The Voice 7 - Live Blog And Recap - Live Top 8 Performances (VIDEO)
Welcome to the live blog and recap of The Voice 2014 Season 7, "Live Top 8 Performances"!
In last week's results show, we bid farewell to Team Gwen's Anita Antoinette and Team Blake's Reagan James, as Ryan Sill managed to survive yet another week in the Bottom 3 thanks to the Instant Save. Both results shows since the start of the Top 12 have seen only women being eliminated, meaning Team Pharrell's DaNica Shirey is the last woman standing. But will America make it three female eliminations in a row this week? And will Ryan Sill make it three Bottom 3 appearances in a row (well, four if you count his Bottom 3 for Gwen's category in the Live Playoffs)? And how will the other artists fare?
Nick Jonas performs live as the Top 8 compete for your votes!
Tonight's performers and song spoilers are...
Credit: NBC
NOTE: Click on the artist's track title to download their single in iTunes!
Team Adam Levine:
Matt McAndrew ("The Blower's Daughter")
Damien ("Someone Like You")
Chris Jamison ("Sexual Healing")
Team Gwen Stefani:
Ryan Sill ("Open Arms")
Taylor John Williams ("Royals")
Team Pharrell Williams:
DaNica Shirey ("These Dreams")
Luke Wade ("Holding Back the Years")
Team Blake Shelton:
Craig Wayne Boyd ("Take It Easy")
I'll be posting individual videos as the night rolls on. Until then, add your thoughts in the comments below, and keep refreshing for analysis, thoughts, and links to videos of the night's performances as they become available.
Let's get this show on the road!
Credit: NBC
RECAP
-We kick things off with Carson and the coaches in the Sprint Skybox for the presentation of a frame of 20 platinum records to commemorate 20 million singles sold by The Voice over the course of seven seasons. Carson then reveals that not only is Nick Jonas here, but Gwen and Pharrell will collaborate for the first time onstage. But first, the Top 8 perform a group number! Ugh. You know, at the height of its popularity, American Idol still had the balls/good sense to just air a one-hour performance show if they didn't have enough content to fill two hours.
-The Top 8 perform "Geronimo" by Sheppard, and DaNica looks totally stunning. I really have nothing else to add on this performance. It's a perfectly serviceable group number, and the harmonies sound great, but I don't feel like anyone particularly stands out. After the performance, Carson reveals that Ryan is up first. Putting him first on a week where three go home? Yeah, they want him gone.
RYAN SILL (TEAM GWEN STEFANI) opens the show!
-Gwen is fired up, because she doesn't want Ryan in the Bottom 3 again. So she gave him a "powerhouse song" that will showcase his vocal ability: "Open Arms" by Journey. Ryan trusts Gwen as a coach, since she's made it as a pop star. He feels when someone like that gives you advice, you need to take it to heart. Gwen wants the performance to be dreamy and hopeful, and needs his body language to reflect that, so she brings in choreographer Jerry Slaughter, who advises him on how to loosen up. I generally like Ryan, but I just can't imagine how this week won't be the end for him. Then again, stranger things have happened (I'm still pleasantly surprised at how far Kristen Merlin got).
-Ryan is surrounded by a distractingly opulent setting, as there are trees all over the stage. The smoke machine is also working overtime, to where I'm wondering how anyone in the front row can see anything. As for the performance, it was a better vocal than an onstage performance. He just seemed really rigid and uncomfortable up there, like he was thinking through ever word. Again, great vocal, but I'm not sure if it'll be able to save him this week.
-Adam says it's smokey like Blake's trailer up in here, before expressing his shock that Ryan is always in the Bottom 3. Blake doesn't know what else Ryan can do to stay out of the Bottom 3, calling that his best performance to date. Pharrell notes that Ryan always shows how much he wants it, and hits a new peak with each week. Gwen, meanwhile, wants America to see how far he's come, and how talented he is. Gwen: "I feel like I had tears in my eyes because I'm so proud of you." Well, you either had tears in your eyes or you didn't, Gwen. It's an either/or thing.
WATCH: Ryan Sill sings ‘Open Arms’ (VIDEO)
CRAIG WAYNE BOYD (TEAM BLAKE SHELTON) is up next!
-Blake congratulates Craig on making the Top 8, and Craig is stoked to be here. He says he remembers days where he played in a club to absolutely no one, and now he's here on The Voice. He'll be singing "Take It Easy" by the Eagles, which Blake describes as a "rock classic." However, it isn't working that well for Craig, prompting Blake to get a little tough with him, explaining that he has to deliver a "Grammy-type performance". Blake makes a solid point by noting that while he may be sick of doing "Austin" at every one of his own shows, somebody paid their ticket to hear that one song. And Craig needs to bring that type of dedication to his performance, since this competition is his to lose.
-This is a really solid performance, although the setting is once again kind of distracting. I get that they're going for that back porch vibe, where you just hang out with friends and drink beer while you grill well-seasoned dead things, but the lights were just too much, for me. Luckily, Craig is such a natural performer that my eyes rarely wandered. He has a way of filling the stage, even while standing stationary with a guitar in his hand. He gets a standing ovation from all the coaches except Adam. It's fitting that he's Blake's only remaining contestant, since he's pretty much the only person who can keep Matt McAndrew from winning, in my opinion.
-Pharrell loved how Craig took a forty-year-old song and did his own thing with it. Gwen compared it to a music awards performance, and notes how professional it was. Adam loved it, even though he has a tendency to bust Blake's chops. Blake, meanwhile, says he was nervous the entire week, since Craig set the bar so high with "I Walk the Line" last week. But he felt Craig did an outstanding job, and declares that if he had to have a last man standing, he's glad it was Craig.
WATCH: Craig Wayne Boyd sings ‘Take It Easy’ (VIDEO)
DANICA SHIREY (TEAM PHARRELL WILLIAMS) is up next!
-DaNica is nervous. She notes that three people will be going home this week, which makes this song choice an even bigger risk for her, since it's so far outside her genre. Pharrell has chosen "These Dreams" by Heart, and although DaNica is understandably concerned, Pharrell says he would never give her a song that he didn't think she could put her spin on. He encourages her by noting that Whitney Houston went outside her comfort zone by doing "I Will Always Love You," which started out as a country song by Dolly Parton. DaNica begins to get into it, and realizes what a great fit it is for her voice. She notes that the day before this live show will mark the anniversary of her father's passing.
-This was DaNica's best performance, in my opinion. I even dug the staging, even though I probably should have hated it just for its gaudiness. I mean, they just dropped a giant staircase on the middle of the stage! Still, it all fits with the aesthetic, from DaNica's flowing black dress, to the orchestra that surrounds her. It's all accentuated by her killer vocal, which is easily my favorite from her throughout the whole competition. Just very passionate and heartfelt. There was a noticeable crack in her voice towards the end, but she was so "in the moment" that it almost seemed kind of natural that emotion would take over and prompt her to lose control a little.
-Gwen calls it incredible, and says it's great to hear her do the sort of song she might actually put out on the radio. She praises Pharrell for picking a great song for her. Adam echoes Gwen by saying it was "incredible" and noting that it really was an amazing song. He adds that it was an incredible presentation, to boot, although he worried about her dress snagging on the staircase. Blake notes DaNica's voice is huge, and it comes from such a tiny frame. Pharrell, meanwhile, praises DaNica while also shouting out the all-female orchestra. And suddenly, I'm embarrassed for not having noticed it was an all-female orchestra.
WATCH: DaNica Shirey sings ‘These Dreams’ (VIDEO)
NICK JONAS (TEAM CELEBRITY) is up next!
-Full disclosure: I LOVE this song. I'm not crazy about the remix and the strange swearing that messes up a perfectly fine chorus, but then, they're not doing that version here. Although it still involves changing lyrics in the song for no reason. "You're too sexy beautiful" becomes "You're too crazy beautiful" for reasons I can only chalk up to this being a family show before 9pm, and God forbid we poison kids' ears with the word "sexy". That said, I'm all about changing "It's my right to be hellish" to "It's my right, I can't help it". But back to this performance: this version is AMAZING. It's practically a cappella, as the Top 8 and a big-ass choir join him onstage. It sounds like a cross between a church and a drunken pub sing-a-long. I thought this was just terrific.
WATCH: Nick Jonas sings ‘Jealous’ a capella on The Voice (VIDEO)
DAMIEN (TEAM ADAM LEVINE) is up next!
-Damien is stoked to make the Top 8, and he's enthused by Adam's song choice for him: "Someone Like You" by Adele. He rationalizes his choice by saying the feeling you get when you hear Damien sing is similar to the feeling evoked by Adele. And really, he feels Damien is the only person in this competition who should be singing Adele anyway. He plans to have Damien bookended by two cellos to give him "an extra boost," and it's a great idea, honestly. Damien loves how Adam understands him musically, and gets the kind of artist he wants to be. He recalls being found on YouTube by a talent scout, and asked to sign a record deal, but it fell through.
-I can appreciate how good this vocal was, and recognize it was probably Damien's best. But I just didn't love it. Maybe it's just the overdone nature of this song. I could really do without hearing this song on a show like this again, so I admit to a certain personal bias that perhaps colored my interpretation of the song. Still, there's no way I could front on Damien's vocals. His falsetto towards the end is hot FIRE. Dude is one of the best singers this show has had, in my opinion.
-Blake feels this may be the best season of The Voice ever, and Damien one of its best artists. Meanwhile, Pharrell loves the way Damien just "paints the air with his notes." Gwen says that being on the show is perfect timing for Damien, relating her own experience, as No Doubt's first record deal resulted in their album being shelved and never being released. Adam calls it Damien's best performance, and I agree. I just wish I had liked it more.
WATCH: Damien sings ‘Someone Like You’ (VIDEO)
CHRIS JAMISON (TEAM ADAM LEVINE) is up next!
-Adam continues in his perplexing mission to turn Chris into a funk artist, for reasons I still can't fathom. He's given Chris "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye, and it's got Adam grooving in his seat during rehearsals. And it's got Chris feeling the loosest he's ever felt. To be fair, Chris sounds amazing on this song from what we hear. So whether I agree with Adam's direction for Chris or not, I think Chris is slaying it vocally. And he's gaining stage presence by the week.
-For my money, this was the best vocal Chris has delivered. Seriously, there wasn't a bum note in this entire performance. And he's working the stage like a pro. Is it just me, or did he look like Channing Tatum tonight? Maybe I'm just seeing connections since he seemed on the verge of getting his Magic Mike on for a few seconds there, going right up to Gwen and singing to her (sorry, dude, Ryan Sill has her heart on lock). Still, it was a really strong performance overall, and my favorite of the night so far, which I would NOT have expected from the song choice. Don't get me wrong, it's a good song. But I just wouldn't have picked this for Chris. Good on Adam.
-Pharrell says it was, hands down, Chris's best performance on this show. He says it was great how Chris was lost in the "intention" of the song with every note. Gwen talks about getting flustered when he sang to her. Adam, meanwhile, compares himself to Obi-Wan Kenobi while Chris is Luke Skywalker. He says Chris just "crushed this entire audience," which sounds way more violent than what Chris actually did -- and a lot less fun. This performance, however, was an absolute blast.
WATCH: Chris Jamison sings ‘Sexual Healing’ (VIDEO)
LUKE WADE (TEAM PHARRELL WILLIAMS) is up next!
-Luke is excited because he'll get to sing a song not a whole lot of people from his generation know: "Holding Back the Years" by Simply Red. He talks about how great it is to be working with one of the best producers in the world, in Pharrell. For his part, Pharrell loves Luke's musicality, as they go over different arrangements for the song in rehearsal, with Luke wondering what Questlove would do with the track. This should be interesting regardless.
-I absolutely love the tempo and the overall arrangement, but this wasn't the most exciting or memorable performance in the world. On the one hand, it sounds classic and modern all at once, like a cross between funk and blues. On the other hand, this might be a bit too much on the easy listening side of things for the audience. I already like this song, but I imagine I would be bored to tears if this wasn't a song I was already into. I guess I just hoped he'd do more with it. I don't know if it's enough to get him into the Top 5, but I didn't think it was bad. I just wanted more.
-Adam likes Luke and digs his vocals, but he wants him to stop thinking so much during his performances. Blake brings up the vibe of the performance, and suggests there was perhaps more Luke could have done with the song. Pharrell, meanwhile, says there isn't anyone else like Luke. Honestly, if he makes it into the Top 5, that'll probably be why.
-Back from the break with Nick Jonas in the Sprint Skybox, and Carson asking such questions as which coach he'd pick if he were a contestant, and whether he'd start a boy band with Adam, Blake and Pharrell. At the very least, it's as productive as the Sprint Skybox segment from earlier in the night, in which Adam and Blake reveal they're writing a country song called "Beer and Family." Or the segment a little bit before this, in which Usher sends in a video boasting about having won The Voice last season.
WATCH: Luke Wade Sings ‘Holding Back The Years’ (VIDEO)
GWEN STEFANI and PHARRELL WILLIAMS perform!
-The coaches debut their new collaboration, "Spark the Fire," and I instantly hate the song simply because I know it's going to be stuck in my head for days now. Well, it's also a mess of a song that I don't really need to ever hear again. But that's neither here nor there. We get more of Gwen's fetishization of Harajuku culture, as I wonder how much longer it'll be before she sets up a summer home in Nagoya. The sing-a-long video screen, the colorful dancers and bubblegum lighting was all a bit much, but that's kind of Gwen's style, so I get it. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but I really could have done without it.
TAYLOR JOHN WILLIAMS (TEAM GWEN STEFANI) is up next!
-Gwen and Taylor go through all sorts of possible song choices, and settle on "Royals" by Lorde. It's a solid choice, particularly because the arrangement darkens it up a bit. Taylor feels it's a song that should sound a bit angry, relating his hometown's homeless population and the opulence of people who have too much already. Taylor's ability to connect with a song's meaning, and then tailor (no pun intended) the song to his style based on that reading makes him one of the more versatile artists in the competition, for my money.
-This was terrific. Taylor has grown leaps and bounds in stage presence, to the point where I didn't even notice until the end of the performance that he didn't have his guitar. He works the stage once the track leaves the smokey, bluesy tempo behind, and his vocals never suffer for it. I was genuinely impressed with this, and consider it one of the best performances of the night. Taylor has to be one of the frontrunners to go all the way to the end.
-Blake says that no matter what Taylor does, he always makes each performance his own. He respects Taylor for that, and says he's "150% pure artist". Pharrell calls Taylor an old soul, and notes he can't wait for his record. He normally doesn't like when people go away from what a song is, but Pharrell felt Taylor made the song his own. Gwen, meanwhile, is glad Taylor picked her, because she gets to work with him, an artist who has a clear vision of himself. She recalls warning him against changing the melody in rehearsals, since he'd run the risk of angering people, to which Taylor responded that this is exactly what he wanted to do with the new arrangement, suggesting a certain intent with his artistry that, in my opinion, makes him way more interesting. I'm really digging this guy, and hope he sticks around.
WATCH: Taylor John Williams sings ‘Royals’ (VIDEO)
MATT MCANDREW (TEAM ADAM LEVINE) closes the show!
-Adam is stoked to give Matt his song choice, "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice. However, there are issues with balancing the softness of his voice versus the power. But Adam is really hands-on, which Matt likes. Adam even takes the guitar and shows how to do it, saying Matt himself should be the volume pedal on this one. Matt is going to be tackling this with his guitar, since his favorite performances are just him and the guitar. Adam agrees with the approach, adding that this song carries the greatest risk-reward ratio, and that's what he lives for.
-Oh Lord, you guys. This is STUNNING. That lone cellist in the background, Matt bathed in the spotlight, and his voice piercing through the silence. There was nothing about this I didn't love. Not only do we get to hear the considerable power behind his voice, we get a better feel for the softness, including his understated falsetto. This may have been the performance of the season, and I'll be genuinely stunned if Matt doesn't land himself in the Top 10 on iTunes with this, if not the Top 5.
-We rush through Blake's critique, but trust me, he loved it. Adam, meanwhile, talks about how genuine and real Matt is, before adding, "I absolutely adore you." I'm guessing he won't be the only one. We skip over Gwen and Pharrell as we rush to get this thing off the air before State of Affairs. Because NBC needs to keep on that Katherine Heigl grind.
WATCH: Matt McAndrew sings ‘The Blower’s Daughter’ (VIDEO)
-And that's a wrap! What did you think of tonight's show? For me, Chris and Matt were the undisputed best of the night. But I'm interested to hear your opinions, particularly since it's going to be a Bottom FOUR tomorrow night. I'm guessing it'll be the end of the line for Luke, Ryan and DaNica, but I'm not sure who will join them in the Bottom 4. I'm genuinely stumped. So help me out in the comments with your predictions! Until tomorrow night, thanks for reading!