Blake Shelton with Mary Kate Connor, Kylee Dayne, Rachel Christine and Noivas on The Voice. (NBC Photo)
Okay, you know Blake Shelton had to have a country singer in the semifinals for his last season on The Voice.
Thing is, I think he picked the wrong country singer Monday night.
With Noivas a shoe-in to make the semis, it came down to Grace West or Mary Kate Connor.
Mary Kate, 18, delivered the more moving performance Monday night.
But Grace West, 19, got the spot.
Maybe Mary Kate missed the “black hats required” memo.
Here are more song by song grades for the members of Team Blake.
Noivas, “Come Together” by The Beatles — Wearing his cowboy hat again to appeal to The Voice’s country fans, Noivas grabs our attention with a performance opening scream. Then he prances The Voice stage like he owns it, belting out a nasty version of the classic. The interaction with the background singers offered a special touch. I expect Noivas, who performed on Idol as Savion Wright, to win Season 23. I mean, you know a Team Blake artist is going to win in his final season, right? Grade: A
Kylee Dayne, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus — Kylee sounded fabulous on the verses. I mean downright special. She did not sound as special when she tried to belt on the chorus. Those big notes were a little shouty. Would it have made a difference if she nailed them perfectly? Again, I think it was a given that Blake would advance a country singer.Grade: B–
Grace West, “Love is Alive” by The Judds — Really nice vocal by Grace on a classic country song. I especially liked that little lilt in her voice near the end. My only complaint is the song choice. There are hundreds upon hundreds of country songs that could have made a bigger impression, allowing Grace to either party on stage or make a deeper emotional impression. Grade: B
Rachel Christine, “The Only Exception” by Paramore — Isn’t this interesting? On the same night former Voice contestant Marybeth Byrd performs this song on American Idol, Rachel tackles it on The Voice. Rachel’s got a lovely tone, but she’s not a belter either. And Marybeth, for what it’s worth, made much more of an emotional connection to the song. Grade: C+
Mary Kate Connor, “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry — Now I really like this song choice, especially for a singer as young as Mary Kate. And if it’s not vocally perfect, she more than made it up with emotion, ending the song choking back tears. I’ll take emotional connection to vocal perfection every time. And Mary Kate did provide some nice vocal moments. Grade: B+
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