The Voice 10: Live Playoffs - Team Blake/Team Christina

Here we go! Live rounds! This is when it starts to feel like American Idol. I am getting my fix in! LOL anyway.....the judges get to bring back an eliminated contestant. I am not sure how I feel about that. Some of these people are pretty much fodder for the prizes on each team. Cool to see if they surprise us tonight. I am going to run this like I did with my American Idol blogs. I will rank the performances from least favorite to favorite by team. Then I will name the two contestants who should advance and who will advance.

Team Blake

Paxton Ingram - How Deep Is Your Love: Interesting song choice. You were giving off an MJ vibe and I liked it in the beginning. Then you got a little carried away with the "hey"s and "huh"s. When you started jumping around the stage. Your vocal got lost. 

Justin Whisnaut - Here's A Quarter: Nice voice but horrible song choice. If you get a second chance, you better nail it. There were times that you were sharp. It just didn't settle nicely in your voice. Definitely would have picked a song with more substance. 

Joe Maye - Long Train Running: Great opening. It was sincere and committed. Nice energy. There were moments of grit and dirty that I enjoyed. Your vocal stamina is just not there yet. Great effort but just not stand out. 

Mary Sarah - Rose Garden: I think that you have a classic voice. You always pick songs that have a 50's feel to it. I love that you can sing that style well but I worry about your song choices in the live rounds. 

Katie Basden - Georgia Rain: Beautiful. I loved the use of dynamics in the performance. You went from soft and sincere to meaningful and confident. Your voice is very pleasing to the ear. 

Adam Wakefield - Seven Spanish Angels: He told the story with his voice and guitar playing. His voice just makes me listen. I don't want to miss a note. Song was a little sleepy for me but I feel like you delivered the song very well. 

Team Christina

Nick Hagelin - Stay: I was shocked by this pick. Ugh....I would send him back home. But this was his best performance. He is always lacking something to me. I can't put my finger on it. I find myself wondering why he is up there every time he performs. I don't understand his appeal. 

Tamar Davis - Rise Up: I was so worried about this. This is one heck of a song. You did a lot and there were messy spots. Actually a lot of messy spots. So sad because I know that you are capable of better. It was just messy. I have no other words for it. 

Kata Hay - Natural Woman: I love how she digs deep into each song. I would have loved to have heard another song choice. This was too predictable and so my bar was set high. While you did an amazing job, I wanted outstanding. There is a nice grit in your voice. She just puts all of herself into the performance. She just needs to find the right song. 

Alisan Porter - Crybaby: Yes she has range. Yes she has stage presence. Yes she has the vocals. I want to be careful of the oversinging. There were parts of that that felt screamish. I would have loved it more in a lower key. You were just up in the rafters from the start. I know that you are a favorite but you need to deliver those stunning vocals again. 

Ryan Quinn - I'm Not The Only One: It was heartfelt and came from a good place. His vocal control is SICK. Listen to those runs. Clean with it! When he gets into his power/chest, he has draw that just commands the song. Nice arrangement and song choice. 

Brian Bautista - Pillowtalk: Yep yep yep....here for this vocal. There were nice riffs that enhanced the melody. The song seemed like it was written for you. I loved your stage presence. Your transition to head voice was pretty amazing. I wasn't expecting it. No warning and you nailed it. 

That was an interesting choice of songs and performances. I think that, for Team Blake, it should and will probably be Adam and Mary with Katie or Joe getting Blake's choice. For Team Christina, Alisan and Brian will probably get America's vote. I am praying for Ryan to get her choice. Some contestants tanked during the live shows. Some of them really improved. Until next time......