The Voice: Breaking Down the Top 10
Last night, the top 10 contestants on NBC’s The Voice took the stage. I broke down the contestants’ performances, and ranked them from 1 to 10 based on who I think will win it all.
1. Danielle Bradbery (Team Blake)- “Heads Carolina, Tails California”
Danielle has a real star power that I feel like many of the other contestants are missing. She’s young and pretty, but she still has a pretty much perfect voice. Personally, I generally hate country music, but when Danielle is singing, I can’t help but enjoy it. That’s why I think she’ll win—she knows how to sell whatever song she’s singing to her audience in a way that some of the other contestants seem to be struggling with.
2. Judith Hill (Team Adam)- “The Way You Make Me Feel”
Judith’s voice is one of the most pristine in the competition, but I can’t help but feel that it’s not fair for her to be here. She had so many other chances to become famous, and it seems like now she’s taking one away from someone else who hasn’t had the same opportunities as her. Still, she sings beautifully, and people seem to really like her, so I’d say she’s pretty formidable competition.
3. Sasha Allen (Team Shakira)- “Next to Me”
Sasha’s performance was amazing, and she looked really happy up on that stage. I really like her voice—even though it’s powerhouse like so many of the others in the competition, I think that her Broadway roots help add a bit more refinement to it, which I find really appealing.
4. Michelle Chamuel (Team Usher)- “Just Give Me a Reason”
I personally love Michelle. She’s quirky, and she’s got this beautiful voice that you just don’t expect. But she’s not the powerhouse vocalist that some of the other competitors are, and this season, it seems like it’s people like her who are slipping through the cracks.
5. The Swon Brothers (Team Blake)- “How Country Feels”
I never understood why people would come to this competition as a duo—they barely every make it to the live shows, and even if they do, they rarely last for very long past that. Still, for the Swon Brothers it seems to have helped. I’m not sure how I feel about their voices exactly, but I think that their charisma is wonderful, and could definitely help. The only way I could seem them winning would be if people voted for them for the novelty of a duo making it to the finals, but I really don’t mind them sticking around.
6. Sarah Simmons (Team Adam)- “Mama Knows Best”
I can’t help but resent Sarah because Adam saved her over Caroline, who was one of my favorites. Still, I felt like she improved a lot this week, at least with song choice. The rock aspects of this song really brought out a different side of her, and even though it seemed like she could have had a little more fun with the performance side of it, I still thought she did a great job.
7. Kris Thomas (Team Shakira)- “Adorn”
I like Kris’ voice a lot, but I feel like some of the novelty comes from the fact that he sounds like a girl, and I think that if he actually were one, he probably wouldn’t still be in this competition.
8. Amber Carrington (Team Adam)- “Breakaway”
Amber’s performance was wonderful, but I felt a bit bored by it, and it seemed like she did too. I feel like that’s her major obstacle as far as winning the competition goes: she’s a great singer, but she isn’t very memorable, and at times it seems like she just doesn’t want it as much as everyone else does.
9. Holly Tucker (Team Blake)- “How Great Thou Art”
Holly’s voice is beautiful; there’s no denying it. But her performance seemed to be lacking in mass appeal—she sounded more like she was part of a gospel choir than she was going to be the next big pop star.
10. Josiah Hawley (Team Usher)- “Clocks”
I can’t help but feeling that the only reason Josiah is still here is because of how pretty he is. Now, I’m not going to knock anyone for voting for him just so they can see him week after week, but I have a feeling that it won’t get him all the way to the end.