The Voice has finished up the Blind Auditions and Battle Rounds, now it’s on to the Knockout Rounds and Live Playoffs before ultimately getting to the real singing and voting.
Each coach is down to eight singers, and this week they will be paired off, sing against each other and half will be cut. First up are the teams from Shakira and Adam Levine. Shakira has a few good singers, but not many huge favorites, so the competition should be wide open. Team Adam, on the other hand, has eight extraordinarily talented contestants left. It’s going to be ugly and some very, very talented people will be sent home.
Team Adam Knockout Round Predictions>>
Team Shakira Knockout Round Predictions>>
So now, let see who gets knocked out on The Voice!
Team Adam: Amber Carrington vs. Midas Whale
Well, this is an odd mixture. Amber is a great young country star while Midas Whale is the fun folksy duo. I predicted both in the middle, but Midas moving forward. Let’s see how it plays out.
Amber Carrington (“I’m With You” by Avril Lavigne): OK, is she the new Cassadee Pope? Why do The Voice contestants love Avril so much? Don’t get me wrong, I do too, but wow. She does an excellent job, but it’s not quite country enough for what I think she needs to do.
Midas Whale (“Higher Ground” by Stevie Wonder): Man, Stevie is everywhere. He was on Dancing with the Stars last week, Glee this week, and now The Voice. The performance is fun and weird, as always, but I’m not sure it has enough dimensions.
Adam Levine can’t go wrong with any of his knockouts. He’s gonna pick four winners no matter what. I might give the edge to Amber, as do Blake Shelton and Shakira. Adam loves Amber’s growth, but is drawn to the fact that Midas Whale is so darn original.
The winner is…AMBER CARRINGTON!
Ooh, I didn’t predict it, but I can’t complain. Amber is a great singer who is going to put a damper on Blake’s country strategy.
Team Shakira: Garrett Gardner vs. Tawnya Reynolds
I predicted Shakira’s odd fascination with Garrett will prevail and Tawnya is destined to lose. This should be an easy one.
Garrett Gardner (“Too Close” by Alex Clare): Shakira warns him to limit it to one growl. It’s a great note, because I suddenly find him 75 percent less annoying. I still hate the poodle hair and the lower lip ring, but it’s a very cool performance. I’ve also finally realized who he looks like: Zach Florrick, Alicia’s son on The Good Wife!
Tawnya Reynolds (“Hell on Heels” by Pistol Annies): She wants to show of her attitude. The audience seems really into it, but I was bored. It was just OK.
Blake thought Tawnya had too many yodels, but Shakira defends them. So yodels are good but growls are bad? The only yodels I enjoy are chocolatey and delicious.
The winner is…GARRETT GARDNER!
Good move, Shakira. There’s no reason for her to jump into the country battle brewing between Adam and Blake.
Team Adam: Amy Whitcomb vs. Caroline Glaser
Uh-oh, I had both of these two as “Definitely Out,” so obviously I’m wrong. We haven’t seen any of Amy, though she seems to have a lot of online fans championing her.
Amy Whitcomb (“The House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals): This is a super ambitious song with a high degree of difficulty. She definitely tries to cram as much as she can into it, almost like she knows the show has given her no screentime and she wants to combine three rounds of talent and range into one performance. There are moments of genuine greatness and other moments where I don’t like it because she’s trying too hard.
Caroline Glaser (“Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men): Hooray, I adore this song. It’s just plain awesome and fun. I hadn’t heard about it before Terry McDermott and Cassadee Pope sang it during a results show last season, and now it seems to be everywhere. It’s a shame Midas Whale didn’t do it. She makes it truly remarkable and finds new pockets of emotion. It’s weird, but I love it. And so does Amy, because she rocks out on the side, which makes me also love Amy.
Blake is right that Amy’s ambition paid off half the time, but didn’t work the other half. He liked Caroline overall, even though her song was easier. Usher thinks Amy won and Caroline struggled. Adam thinks they both did better in rehearsals, which isn’t good.
The winner is…CAROLINE GLASER!
Good, though I’m sure those Amy Lovers online will scream in protest that this show disrespected her, which it kind of did. Either way, I feel like Caroline is gonna face an uphill battle making it out of the Live Playoffs alive.
Team Shakira: Kris Thomas vs. Mary Miranda
Watch out, Kris, Shakira LOVES Mary. A lot. This should be the easiest choice yet.
Kris Thomas (“What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong): Oh crap, could he choose a more boring song? No. He relies too heavily on the falsetto, and like Shania Twain, that don’t impress me much.
Mary Miranda (“Every Breath You Take” by The Police): She’s finally singing in English! Let’s see how this works, because Shakira (and I) are suspicious of the song choice. It’s pretty sleep, just like Kris, but I like her tone more than his. She’s just a much cleaner singer.
Adam would give the win to Mary, as would I, mostly because I need to pump up my prediction score since I’m 0/2 on Team Adam.
The winner is…KRIS THOMAS!
What the what? I do not get this at all, nor do I understand why Shakira and Usher think Kris is so amazing. Maybe Shakira is just trying to limit herself to one Spanish-language singer, and we all know that spot goes to Monique Abbadie.
Team Adam: Judith Hill vs. Orlando Dixon
Goodbye, Orlando. We don’t even need to waste time on things like singing.
Judith Hill (“Always on My Mind” by Willie Nelson): Adam basically says she’s the best singer ever during the rehearsal. The performance is exactly what you’d expect. Even Orlando shakes his head on the side, and it’s cruel to make him sing after this. She’s technically stunning, but I still think she’ll get eliminated in fourth or fifth place. Unlike the tongue-bath the judges give Amber Holcomb on American Idol, Judith actually has the voice to warrant the lavish praise she gets.
Orlando Dixon (“All My Life” by K-Ci and JoJo): Seriously, why even bother? I mean, Orlando knows he’s gonna lose. Carson knows he’s gonna lose. All four coaches know he’s gonna lose. Everyone in the audience knows he’s gonna lose. Everyone watching at home knows he’s gonna lose. People in comas know he’s gonna lose. Unborn babies know he’s gonna lose. All the birds in the sky and all the fish in the sea know he’s gonna lose. Aliens know he’s gonna lose. Every single subatomic particle that has ever existed or will ever exist knows he’s gonna lose.
Blake worships Judith and Usher doesn’t want to add to the praise because, well, we all know there’s no need to pile on and it would just hurt Orlando’s feelings.
The winner is…JUDITH HILL!
As Britta Perry would say: Duh-doy!
Team Shakira: Karina Iglesias vs. Monique Abbadie
Which Latina will reign supreme? My money is on Monique since she’s Shakira’s best bet to win this competition.
Karina Iglesias (“Are You Gonna Go My Way? by Lenny Kravitz): She’s going for the pure rock edge. She’s pretty good, but I still don’t think she’s as amazing as the coaches seem to think she is.
Monique Abbadie (“The Power of Love” by Celine Dion): Oh no, I still have Amber Holcomb flashbacks from last week on American Idol. Why are Shakira’s Latina princesses so, so, SOOOOOOO bad at picking songs? She sings it as well as anyone can sing a song that no one should ever sing. On the bright side, I am in love with the shade of red her hair is.
The coaches seem to agree that Karina’s song choice was weak because it was so one-dimensional.
The winner is…KARINA IGLESIAS!
Dios mio! How did Shakira cut Mary Miranda AND Monique Abbadie? It’s like Shakira is trying to create a losing team. So much for my pronouncement that Monique was “Definitely Safe.” Let’s hope Shakira chooses Sasha over Shawna in her final pairing so she at least has one singer with a chance at making it to the Top 6.
Team Adam: Warren Stone vs. Sarah Simmons
Honestly, there are a ton of positive assets to both of them. Sarah is remarkable and emotional, but Warren is Adam’s last chance to have a guy on his team.
Warren Stone (“(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by Cutting Crew): The country guy is trying out rock. The arrangement is spectacular and his voice is brilliant. It’s everything you’d want it to be and more. Easily the best performance of the night.
Sarah Simmons (“Wild Horses” by The Rolling Stones): This is all about getting to the emotion of the song and picking her moments. And she does just that, because it’s beautiful. She can capture the emotion of a song unlike anyone else. These were definitely the two best performances of the night.
Blake thought this was the best Warren ever sounded, but Sarah was better. Usher and Shakira agree. Can we all agree that BOTH of these singers deserve to be in the Live Playoffs? At least we can all agree they’re both better than Caroline Glaser.
The winner is…SARAH SIMMONS!
The loser is America, because Warren definitely shouldn’t be gone. He’s actually better than any country singer Blake Shelton has on his team. We need to add a Steal to the Knockout Rounds. So now Adam has an all-female team. I’m not sure that’s for the best, but with Amber, Judith and Sarah, it’s hard to argue with the talent.
Team Shakira: Sasha Allen vs. Shawna P.
It’s the last pairing, and I definitely think Sasha is the superior choice, so I fully expect Shawna to win. It’s been that kind of night.
Sasha Allen (“At Last” by Etta James): This is another oddly old-fashioned song choice, but it’s a much better standard than some of the picks tonight. She does it justice. I find her so much more compelling than Judith Hill because Sasha has the range and technical chops, but she also has emotion, while Judith feels a bit like a singing robot, programmed for pitch perfection. Shakira literally stood up and claims she got goosebumps, twice. Man, they really did save the best for last.
Shawna P. (“Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney): Oh no, this is just a “winning” song choice. She does a solid job, but it’s kind of like when Orlando followed Judith. Also, this may be unfair, but the fact that Shawna is an older lady makes her far less commercially viable.
Blake thinks this is the best knockout pairing yet, which means he must have already forgotten about Warren vs. Sarah. He also thinks Sasha just set herself up as a huge frontrunner to win this competition. Finally, the coaches are seeing what I saw from day one since I named Sasha the best Blind Audition.
The winner is…SASHA ALLEN!
Finally, Shakira has one great singer, because Kris, Garrett and Karina have no chance of winning. I also find it curious that three of the four stolen singers are moving on.
So that does it for night 1 of the Knockout Rounds, where I had a miserable 50 percent success rate in my early predictions of who would move on, though I stand by thinking Warren Stone, Midas Whale, Monique Abbadie and Mary Miranda were deserving. Come back tomorrow night as Team Blake and Team Usher go head-to-head.
Want to add The Voice to your very own watch-list? Download BuddyTV Guide for free for your phone.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
