well to this point. She’ll perform “How Do I Live,” by LeAnn Rimes. For a gal with such confidence issues about her appearance, Holly looks absolutely stunning. I was not, however, a big fan of that song choice. It gave her a chance to show off her big voice, but she almost did a little too much over the last 45 seconds or so. In some ways, you can’t blame her. The singers only have 90 seconds or so to impress. The judges, however, appeared to have loved every second of Holly. Grade: B–
The Swon Brothers
The Swon Brothers: They’re the first duet to make it this far on the show, and Zach and Colton credit their success to the fact that they’ve been performing together for so long. It also helps knowing they have a support system standing right beside them, on stage, they’ve said. Blake has them singing “Fishing in the Dark.” This should be fun. Told you. Really smart song choice by Blake, and the Swon brothers are pulling it off. Liked the performance. Liked the arrangement. Liked cutie Colton strutting out on the stage mid-song. It was just fun from start to finish. Not exactly stripped down, though. Grade: B+
Justin Rivers
Justin Rivers: He used to sing with a Christian-country band named Austins Bridge, which once won a Dove Award for best bluegrass song of the year. But he says he was about to give up on his dreams of a career in music until his wife convinced him to try The Voice. Blake has him singing “Meet in the Middle.” I’m liking Blake’s song choices tonight. I’m liking the song choice, unfortunately, more than this vocal, which just isn’t distinctive enough given some of the phenomenal voices on The Voice in Season 4. But Usher calls it “freaking cool.” Shakira calls it a solid performance as well. Blake said he thinks Justin’s experience showed. Grade: C+
Danielle Bradbery
Danielle Bradbery: This teen won me over when she sang “Jesus Take the Wheel” splendidly in the knockout round. It was the first time the gal from Texas slowed things down after singing “Mean” and “Put Your Records On” in her first two performances on The Voice. She’ll perform Pam Tillis’ “Maybe It Was Memphis.” This gal has only been on a big stage four times? She sure doesn’t come across as a novice. That was just a really, really, really excellent vocal. That was superb throughout and that ending brought it home. At age 16. Wow. She’s getting praise from all the coaches, including Adam, who calls her scary because she’s so good. Grade: A
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