The Voice 5 – Results – 12/03/2013 – Top 6 – Video
Who went home on The Voice Season 5 Top 6 Results on December 3, 2013? One act is eliminated tonight, while one is rescued by America with the Instant Save! Who will it be?
Credit: NBC
Rickey.org readers’ predictions for elimination:
It's looking like the end of the road for Matthew Schuler, a singer many once pegged as a surefire finalist. Matthew is the frontrunner to be eliminated with 47.59% of the vote, while second place in the poll belongs to James Wolpert, with 20.89% of the vote. Readers predict that the bottom 3 will be rounded out by one of either Cole Vosbury or Jacqui Lee, who received 11.79% and 9.55% of the vote, respectively. There's still time to vote in the poll, so head on over and add your predictions!
And in case your favorite lands in the bottom, here's a quick reminder on how you can rescue an artist with the Instant Save:
Image: Instant Save
Let's get on with the recap and results!
Recap
-And we're live as Carson announces that Kelly Clarkson is here, and Blake is going to take the stage with season 1 finalist Xenia! Man, talk about a throwback. Who's next? Casey Weston and The Thompson Sisters? (Actually, I had a crush on Casey Weston, so I should probably just shut it)
-We get our recap of last night's show, and it's hard to argue against Tessanne winning the night. She slayed both of her songs. Adam loved Tessanne and feels Will also deserves to stick around a lot longer, although admittedly, I didn't like his "A Change Is Gonna Come" all that much. Blake feels Cole could be the one who makes it four wins in a row (I like Cole a lot, so much that I wish he could just be on someone else's artist. Mutiny! Jump to Team Cee Lo!). We also get Christina gushing about her acts, including the silliness with Jacqui Lee "leaving her heart on the stage". Christina really does have a flair for unnecessary theatricality, but it's kind of charming all the same.
Kelly Clarkson performs "Underneath the Tree": and I'M OBSESSED WITH THIS SONG. Seriously, this could be the new "All I Want For Christmas Is You". It's modern and upbeat and just catchy as all hell. It also puts me in a fairly festive mood. Hell, it just puts me in a good mood. I also feel it's incumbent upon me to point out that Kelly is in this incredibly short red dress, and she looks frigging AMAZING. Seriously, she's surrounded by corny dancers who hand out gifts to the judges and blow them kisses, but all I can look at is Kelly. Loved this.
-Carson asks Kelly how she's doing, and she says she's looking forward to the second trimester. "I'm havin' a bebby," she mutters, in a cute, jokey voice. She then points out just how many people are pregnant around here, before seguing into a plug for her Dec. 11 NBC Christmas Special, "Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale".
-We also get a brief ad about The Voice-themed Kia Soul, and it's pretty much what you'd get if Xzibit were doing Pimp My Ride for a karaoke fanatic.
9:14 PM
-We're back with Carson saying he's about to reveal some results. However, we first get a bunch of perfunctory "I BELIEVE IN MY CONTESTANTS!" commentary from the coaches, with Christina saying she'll be connected to her artists long after the competition is over, and Blake claiming that although he only has one artist remaining, he only needs one to win.
-Aaaaand instead of results, we're getting a group performance.
Tessanne, Matthew and Jacqui sing "You've Got the Love": I really liked how this song reined in some of Matthew and Jacqui's bad habits, namely their tendency to go sharp-and-shouty. And Tessanne was the glue holding the entire popsicle-stick house together. I've never been huge on this song, but I liked this performance far more than I expected to, going in.
Credit: NBC
Time for our first RESULTS of the night!
-Carson stresses to the artists that if he calls their names, they shouldn't worry since he's only going to ask them a question. Although I'd argue if he calls their name to ask them a question, they should be mortified, since they clearly aren't going to be the name he declares safe in the next 30 seconds, since the person asked a question pretty much never is. In this case, James is the one getting questioned about his decision to leave college for music. All standard stuff.
The votes are in and...
America saves JACQUI LEE!
-I go back-and-forth on how much I actually like Jacqui, but I have no problem with this result whatsoever.
9:25 PM
-And we're back with a flash from The Voice past...
Blake Shelton performs "Silver Bells" with Xenia: I do love this song. Hopefully they won't have to remove "ring-a-ling" or some other word from this and end up infuriating people. As for the performance itself, they really should have sang a different song if Xenia wasn't going to be able to hit any of the notes traditionally associated with the song. She basically sang under each note, and while that might have been the point, it just made it seem like Xenia didn't know the song at all. On the plus side, she looks gorgeous. And Blake's cheery "Merry Christmas, ya'll!" was kind of endearing.
The Voice Confessional: If James wasn't a singer he'd be an artist, while Will would be a historian. Christina would be a teacher, and Blake hopes Christina would be the kind of teacher to smack him on his bare bottom (does that even still happen in schools anymore? You know, paddling kids with the ol' "Board of Education"?). Among things contestants didn't learn before coming to The Voice: Cole didn't know how good he looked in a vest (which gets a hearty squeal from the ladies in the crowd, if my ears aren't deceiving me). Blake's answer is: "How to invest money wisely so I wouldn't have to take this job," before riling up the crew with "Come on now!" I'll admit, that was a good joke.
More RESULTS on the way!
The remaining five artists line up to hear their fate and...
America saves COLE VOSBURY!
-Cole and Blake are understandably stoked, and so am I, honestly. Although, for as much as I like Cole, I'm kind of over the endless parade of Blake victories. And I actually think Adam has the stronger acts, and Christina the more likely post-show stars. But then again, Cole is really one of my favorite voices in the entire five seasons of The Voice. I just don't think he'd make for much of a winner (but then, would anybody? It seems like you're either going to make it or you're not, and whether or not you won the show won't matter).
9:36 PM
-We're back from break with one of my favorite songs from three of my favorites in the competition...
Cole, Will and James sing "More Than Words" with Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt: Glad to see Nuno Bettencourt is still rocking the Pantene Pro-V locks. I'm surprised no coach has given this song to a contestant yet. All three men sound fantastic. I kind of want to put them together in a group and ship them over to The X Factor USA to rescue Season 3. But back to this performance, their closing harmonies are just absolutely lovely. My favorite group performance of the season. No lie.
-Even Carson is spellbound! "I enjoyed that way more than I would ever admit on live television!"
More RESULTS!
-Carson asks Will about his coaching relationship with Adam, and his approach to each week in the competition. Will says he tries to put his own spin on a song while attempting to remain true to the original. I love Will's speaking voice. Just wanted to throw that out there. Sounds a bit like Elvis.
America saves TESSANNE CHIN!
-Don't know why Carson had to shout "Tessanne Chin from Jamaica"! If I'd been saved, it's not like he'd shout "Nick Roman from the Middle of Scenic Nowhere!" Just say the woman's name, brah.
9:47 PM
-Back from break with a special Christmas performance from the finalists...
The Top 6 Sing A Christmas Medley: I should clarify, they're singing religious-themed Christmas songs, with words like "Lord," "Savior," "Christ" and other nouns that were somehow left out of the word bank last week. It's as if Mark Burnett is saying, "Yeah, we messed up with 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken,' so here's a medley of songs about Jesus getting all born and stuff." With all that said, I did enjoy how effortlessly the medley went in and out of "O Holy Night" and "Joy to the World," and the Top 6 sounded fantastic all the way through.
Even More RESULTS, you guys!
-Carson asks Matthew if he has a message for his family, and it's all very sweet but it's time for the real business...
America saves WILL CHAMPLIN!
MATTHEW SCHULER and JAMES WOLPERT are the bottom 2!
-Adam pleads with America to save James, saying that he already knows what he wants to do with James next week, and he wants to be a better coach to him. He declares that James is one of the best singers he's ever been in a room with, and he really hopes America keeps James around.
-Christina makes just as passionate a plea for Matthew, saying that he was the first person to get all their chairs to turn around this season, adding that he's had incredible moments this season, including having No. 1 on iTunes with "Hallelujah". She says she had wanted to give Matthew "O Holy Night" because she knows he's such a good-hearted kid, but Carson has to cut her off because it's time for viewers to vote on The Voice Instant Save!
-I'm seriously conflicted. I like both guys a lot. But in a pinch, I think I have to back James. I just feel he has a lot more still left to offer.
Credit: NBC
9:58 PM
-We're back with two minutes to go, and we may not have time for classic Carson filler....oh wait, no, we do. Carson asks Blake for his thoughts, and he says that James is the name he sees popping up on Twitter, but adds that every time the coaches try to predict who's going home, they get it wrong, so he diplomatically says Matthew will be saved, in a funny little moment of face-saving. (Adam tells Blake he should run for president) Cee Lo then praises both artists on being dynamic and versatile. It's going to be a close one...
America saves JAMES WOLPERT!
MATTHEW SCHULER has been eliminated from The Voice!
-And just like that, Christina is down to one act, while Adam still has all three of his artists. Crazy.
Credit: NBC
I'll miss Matthew, but his performance all got to be a bit too similar for me after "Hallelujah". There can be a certain benefit in knowing exactly what you're going to get from an artist each week, but I just kept wanting more from Matthew. I kept waiting for a surprise that never came. Still a hell of a singer though, and if you'd told me at the start of the season that both he and Caroline Pennell would be gone by top 5, I'm not sure I'd have believed you.
-Minor nitpick, but could they time out the show differently so that we don't have the credits rolling over the most dramatic portion of the show? That just goes through me, although I know it adds to the urgency/"Holy crap, we've gotta go!" feeling of the results, for some.
-Anyway, you've all been outstanding. Thank you for joining me for the results! I'll catch you all next week! Until then, feel free to discuss the results in the comments! P.S. - Rickey.org readers nail the predictions again! You guys never fail to amaze me.