The Voice 7: Who Went Home on Semi-Finals Week? - 12/09/2014 (VIDEO)
Welcome to the live blog and recap for The Voice 7 Results, "Finale Wildcard"! Tonight, we not only find out which two singers had the fewest votes from last night's show, we also find out which of the nine previously eliminated Top 12 artists will be voted back into the competition as the wildcard!
Honestly, this could be the tightest race The Voice has had in ages, as last night's Semi-Finals show featured a handful of absolutely stellar performances, particularly from Craig Wayne Boyd, Matt McAndrew, and dark horse contender Chris Jamison, who peaked at basically the perfect moment in the competition. But will it be enough to get him through to the finals? For the moment, things are looking pretty good for him, as he is the only artist with TWO singles in the iTunes Top 10 (although they are below both Craig Wayne Boyd and Matt McAndrew's respective top singles).
Credit: NBC
So who will be eliminated from the competition prior to the wildcard?
Rickey.org readers predict that the two men eliminated at the top of tonight's show will be Team Gwen's Taylor John Williams (45.35% of the vote) and Team Adam's Damien (33.95% of the vote). However, it's not too late to vote in the poll, so head on over and add your predictions!
Also, be sure to check out the song spoilers for tonight's wildcard sing-off! You'll scratch your head in confusion at some of these questionable choices.
Keep it locked right here, as I'll be updating the post with live, running commentary, and videos as soon as they become available. Let's get this show on the road!
Credit: NBC
RECAP
-We open up, and Carson is already on the stage with the five remaining finalists. He blows through the coach introductions, since we have one hour and NINE FREAKING PERFORMANCES to get through. Of course, American Idol used to squeeze a bunch of performances into a brief runtime in its early years, before it was overcome by bloat. So it can be done, as long as we double-up on artists prior to each ad break. Should be a close one though.
-We get a recap of last night's performances, with some backstage peeks, such as Blake hugging Craig Wayne Boyd from behind. But in such a packed show, I'm not sure we need to be spending time on this. Let's do it!
RESULTS
-Carson reveals the first results...
The first finalist is...CHRIS JAMISON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The second finalist is...CRAIG WAYNE BOYD!
The third finalist is...MATT MCANDREW!
TAYLOR JOHN WILLIAMS and DAMIEN are eliminated from THE VOICE 7! (Unless they make it as a wildcard)
I love this choice. But this is basically Taylor John's wildcard spot to lose.
-We return from break with Carson revealing that voting is now open for the wildcard spot. The voting window will close at 3am, and the fourth finalist will be revealed tomorrow morning on TODAY. Well, now I just feel stupid for assuming we'd find out tonight. Figured it'd be like the Instant Save. I probably should have known it wouldn't be though, since there's no way they could fit nine names onto the screen during the "Let's Give Away The Result During the Ad Break" graphic.
Ah well, onto the performances now!
REAGAN JAMES opens the show!
-Reagan opens with "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae and she's singing like she doesn't want to come back. I just didn't get this at all. Like, why would you sing this as a Save Me song? I loved Reagan, but I wasn't feeling this at all. That said, she looks absolutely gorgeous, and I do still think she has solid tone. There's just this ineffable star quality about her that I find compelling, even if I think her performance here wasn't up to snuff.
-Pharrell calls it magical, while Blake praises her for her swagger, and says that it doesn't matter that she was eliminated "a week or two ago," since she just gets that much better with each week.
WATCH: Reagan James, "Put Your Records On"
JESSIE PITTS is up next!
-Jessie sings "Zombie" by The Cranberries, and she sounds downright fantastic here, honestly. She sings the hell out of it, and almost has a little moment with it. It's a harder, more intense track than I would have expected Jessie to sing, but she does a great job. She just comes across as someone who really wants to be there, like her life depends on being on that stage. And that's not always a sense I get from all the other contestants.
-Blake is proud of Jessie and her performance, while Gwen notes how much she missed Jessie over the past few weeks. She compliments the song choice, and I agree. It was a smart pick. Granted, I really don't see how she gets through.
WATCH: Jessie Pitts, "Zombie"
RYAN SILL is up next!
-Ryan sings "Marry Me" by Train, and while the verses are quite pretty, the chorus is underwhelming. His voice just gets really weak during the falsetto parts, and becomes uncharacteristically thin. He's a good singer, but this wasn't his best performance. Of course, he didn't always deliver the best performance during his time in the competition, yet he still managed to survive the Bottom 3 every single week, against all odds. So who the hell even knows, when it comes to Ryan Sill?
-Adam says he always felt Ryan deserved to do better in this competition, saying he has a beautiful voice. Blake says he's always amazed by Ryan's range. Gwen loves when Ryan sings to her, and I swear Gwen has stars in her eyes while she says all this.
WATCH: Ryan Sill, "Marry Me"
ANITA ANTOINETTE is up next!
-Anita does the best she can with what amounts to one of the lousiest song choices of the night, John Mayer's "Waiting On the World to Change". She does some cool scatting, and hits some really nice runs. I didn't think she deserved a standing O from all four coaches, but I don't begrudge their praise. This was a good performance. Not great, but probably the best of the wildcard performances so far.
-Adam loved that Anita was all business. In particular, he feels her jazz run was absolutely incredible, and he has no idea where that came from (and you know, she probably would have been really well served by busting out those skills during her time in the Top 12). Gwen talks about what a beautiful person Anita is, and how she wanted to deliver a positive message to everyone.
WATCH: Anita Antoinette, "Waiting on the World to Change"
TAYLOR JOHN WILLIAMS is up next!
-Taylor John sings "Wicked Game" by Chris Isak, and it's the best song choice so far, in my opinion. It's also the best performance so far, with some wicked falsetto that should really seal the deal for him. Unless, of course, somebody else blows him away. It's not beyond the real of possibility that someone like Damien or Luke Wade could outsing him later tonight, but I think I'd still go with Taylor John either way. His uniqueness is needed, and his voice is downright killer. That tone is so underrated.
-Blake was surprised by the key change, but in a good way. Pharrell, meanwhile, can't wait to hear what his album sounds like, since he says Taylor John sounds like someone who made music in the 70s. Gwen is simply thrilled to hear Taylor John sing again, and basically asks America to vote for him. Realistically, he's the best chance she has at having an artist in the finale. Hell, he might be the only chance she's got.
WATCH: Taylor John Williams, "Wicked Game"
DAMIEN is up next!
-Damien is singing "Grenade" by Bruno Mars, and it's a good performance. Not up to his usual standard, but certainly better than "I Don't Want to Wait," which is still one of the most utterly baffling song choices I've ever seen on a show like this. If Paula Cole herself sang on it, I'd still wonder what the hell she was thinking with that song choice. But back to Damien. It's a passionate vocal, although the tempo makes it feel a bit loungey for my tastes.
-Pharrell says the amount of control Damien has in his voice is downright scary. Gwen is similarly high on the performance, praising his insane vocal prowess. Adam says there's only one more spot in the Top 4, and it belongs to Damien, adding that if you don't believe he deserves the spot, you're crazy. It really wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for Adam to have his whole team with him in the final, although if he does, and Craig Wayne Boyd ends up winning, Blake will never let him hear the end of it ("My ONE GUY beat your WHOLE TEAM!").
WATCH: Damien, "Grenade"
SUGAR JOANS is up next!
-Sugar sings "Back to Black" by Amy Winehouse, and while I've always been a fan, I think this was easily the best she's ever sounded. That said, the audio does sound a bit hollow, to where I think the audio team is dropping the ball. Thankfully, the power in Sugar's voice is easily making up the difference. I was floored by how good this was. She absolutely nailed everything about this, from the vocal itself to the fashion. I just love the Gothic songstress thing she's got going on. She sang this with heaps of confidence, and I couldn't help being impressed.
-Gwen feels this is exactly the kind of song Sugar would sing on her album. Blake, meanwhile, says this is the best he's ever heard her sing. Pharrell says America needed to hear this, and pleads with them to vote for Sugar Joans. He then gives her a hug. Cute.
WATCH: Sugar Joans, "Back to Black"
LUKE WADE is up next!
-Luke sings "Have A Little Faith In Me" by John Hiatt, and this is a whole hell of a lot closer to the Luke I first fell in love with than the guy who went home last week. There's a raw quality to his voice here, and this is one of the few times in this competition where I've felt like he really wanted this. That's not to say that he doesn't want to be here, but rather that his passion doesn't always come across in how he presents himself. Still, if I close my eyes, the passion in his voice sends the message. This clearly means the world to him, and I ended up loving this by the end of it, even though I didn't exactly think it was his best performance or anything.
-Blake and Adam are fans, whereas Pharrell notes that Luke has found himself again. He wants America to bring him back, but also notes that he wants everyone in Texas to bring him back as well. Then, in a strangely uncharacteristic moment from Pharrell, he throws shade at the other coaches' contestants by saying that while his artists don't sing the songs everyone knows like all the other contestants do, those songs don't go on to make great albums. Or something to that effect. It's hard to tell, since he went on for an inordinate amount of time while saying nothing in particular. It's the curse of Christina's chair, I guess.
WATCH: Luke Wade, "Have A Little Faith In Me"
DANICA SHIREY is up next!
-DaNica sings "Without You" by Badfinger (although really, it's the Mariah Carey version) and if ever there was a time to blow the roof off the place, it was now. She absolutely SLAYED this song, and while I think she may have oversang it in places, this was just such an explosive, emotional performance that I couldn't hate on it even if I wanted to (which I don't). I adored this, and wouldn't have a problem with DaNica being voted back in at all. That said, I'm not sure anybody who gets voted back in has a chance to win this. They just have a chance to potentially play spoiler to someone else. They can be the Ralph Nader of The Voice.
-The crowd is molten hot for DaNica's performance, and she's floored by the reception she's receiving. Pharrell plainly declares that this is the sound of America voting her back in. And with that, we close on a big hug between coach and artist.
WATCH: DaNica Shirey, "Without You"
What did you think of tonight's show? Which artist will come back? Which artist SHOULD come back? Sound off in the comments, or vote in our poll! Hell, do both! Until tomorrow morning, thanks for hanging out!