Top 5 finalists, Chris Jamison, Craig Wayne Boyd, Damien, Matt McAndrew and Taylor John Williams, performed in the live semi-finals of The Voice.

Team Blake

Coach Blake Shelton gave his Craig Wayne Boyd a classic rock and country song, “Working Man’s Blues.” Craig rocked out on stage, as usual, and the only thing Pharrell Williams found to say was “I can’t wait to see what your album sounds like.” All the coaches complimented him on his fun stage presence and his ability to get the crowd going.

Craig chose to sing “The Old Rugged Cross” in honor of his hometown. The religious track marked a good change of pace for Craig, who got to rock out and slow things down in the same live show. It was an emotional performance for Craig and the coaches alike. “What does it feel like to be at the top of your game and to surrender it to God in front of the entire world?” Pharrell said, once again standing up for Craig. And Blake commended Craig’s passion.

Team Adam

Damien started off the semi-final performances with coach Adam Levine‘s pick, “She’s Out of My Life.” Another ballad for Damien got a standing ovation from the coaches. Blake even called it one of “the most perfect performances” he’s ever seen on The Voice. Pharrell said that he managed to tell his story every time he performed, something Gwen agreed with.

After taking us home with him, Damien performed the Dawson’s Creek song, “I Don’t Want to Wait,” for his hometown. The song was a strange change of pace for Damien, with a faster tempo and less emotional weight than he’s used to, but the crowd loved it and Gwen noted how great it was to see Damien be more upbeat. “Your voice is second to none,” Pharrell told him.

Adam gave Matt McAndrew Ed Sheeran’s version of “Make It Rain,” which he heard on a recent episode of Sons of Anarchy. Matt’s ‘Harry Potter with tattoos’ vibe worked perfectly for the bluesy tune, and he earned a standing ovation from the judges and enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. Pharrell gave him a stern nod of approval before the coaches launched into their comments. “That was a Grammy worthy performance right there,” Blake said. “The tone in your voice, it gives me chills every time,” Gwen added.

For his hometown song, Matt chose U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Pharrell told Matt that Bono would be proud – and he most definitely knows Bono so, that’s pretty cool. “What an execution. You killed it,” Pharrell gushed.

For Chris Jamison, the winner of last week’s #VoiceSave, Adam gave his own new single, Marron 5’s “Sugar” – Adam insisted the timing was a coincidence. Despite some puzzling, and slightly unsettling, stage direction, Chris knocked it out of the park, and, to his credit, didn’t try to imitate Adam’s distinct falsetto. “Your falsetto is just so good…When you go there, it’s just like the party starts…You can just feel the room change when you do it,” Blake said. Pharrell agreed, saying that he looks forward to hearing Chris’ falsetto every week.

Chris later took the stage with a smooth cover of Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man.” With only a piano to accompany him, Chris was able to show off a truly impressive range, belting out some low notes and hitting his now signature falsetto. The emotional performance was definitely a highlight of the night, and Gwen said it was her favorite performance Chris has done on the show. “I always hesitate with a Bruno tune…but tonight was Chris Jamison’s version of that song, and everyone felt that…Vote for this dude, he deserves to be there at the end,” Adam said.

Team Gwen

Taylor John Williams’ pick from coach Gwen Stefani, “Falling Slowly,” elicited a strong reaction from the crowd, who couldn’t stop screeching at the end. Blake was impressed, noting that the song truly showed off Taylor’s range and falsetto. “I always knew that you’re just a pure artist, you know exactly what you want to do…We’re all fans and we all think that you’re really talented, and it’s exciting,” Gwen said, beaming.

“Blank Space” This was arguably the riskiest song choices of the night, considering the song’s insane popularity and the fact that Taylor Swift herself performed her newest hit on The Voice only a few weeks ago. In comparison to Swift, Taylor’s performance had a lot less dramatic flair and a lot more reliance on his voice. Taylor stumbled a bit with the lyrics towards the end of the first verse, but he was able to mumble his way through it and the coaches didn’t even seem to notice. “That was awesome dude,” Adam started before getting drowned out by screams from the female audience.

The Voice will crown it’s top 3 and introduce a wild card contestant – one of the artists eliminated in the top 12 will join the top 3 in the finals – on Tuesday at 8 p.m. on NBC.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.