It’s make or break week for the Top 8 on The Voice. Only FOUR contestants will survive Tuesday’s elimination and advance to next week’s final. Here’s how the results will go down: The Top 3 contestants will advance via America’s vote. The Bottom TWO contestants will be eliminated. The singers in 4th, 5th and 6th place will sing for the Insta-Save and the 4th spot in the final. FOUR contestants will leave the competition.
On Monday, each of the singers perform solo plus a duet with a fellow competitor. Click to find out how the singers are paired.
The ranking order is based on relative strength coming out of last week’s shows. Monday’s performances, can of course, change everything.
1. Laith Al-Saadi – Team Adam – Laith has been the most consistent performer throughout the competition, which is why he remains at the top of my list. The final will be a battle between him and Adam Wakefield, and right now, I can’t call it. Adam has the advantage of Team Blake which appears to have an army of fans willing to vote early and often.
2. Adam Wakefield – Team Blake – Blake and Adam have to be really careful about song choice this week. Laith’s gravelly, bluesy voice cuts straight to the heart. Adam has an incredible tone and is a seasoned performer, but doesn’t always make that emotional connection. But when he does…watch out.
3. Mary Sarah – Team Blake – If Mary performs this week as she did last week, she could pull an upset, sliding right into that final spot instead of Alisan. She’s been charting fairly well on iTunes all season, even when she falters on The Voice stage. She’s got people. And Team Blake. DARK HORSE.
4. Alisan Porter – Team Christina – Yeah. I believe it’s absolutely possible Alisan could be singing for her life on Tuesday. Song choice is going to be CRUCIAL for her this week. My guess is she and Xtina will bring it back to basics: A simple emotional song and a performance in the pimp spot.
5. Bryan Bautista – Team Christina – Bryan seems to have found his groove. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will earn him anything more than an insta-save performance for a spot in the final. Laith, Mary, Adam and Alisan are all ahead of him at this point in terms of the impact made during the competition. MAYBE he’ll nab a spot IF he pulls out an incredible performance for the save. But only if Alisan has already advanced to the final. In other words, he could possibly beat Mary and Hannah in a sing off–but not Alisan.
6. Hannah Huston – Team Pharrell – Hannah has been my favorite in the finals, but I don’t think Pharrell has served her well in regard to song choice and coaching. She’s a talented and soulful singer, but the quirks that make her performances memorable, also put her at a disadvantage. She doesn’t have the mass appeal of the singers ahead of her on this list.
7. Paxton Ingram – Team Blake – Although Paxton has been the little engine that could this season, I think this week will be the end of the road for the him. But considering that we all figured he’d be out the first week, I’m not ready to count him out. I mean, his flip of Whitney’s “How Will I Know” was a brilliant choice for a save-me song.
8. Shalyah Fearing – Team Adam – Shalyah is a young singer with talent, but at barely 16 years of age, she’s not quite mature enough to fully inhabit the songs she performs. Viewers at home have been left mostly unmoved. I think she’s headed straight home this week.
