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.