‘The Voice’ Recap: Top 12 Performs Live
The top 12 contestants of NBC’s Emmy award-winning singing competition “The Voice” took the stage once again Monday night to give their best performance yet. The Live Top 12 Performances episode will determine who will remain in the Top 10.
America has previously voted to keep Corey Kent White,
The contest proper was kicked off by Hannah Kirby, who stood at the top of an on-stage staircase before a golden microphone and gave a rather screechy rendition of Stevie Nick’s “Edge of Seventeen.” The song was chosen for her to connect with the audience at an emotional level, which she successfully did. Blake gave all-out praises for her performance, saying he couldn’t imagine Hannah “being a better vocalist than she already is,” NBC stated.
Brian Johnson took the stage next, giving a solid performance o Sting’s classic rock song “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You.” Donned in a black ensemble, Brian sang with conviction and confidence, acting on Reba’s advice to show the audience how he would feel if he were to lose faith. He gave a fierce finale that was awarded with a hearty applause from the crowd.
Coach Christina made sure than Indie Carney would not be branded as just another soul singer, choosing a rock number for her trainee. Indie performed Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” as she embraced the song with the rocker girl vibes. India showed her dark side as she pulled off the rock anthem with guitarists surrounding her. Next, Mia Z gave a stellar rendition of Rolling Stones’ “Miss You,” despite being reprimanded by Reba for not being able to deliver her words clearly during the rehearsals. Coach Pharrell encouraged her to “hit the third gear,” pushing her higher-than-high falsetto to its limits. It seemed like Mia was able to awe to audience.
Deanna Johnson stepped into the spotlight next, taking on Hillsong United’s Christian ballad “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail). The then confidence-lacking singer worked her way with Reba and Coach Adam during the rehearsals, which in turn helped her give a calm and inspiring number with underwater scenes on the background. She finished the song with “power and finesse.” Up next was Sawyer Fredericks, who opted for John Lennon’s “Imagine,” which was perfect for his voice full of emotion. Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, he gave a “delicate but incredibly heartfelt” take on the song. He appeared to have difficulties on hitting a high note at one point, but managed to recover smoothly and carry on with a hum. The quick save impressed the coaches.
Rob Taylor enters the stage channeling a James Brown vibe complete with the dreads. He performed Screamin’ Jay Hawkin’s “I Put a Spell On You,” which was an inspired choice for the R&B singer Rob. Coach Christina has pushed him to his “tipping point” during rehearsals which he gladly took as a challenge. The crowd was obviously charmed as he showed off his body and proceeded to work on stage with radiant energy. Even Adam was at awe, declaring him the “new frontrunner.” Following him was Corey Kent Whiten who passionately carried out his cover of Jason Aldean’s “Why.” He stepped on stage bringing Coach Blake and Reba’s well wishes and an acoustic guitar, starting off smooth and controlled. In the end his number was not quite there yet, but Blake and Adam both agreed that he’s “on the edge of greatness.”
Another powerful singer comes up next. Koryn Hawthorne rearranges Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You” to make up for her low rates last week. Coach Pharrell and Reba helped her arranged her song choice such that it would put her voice on display. Her performance was met with a wild crowd and over the top praises from the panelists -- Blake says she should be on the Top 10, Christina compares her to Tina Turner and Pharrell just looked like he made the best decision of saving her last week. Joshua Davis came up next to sing Simon and Garfunkel's "America." After ditching his trusty guitar as advised by Coach Adam and Reba, Joshua managed to get out of his comfort zone and focused on the song itself, bringing so many emotions to his musical number. Blake even said, "You sing like you've written every song you perform."
Former one-half of Steel Magnolia Meghan Linsey took the stage to give her rendition of “Girl Crush,” which she worked the lyrics with and delivered it in strong force. She struggled at some points to hit some high notes, but was able to pull the finale off. Reba had said Meghan "kicked the dog poop out of that song" after rehearsals. Finally, the last contender Kimberly Nichole was called to culminate to show. She took on “House of the Rising Sun. The challenge was that the song had been covered by numerous artists before her, so she had to make her rendition stand out. In ballerina-inspired outfit, the soul singer dominated the stage as she delivered the song in its slow pace that actually worked to her advantage. Her emotional take on the song had the audience and coaches singing.
“The Voice” host Carson Daly has then turned over the power to eliminate two of the season’s Top 12 to America. Results will be announced on Tuesday night’s Live Playoffs Week 2 episode. It will be aired at 8pm on NBC.
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