The Voice: Season 9: Top 4: Finals

Missed most of the show tonight due to an unexpected trip out of town so I'm having to review through Rickey's page. Thank goodness he posts videos over there, otherwise I would have had to resorted to analyzing based on the 30 second snippit on ITunes.

Each kiddo had 2 solos and a duet with their judge. I am just going to bundle their performances together because it'll be easier on me in the long run.

This time around will have 3 sets of numbers, because we'll be checking out at noon and I won't have time to grab the actual final numbers right at 12pm. I plan on grabbing the third set of numbers around 3:30pm to see if there's much difference. The first set of numbers were grabbed at 11:30 and they're in parentheses.

Jordan Smith:
 
Climb Every Mountain
comment: Yet another of near perfection. I'm telling you, the race is for second place.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 3
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): (3) 3
change: none

duet with Adam: God Only Knows
comment: Nice performance. Did it showcase Jordan's vocals? Not really. However, by this point he doesn't really need to. He could go on stage, cough , leave and still have the highest sales. The only way he wouldn't get into the Top 200 is if he got on stage, barfed, sharted and flipped everyone off. This actually came across much like a generic buddy song you'd find on a Disney or Dreamworks movie. Replace Sully and Mike and you'd get pretty much the same result.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 5
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting):  (5) 5
change: none

Mary Did You Know
comment: Oh for cryin out loud... just crown him already!  I'll be buying this one later, when the votes DON'T count because honestly, this one doesn't need my help ^_~
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 1
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): (1) 1
change: none
* Chandelier returned to 63rd. (47) 45
** Great is Thy Faithfulness returned to 45th. (33) 34
*** Hallelujah returned to 17th (this one has been in the Top 200 since it was released) (17) 17
**** Halo returned to 57th. (44) 42
***** Set Fire to the Rain came back to 65th. (51) 52
****** Somebody to Love returned to 10th. (10) 9
******* Who You Are returned to 110th. (79) 78
NOTE: Of the Top 10 at 12:30am, 4 are his. Both solos from this week, the duet and last week's performance. 

Emily Ann Roberts:
Blue Christmas
comment: This was okay. Nice, but kind of generic. We listened to the show once we got home and hubby teared up. Then again, many of the sad holiday songs do that to him these days.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 14
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): (13) 15
change: +/- 1 depending on when that slip happened. Willing to bet it was after noon though.

duet with Blake: Islands in the Stream
comment: This was a sweet moment between the two of them. Going to check the ITunes version to see if it's worth the $1.29.  The first song was a bit better, but the duets don't count towards the votes anyhow. Won't be surprised if this one shows up on his tour with her as the duet partner.  This was the ONLY duet I bought of the bunch.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 6
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): (6) 6
change: none

Burning House:
comment: Now this was the way to leave a final impression. If any of the other 3 have a shot of dethroning Jordan, it'll be her. Both of her solo performances were pretty much flawless tonight. This one was the better of the two and definitely the way for her to end her night.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 2
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): (2) 2
change: none
* Cowboy Take Me Away reentered at 144. (90) 93
** I Hope You Dance reentered at 115. (81) 81
*** In the Garden came in at 158. (106) 105
**** She's Got You came back at 105. (75) 76
***** Why Not Me came back at 116. (84) 82
****** 9 to 5 came back at 74. (61) 61
******* Blame it on Your Heart (167) 172
NOTE: Considering the number of return songs this week, she might actually be a real contender for the win.

Barrett Baber:
duet with Blake: Rhinestone Cowboy
comment: Yet another old time, throw back song for Barrett. Dude's got 3 albums out right now. Nice songs, but weren't enough for my to buy. This is just more of the same. At this point of the game, we need to hear if the contestant can pull off something a bit more current.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 22
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): (18) 19
change:  ^ 3 or 4 depending on where the slip was.

Die A Happy Man:
comment: Holy shit. A MODERN song??? *faints* I didn't think this was even possible. Kidding aside, this was a decent performance. Not as good as the original, mind you, but a decent enough try. This was the only one of his I bought this week.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 11
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): (7) 8
change: ^ 3 or 4 spots depending on where he was at noon

Silent Night:
comment: This is actually the first one I caught on tv. We'd just gotten in and I was washing up in the vanity area when I heard this one come on. My first thought was "Gee, Blake sounds good tonight. They must have the judges singing Christmas carols" Then I saw exactly WHO was singing. Definitely should have been calling this one Blake 2.0 this year. Does that make Emily Ann the Miranda 2.0? *smirk* This was meh at best.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 27
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): (20) 21
change: ^ 6 or 7 spots
* I'd Just Love to Lay You Down came back onto the Top 200 at 122. (105) 102

Jeffery Austin:

O Holy Night
comment: I should have loved this. It's my utmost favorite song of this time of year. However, Jeffery was off during the first part of it and I couldn't get through the rest of the song I was so disgusted with him. At this point, I'd rather hear Adele's Hello for the bazillionth time. (Seriously, I'm so sick of that song and Idol season is coming up... *ugh*)
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 29
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): (21) 20
change: ^ 8 or 9

Stay
comment: Not sure what's going on with him tonight. He doesn't seem to be going at 100% at all. Starting off flat and having to fight to get back into key. I expected better out of him.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 12
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): (9) 10
change: ^2 or 3

duet with Gwen: Leather and Lace:
comment: Seriously, I don't know why they chose a duet for his last impression since the duets don't count toward the final tallies. Wasn't overly fond of this vocal. His was actually better than hers ^_~. Glad to see that she CAN dress normally when she chooses. I was beginning to wonder if that was possible.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 19
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): (15) 16
change: ^3 or 4
* Believe returned to 64th. (55) 56
** Jealous returned to 143rd. (104) 104

NOTE: Jeffery's ITunes recordings were much better than the live performance and I bought both.


Analysis:
As of the evening part of this entry. I'd have to rank them at
Jordan

Emily
Jeffery/ Barrett. Fairly certain Jeffery just edges out Barrett by the barest margins performance wise.

Afternoon thoughts: Hubby just said that he's thinking Jordan with Barrett in second. I can't say how many times this guy manages to be accurate. If he's right, I may have to throw a pillow at him.

I guess it all depends on how the alternate voting methods went. Jeffery is a very long shot, to be honest. I don't see him doing better than 3rd. Would have been a more interesting fight if Amy had been in there. 

The Voice: Supplemental: Additional recordings

I mentioned in the last analysis posting that a couple of the gals had recordings out already so I figured I'd drop a quick post with anything I could find on the Top 24.

Darius Scott: Only the one song, and it's nothing more than an instrumental. The song is called Yeah, Way!

Evan McKeel: He's got one cd out called Teal.  Not a bad little album. Definitely one I wouldn't mind eventually getting in the digital format.

Madi Davis:  She's actually got 2 EPs out already. Madi Anne Davis came out in 2014, and What I Know arrived in March this year.

Riley Biederer: She's had a bunch of singles come out. In fact, she had a Christmas single called Loving Me (White Christmas) drop just last week. The Voice must not be as restrictive on their contestants as Idol is (or was). The rest of her songs are worth giving at least a listen.

Morgan Frazier: Has a country album called The Best (release in October this year) and a self titled EP that she dropped in 2013. Nice music, but she's got a Carrie Underwood sound to her and I can see where she'd get lost in the blue-eyed blonde female sea of country artists out there. She's got potential though.

Barrett Baber: He dropped an EP called Falling Again in May this year. He's also got 2 albums out. Colt Square Sessions dropped in 2012 and Battlefield Us was released in 2013.

Braiden Sunshine: He's been in 3 different bands, but the only album that I could find out there is called Middle Ground by Madison Red & Braiden Sunshine.

Viktor Kiraly: He's had several albums and singles out. His work can be found by clicking this link.

Blaine Mitchell: Has an EP out called I'll Be There Soon.

Keith Semple: He's got one EP called Slow Down the World which dropped in 2011.

Amy Vachal:  She's got 2 EPs out. The first one dropped in 2011 and is called Appleseed (the link is an ITunes link, there wasn't an Amazon link for this EP). The second one dropped in 2014 and is called Crinkle Bloom.

Jordan Smith: I see a couple cds and an EP hooked to his name in ITunes, but I can't be 100% certain that they're his because it doesn't really sound much like him. Could be that I've been listening to snippits of other tunes for too long today.  There is 2011's cd called Psychedelic Love, 2012's Live Like No One's Watchin' (where he's not a lead on the album but a featured artist), and the EP I'm not going to link simply because I'm 98% certain it's not him. Especially considering that when you look up on his Wiki page (not that there's much on it) it has him affiliated with Christian pop music. Even if he wasn't, I just don't see him doing explicit music...

The other 12 of the Top 24 have nothing out there that I'm aware of, unless you go hunting for performances on YouTube.  Which I'm not up for right now.

The Voice: Season 9: Top 9

Looks like Cindy Lou Who is taking over mentoring duties for Gwen tonight....
Final numbers gotten at 1:11pm. I was running late because of a bad night's sleep so the numbers might be off a bit from the true totals.

Barett Baber: Ghost:
comment:  Not really digging this one. Not at all.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 11
ITunes chart placement after noon (close of voting): 9
change: ^2
*Before the show, I'd Just Love to Lay You Down was still in 187th from the previous week. By midnight, it was up to 80th and then up again to 68th when I checked at 1:11pm

Shelby Brown: Even God Must Get the Blues:
comment:This didn't do much for me at all.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 25
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 18
change: ^7
* By midnight, Go Rest High on That Mountain was at 184th and at the final check had gotten to 151st.

Jeffrey Austin: Believe :
comment: This was good, but not good enough for me to want to buy it.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 4
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 3
change: ^ 1
*By midnight, Jealous came back at 110th and had risen to 82nd by 1:11pm

Braiden Sunshine: Amazing Grace:
comment: Definitely the right time to pull out a song like this. A very smart play on his part. Enough changes to make it his own. I think the only thing that will get him through (if he does manage it) will be the song choice.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 6
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 7
change:  DOWN 1 spot (the only reason for the drop is because Amy's and Madi's sales overtook him)

Zach Seabaugh: The Climb:
comment: Cutting from 9 contestants to 4 this week and he pulls out a slow song? I think this week should have been another uptempo number because the girls love to see him move. That said, this was beautifully performed. Is it enough to go into the Top 4? Maybe, maybe not. More than likely the latter.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 10
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 8
change: ^2

Madi Davis: Big Girls Don't Cry:
comment: Just no. Odd because she reminds me a tad of Joey Cook from Idol in her stylings and I just adored Joey. Just goes to show how fickle taste can be.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 7
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 5
change: ^2
*By midnight, Girls Just Want to Have Fun was back up to 62nd and had gotten to 53rd by the final check.

Emily Ann Roberts: 9 to 5:
comment: Not much a country fan. Even less a Dolly fan. However, this was a very fun performance to watch. She's a real contender for a spot in the Top 4.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 5
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 4
change: ^1
* Before the show, She's Got You was at 199th. By midnight it was up to 85th and had gotten to 67th by final check.
**In the Garden came back onto the charts and is sitting in 199th.
***Why Not Me made a resurgence and is presently at 139th.

Amy Vachal: To Make You Feel My Love:
comment: I kinda dug this one. She's got a vibe going for her that reminds me of The Corrs and Leigh Nash, with a little Norah Jones twist.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 8
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 6
change: ^2
* Blank Space returned to the chart in 200th by midnight and is presently in 136th place.
** Bye Bye Bye returned and came back in at 120th and is sitting in 86th.
***Dream a Little Dream of Me is back on the chart at 165th.


Jordan Smith: Somebody to Love:
comment: With the exception of that small section where he was told to go nuts and "Christina Aguilera it", this was a show stopper of a performance. A slam dunk and this boy is in the finals (as though there was any doubt as we've known for weeks he'd be going straight to the top in this season). I am, however, rather put out that they had him in the pimp spot yet AGAIN .
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 1 (he got here by 11pm)
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 1
change: none
* Before the show Jordan's Hallelujah was still on the chart in 74th. By midnight after the show, it was at 17th and is now at 12th. Both this one and his song this week outperforming Shelby's song of the week.
** Chandelier came back in 94th and is at 66th.
*** Great is Thy Faithfulness came back into 63rd and is in 42nd place.
**** Halo came back to 82nd and is now at 62nd.
***** Set Fire to the Rain came back to 131st and is now at 85th.
****** Who You Are came back to 163rd and is sitting in 106th.


By 1:11pm, there were 8 of the 9 contestants in the Top 10.

Of the 9, 7 of them had at least 1 additional song on the chart by the last check. Zach and Braiden are the only ones without multiple songs on the Top 200.


Analysis:
This week's biggest sales increase went to Shelby. The only reason she even had that much of an increase is because she had farther to go in order to catch up.

This week's loss went to Braiden. Although it isn't entirely his fault because once you get near the top, there isn't much farther you can go and people will get displaced while performers are jockeying for position.

If ITunes is accurate (and it hasn't been so far, I'm just putting this as an option because it is entirely possible), then we should see Jordan, Jeffrey, Emily Ann and Madi in the finals.


Fairly certain we won't see Barrett, Zach or Shelby in the next round.
Shelby's song didn't even get close to the Top 10. Her performance this week didn't even rate up with Jordan's week old one and that's not a good thing.

Unless Zach or Barrett did better in the alternate voting methods, their performances weren't quite up to par with the rest of the group. I'd like to put Braiden with this group as well but with all the fuss they made about his voice changing now (this is why you don't audition until after puberty, peeps!), and with his choice of song I'm going to need to put him in the "it's possible" list because you KNOW they were angling for pity votes.

For sure through is Jordan. This guy's been a beast this season, singing everything near flawlessly. He annoys me to no end, more so than Braiden simply because he's got some serious talent where the latter is just a heat rash at best.

Now for the rest of the pack:

Jeffrey has been a mostly solid performer this season. He's got a Clay Aikenish vibe to him and can sing most anything he chooses. We really could use another singer like him on the charts these days considering Clay's decided to step away and be a daddy. Real life comes first and let's be honest, with all those Claymates showing up at nearly every performance of his, he's more than likely got the fund to stay home for a good long while. I forsee a life like that for Jeffery. Is it possible he'll go through, maybe. Do I believe Jeffrey will come in second? At this point, not really.

Braiden has that aw gosh cutie patootie attitude that tweentards and grammies all love. Whether or not he can keep it up is debatable. Is he a threat to the most likely to be crowned? Not really. I don't see him getting second either.

I think Jordan's biggest threats are Emily Ann, Madi and Amy though.

Amy's performances all season have been pretty solid. She's got this Leigh Nash/ The Corrs/ Colbie Callait/ Norah Jones with a James Taylor twist to her. There's such a laid back, throwback sound to her that is just so cool. It's a perfect contrast to those that don't like Jordan's performances.

Madi... I'm not fond of her, honestly. I haven't been from day one. Weird because I love Joey Cook and this girl reminds me of her. Maybe my taste changed. Maybe something else is there that I just can't put my finger on. However much I don't particularly like her, I cannot deny the reaction the crowd had to her performance last night. It could simply be that she's much better to see in person as opposed to a recording.

Emily Ann has done fairly well the last few weeks. Of the country artists left in the competition, she's the best of the bunch. This show isn't necessarily one that goes for the WGWG (although last season they did, but then... he was just that good). Usually, for the country artists, they seem to lean towards' Blake's taste of blue-eyed blonde girls. Of these 3, she's the only one who doesn't already have other recordings out for sale. She's young, and she's hungry for a break. Jordan shouldn't underestimate this one if she gets through.

The Voice: Season 9: Top 10

Jeffrey Austin: Jealous:
comment: Nice. Not sure. After checking the original by Labrinth, I decided I quite dug this and bought both Jeffrey's and the original.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 8
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 7
change: ^1
*Dancing on My Own made a resurgence sometime in the "overnight" hours and at this posting is sitting in 175.  Actually, by noon it could have been a tad higher or lower because I've had a Murphy's Law kinda day and didn't get the figures until 2:30pm.

Emily Ann Roberts: She's Got You:
comment: Again. Nice. Not exactly my kind of music so it's hard to tell. Holy cow how many times can you mention the young age of a contestant? This time it was 2 in the package, 3 by one judge and once more by another. If my gal in Chicago was feeling better and drinking, she'd have been on the floor already.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 5
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 4
change: ^1
* By 12:18am, In the Garden is back on the chart in 155th. At 2:30pm, the song is now in 123rd.
** By 12:18am, Why Not Me is back on in 57th. At this posting, it's sitting in 44th.


Braiden Sunshine: Radioactive:
comment: no... just no. This was probably the worst choice he's made ever.When Adam sits there and tells you that singing a song took balls, it's not exactly always a compliment. Actually, it seemed like the judges were fighting to say something nice, and weighing each word so it didn't come off as completely dismissive. It's contestants like this that make me miss Simon Cowell. At least they didn't flat iron those curls again, although I can't say I was liking this style any better.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 151
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 122
change: ^29

Shelby Brown: Go Rest High on That Mountain:
comment: Not bad. Definitely  better than previous weeks. I'll be surprised if she doesn't do well this time around.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 9
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 10
change: DOWN 1


Korin Bukowski: Same Old Love:
comment: This was a fairly strong performance. Definitely better than some of the other stuff she's done. Gwen needs to stop trying to take the quirk outta Korin though. Glad to see the platinum was gone and a more flattering color was in her hair. Hubby almost didn't recognize her (he calls her mini-Gwen). Constant change ups make it confusing for the fans. What kind of artist does she want to be? At this point of the competition, the contestants need to be solidifying who they are as an artist. I don't feel Korin's accomplishing this. She seems to still be floating a drift. I wondering if another judge might not have been a better choice for her.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 47
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 28
change: ^19

Amy Vachal: Bye Bye Bye:
comment: Oh... I am SO digging this one. If PMJ was smart, they'd scoop this one up as well as their additions from Idol. I even went as far as to tweet them and suggest that they might want to keep an eye out for her because honestly, she'd be a perfect fit. 
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 15
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 8 (She's the one that bumped Shelby down a spot on the chart)
change: ^7
*By 12:18am, Blank Space came back in at 74th. At this posting, it's sitting in 61st.
**During the sleep shift hours, Hotline Bling made a come back and is sitting in 166th.

Jordan Smith: Hallelujah:
comment: This is one of the most over done songs out there. Not sure I'm even liking his treatment of it. Won't be surprised if he gets top sales again this week though, simply from the timing of his performance.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 2
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 2
change: none (in his defense, he's up against Adele's Hello, which has been heard EVERYWHERE lately. It would have taken a massive amount of luck to knock her out of top spot twice in three week's worth of competition.)
* By 12:18am, Chandelier was back in at 153rd. At this post, it's in 111th.
** By 12:18am, Great is Thy Faithfulness was back up to 55th. Now it's in 49th.
***By 12:18am, Halo was back at 117th. Now it's in 86th.
****By 12:18am, Who Are You was back to 126th. Now it's in 97th.
*****During the sleep shift, Set Fire to the Rain came back and is presently sitting in 179th place.

Zach Seabaugh: Crazy Little Thing Called Love:
comment: I've decided that I simply cannot watch this boy during these uptempo songs and be objective in my comments. I kinda lost it with the first.... uh where was I going with this? 
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 25
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 21
change: ^4


Madi Davis: Girls Just Want to Have Fun:
comment: Really didn't dig this arrangement at all.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 6
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 5
change: ^1
*By 12:18am, Love is Blindness was at 125th. At this posting, this one's sitting in 105th.

Barrett Baber: I'd Just Love to Lay You Down:
comment: Ugh. What is it about them picking such dated songs for this guy??? Looks like the pimp spot and Blake's insistence that this was a Top 10 song really helped him out. Personally, I liked his performance from last week better. Then again, I'm not a fan of The Twitty.
ITunes chart placement by midnight on show night: 3
ITunes chart placement by noon (close of voting): 3
change: none (he got stuck behind Jordan and Adele, so this is about as far as he was going to chart to be honest. A really strong showing though.)
*During the sleep shift hours, his Delta Dawn came back to 194th.


Analysis:

Holy crap. As of 12:18am, there are 6 of them sitting in the Top 10.
By the time I got back to check the Top 200 Chart, 7 of the contestants had muscled their way into the Top 10.  Of these 7, six of them had at least one song from previous weeks make a re-entry to the chart.

This week's biggest sales increase went to: Braiden.

Top performers, according to the Top 200:
Jordan (in 2nd with 5 additional songs on the chart)
Barrett (in 3rd with 1 come back song)
Emily Ann ( in 4th with 2 come backs)
Madi (5th with 1 additional come back song)

Those 4, for sure, should be going through to next week.

Also more than likely joining them will be:
Jeffrey (in 7th with 1 more song added on the chart)
Amy (in 8th with 2 more on the chart)

Most likely to be the ones in trouble this week:

Shelby: She slipped a spot, but it's simply because Amy out performed her last night. She's still in the Top 10, so this might be her saving grace. It all depends on how the alternate methods of voting treated her this week.

Zach: What he gained in squeals from the girls during his performance, didn't really translate well into the recorded version. It was nice, but really not a great pick for the week. It's something you'd expect to hear in the middle of a concert as filler and not something that translates really well to radio. Even with my squeal and panty throw at the tv last night, I didn't buy this one.

Korin: This was a strong performance,  but I'm not sure it's strong enough. Gwen seems bound and determined to make Korin just like her, but all this transformation is doing is making Korin look like an inferior Gwen. Her choice of judge is really working against her as it feels like Gwen is stifling all that made Korin really quirky and special. It feels like Korin is floundering in an attempt to discover who she really is. This confusion translates to the fans as we try to figure out exactly what kind of artist she's wanting to be. I suspect that Adam would have been a better choice for her mentor. Shoot, even Pharrell might have made a difference. I'm sad because she really is a decent performer, it's just that her judge doesn't know how to package her. Kind of like Hailey Reinhardt in AI, no one knew quite what to make of her either. I suspect that Korin would find a nice fit with the PMJ as well because of that uniqueness.

Braiden: By ITunes standards, this boy shouldn't even be in the running still. However, the other methods of voting is the only way he's making it through. I have been calling him out almost every week and every week I'm surprised he was saved.  Presently, there are 94 places between him and 9th placed Korin. I'm so over this boy and have been for awhile now. Oh Lord.... he annoys me and we all know what that means. He's The Voice's Sanjaya!

If things go according to the Chart (and they haven't yet) , we should see Braiden in a sing off with Korin tonight. However, taking into account the way things ran the last few weeks, I will not be terribly surprised if it turns out the sing off is between Korin and Zach/Shelby. Disappointed, yes. Surprised , not really. The only surprise will be if anyone other than those last 4 end up in the sing off and then sent home tonight.