The Top 8 performed on the live performance episode of The Voice, but it was coach Adam Levine who stole the spotlight with his newly bleached blonde hair – Carson Daly introduced Adam as “Adam Levine and the hairdo.”
“That’s Adam? I thought it was Meg Ryan sitting there,” Blake Shelton said before calling him “Miley [Cyrus].”
First up was Sisaundra Lewis from Team Blake. Sisaundra decided to show off her pipes with “River Deep, Mountain High” by Tina Turner. The performance was special for Sisaundra because her mother, at 76-years-old, is attending one of her performances for the very first time. As expected, Sisaundra blows it away, singing every note as if it were her last.
Sisaundra is amazing, hands down, but she can also be a bit too much. It will be interesting to see how she does as more contestants face elimination. Sisaundra is so touched that her mother is in the audience that she breaks out into a short sob when Usher brings it up before calling her a diva – in a good way.
Josh Kaufman, the only one left from Team Usher performs next, singing “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” In the package, Usher brought Josh to a famous music studio where they recorded the original “We Are The World” for Josh to rehearse. Blake said Josh was perfect, saying, “it had magic all over it.” And Usher dubbed it Josh’s best performance of the season, even eclipsing his breakout “Stay With Me.”
The contestants got a bit of a break when Gwen Sebastian from Team Blake Season 2 of The Voice, who was working as musical advisor for Team Blake, appeared on stage to perform with her former coach.
The competition picks back up with Team Adam’s Kat Perkins. Kat decided to take a risk this week and try her hand at re-imagining Daft Punk’s hit “Get Lucky” with a metal rock tone. The risk paid off, with the audience clearly loving her take on the song that everyone has heard at least 100 times before, and the judges respond with equal admiration. Adam even stands up and shouts as Kat finishes her performance, he is so overwhelmed.
Team Shakira’s only artist left, Kristen Merlin performed “I Drive Your Truck.” Kristen’s voice is great, as usual, but the performance leaves something to be desired. It doesn’t have the shocking quality of Kat’s “Get Lucky” or the emotional weight of Josh’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” Still, Merlin gives her most emotionally striking performance to date, and engaged the crowd and the judges. Blake gives her props, from one country artist to another. Blake also managed to get in a little dig at Adam, saying, “Adam loves you so much, he copied your hairstyle.”
Pharrell made his Voice debut, appearing on the show for the first time since it was announced that he would be joining the show as a coach next season. Pharrell performed ”Come Get It Bae,” wearing a brand new hat and a Mickey Mouse sweater. Later in the episode, new Voice coach Gwen Stefani also took the stage, performing her classic hit “Hollaback Girl.”
Delvin Choice from Team Adam fought his coach to let him perform “I Believe I Can Fly.” It’s a tough song to listen to seriously, let alone perform in a singing competition. “I Believe I Can Fly” has spawned countless parodies, but when Delvin cried in rehearsals he managed to convince Adam that it was the right song choice. Delvin delivers, bringing a subtlety to the song that works in his favor and earns screams from the audience and raves from the judges. Usher tells him, “You never see a man fly until you see a man cry.”
Audra McLaughlin from Team Blake performed next with Rebecca Lynn Howard’s “Forgive.” Audra delivers a great performance, taking her time with her voice, giving the song a slow build the judges couldn’t help but compliment.
Jake Worthington, another Team Blake artist, takes the stage after Audra, performing to put his “redneck side” on display. This week, Jake went for a fun, carefree performance in lieu of his standard country ballads, singing Brooks and Dunn’s “Hillbilly Deluxe.” The energetic performances shows off a new side of Jake, and only adds to his already charming persona.
Christina Grimmie from Team Adam closed the show with another rap cover, putting her spin on Lil’ Wayne’s “How to Love.” Her take on the song is not as attention grabbing as her previous interpretation of Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” but Christina still holds her own on stage.
Three contestants will be eliminated in Tuesday night’s live eliminations episode of The Voice airing Tuesday at 8 p.m. on NBC.
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