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Yes indeed, while the main focus
of tonight’s show was — as Carson Daly reminded us at the top of the
hour — watching eight become six, there was nevertheless a parallel to
the very best late-night infomercials via a “But wait, there’s more!”
addendum. Said Easter eggs came in the form of a quartet of contestant
duets — a couple of ‘em quite terrific, two of ‘em fairly inscrutable —
that gave the Top 8 one more chance to shine before the guillotine got
wheeled onto the stage.
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This was also the episode that
proved you simply can’t predict who’s going home based on iTunes sales
alone. While Holly Tucker, Judith Hill and Sasha Allen ranked as the
week’s Bottom 3 sellers on the digital music service (with Sasha in dead
last), only one of ‘em saw her Voice journey reach its conclusion. Let’s get to the results, shall we?
Sent to Safety (in Random Order)Michelle Chamuel
Danielle Bradbery
Sasha Allen (cue a complete Shakira freakout, and feelings of nameless dread from her five not-yet-saved rivals)
The Swon Brothers
Final Four Left in Limbo
Holly Tucker
Judith Hill
Amber Carrington
Sarah Simmons
Final Two Saved
Amber Carrington
Holly Tucker (Whoa! That’s three country blondes — and the entirety of Team Blake — in the Top 6!)
Eliminated
Judith Hill
Sarah Simmons
To me, the week’s results and the overall arc of Season 4 says that risk-taking simply doesn’t get rewarded by Voice
voters. Or, if we’re paraphrasing the Teachings of the Hare, slow and
steady (and fairly predictable) might end up winning this race. Also:
People love Blake Shelton, or at least they’re responding to his silly
“Oh em gee you are the most IMPORTANT thing to happen to music” feedback
to his trio of contestants (or his cute little overhead finger-points).
A few other thoughts and theories before we get to letter grades for the duets:
* Judith definitely had the buzziest Blind Audition with “What a Girl Wants,” but taking a brutally hard look at her full Voice
trajectory, I can’t say anything she did in the weeks that followed
quite managed to match that eye-popping Christina Aguilera cover. This
isn’t to say Judith deserved to go home before lesser talents like Sasha
or Holly or The Swon Brothers, but momentum and the illusion of
“growth” both matter in reality singing competitions, and Judith had
neither of those advantages. Perhaps just as damaging: Judith’s outré
hairstyles and fashion choices may have alienated voters who like to see
a star bloom in front of their eyes — and reminded the world that as
Michael Jackson’s former duet partner, she had the advantage of industry
experience (and the ability to tap into said experience should she not
make the finale).
* Sarah, meanwhile, looked like a serious contender during the early
weeks of the competition, but Coach Adam did her no favors by not
reining in her growing tendency to, um, “explore” the most unpleasant
edges of her vocal tone. Last week’s “Mama Knows Best” was a screeching
tirade, and Wednesday’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” suffered from
intermittent pitch problems. (Plus, it’s one of those songs that really
needs another few years on the shelf before the general populus wants it
brought back out into the sunlight.) I know she had a decent iTunes
showing this week, but I’m not entirely shocked or saddened to see her
exit.And with that, I’ll be back overnight to update this post with further observations on tonight’s episode and reviews of every performance — bookmark, refresh, and enjoy! — but until then, let me turn things over to you. What did you think of Season 4 Top 8 results night? Did the right contestants get the boot? Sound off in the comments, and for all my reality-related news, recaps, interviews and
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