The Voice Season 12 Top Ten Performances

Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC

The Voice Season 12 Top Ten Performances will lead to the elimination of two artists on Tuesday night. Next week, those eight will be reduced by half for the final. So, even though this vote is for the top eight, the question you need to start asking yourself is this: who do you really want to see in the finale?

Last week singer Stephanie Rice was on the bottom and ultimately was eliminated via the instant save voting. My thoughts about it were that her loss to Team Adam’s Mark Isaiah was partly Machiavellian on the part of country music fans. Her ability to channel intense emotions was unmatched and made her the main competition for Team Blake’s Lauren Duski. This week, surprise, surprise Lauren did her first up tempo country song – complete with her playing guitar! She did “Tell Me Why” by Wynonna Judd.

Lauren sang and performed the song well – and she looks at ease with that guitar! Despite this I couldn’t help but think that Stephanie would have done it better. She would have given the words more weight and made the listener feel the angst behind the deceptively up tempo and happy melody. That’s because Stephanie was alternative-country a unique blend of folk, rock, country and blues. Lauren, whose voice shimmers with emotions when doing ballads didn’t deliver any of the song’s lyrical depth. For the country purist though, Lauren is definitely the one and this performance was great.

Another singer with her heart in country music is the former America’s Got Talent contestant Brenneley Brown. She’s singin “Anyway” by Martina McBride.

According to her website this talented, hard-working teen also does the voice and singing for Lily on the Disney animated show Sofia The First. Furthermore. Brenneley has been working professionally acting, singing and wowing crowds since she was seven. In terms of drive I can’t help thinking about the stories about young Taylor Swift!

Why am mentioning Brenneley and Lauren? Because if it’s one thing I remember from last season it’s that a finale with two country singers drags and it feels like that’s what’s being set up. The best finales have different kinds of singers in terms of genre and gender.

For instance, do you want TSoul and Chris Blue in the finale? They both do r&b and soul music with an old school feel. Vocally this version of “At This Moment” by Billy Vera & the Beaters is his best performance since the blind auditions!

Is This The Voice or the The Grammy’s!

If I had to pick my top four based on just what we saw in the The Voice Season 12 Top Ten Performances it would be these singers. The combination of great vocals, presentation, and uniqueness made them the night’s standouts!

Chris Blue – “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars

Chris’s performance of “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars was so much fun! Chris wanted people to see more of his dancing and his vision of himself as an artist. Watching him I thought, “now this is entertainment!”

Hunter Plake – “Higher Love” by Steve Winwood

Hunter loves remaking songs into his own thing, and he does it really well. Hunter’s haunting voice, musical arrangements, and staging pulled me in to his intense world.

I couldn’t help but wonder what this would have sounded like if his coach Gwen Stefani hadn’t told him he needed to stick to the original melody. Maybe there was a copyright issue involved?

Next Up: The Leading Ladies and who who may go home!