Worst Instant-Save Advances, Best Booted

Charlie Puth joined in the festivities with a two-for-one performance of his music, but it was one contestant’s Instant-Save moment that was easily the highlight of the night. It was easily their best performance of the season, and one of the overall best vocals of the entire series!

Honestly, this fan-favorite (or so we thought) should have never been there in the first place. Once there, though, they seized the moment and brought the house down. The in-studio audience was so loud, their Coach could barely talk, and it was all so deserved.

Talk about a moment! But was it enough to stay alive and rejoin the competition as the 13th singer left standing? Three singers got the boot tonight, and it did not go down the way we predicted, nor the way it should have.

We are shocked and outraged and we’re gonna need a minute.

Fair warning, since I’m safe at home, I’m probably going to be a little harsher than my colleagues Blake Shelton, Camila Cabello, Gwen Stefani, and John Legend. But I might be nicer, too. Maybe.

And just for fun, I’m going to rank the performances from worst to first to see who my favorites are, and then see how close you were to getting it right with your votes (i.e., agreeing with me).

(“That’s Hilarious” & “Left and Right,” Charlie Puth) Other than those awkward low notes which didn’t land naturally for us on “That’s Hilarious,” Charlie was an incredibly confident performer who had a beautifully consistent tone throughout. He also showed how you can command an audience just standing there, as he performed each song on a different piano, so engagement came from expression and more subtle body language.

Team Blake came out first. Our prediction was that America would save both Brayden Lape and bodie, leaving Blake to save his boy Bryce Leatherwood and send Rowan Grace into the Instant-Save battle. Is that what America did, though? That’s exactly what they did.

It was then up to Blake to complete our prediction as he had to choose between Bryce and Rowan — but that’s not what he did. Explaining that he was making his decision based on who’d already gone through, he cut Bryce loose and chose Rowan to advance in the first surprise of the night!

Next up were the four singers from Team Legend. John had an extremely strong night with both Parijita Bastola and Kim Cruse landing in our personal Top 3, and we predicted America would save both of them. Then, we suspected John would save Omar Jose Cardona over Sasha Hurtado because he has such a dynamic voice, even if he really dropped the ball last night.

In the biggest shock of the night, America did not follow our explicit instructions. They did save Parijita, but then somehow it was Omar who got that second slot. Did America not hear what we heard? Swapping him for Kim Cruse, and the result with John should have been the same, with Kim advancing — and they were. So it all came out in the wash, but we’re still a little surprised.

For Team Gwen, we felt confident in Justin Aaron advancing as he was stellar, but weren’t as certain with the other three (it was not a great night for her overall). We went with Kevin Walker, suspecting that Gwen would then save Kique over Alyssa Witrado. So what did America actually do?

Right away, America went off-script, opting to save Kique, even though we thought he was trying a little too hard and lacked sincerity. They did get it right in saving Justin Aaron, leaving Gwen to decide between Alyssa and Kevin.

With that one change, our prediction flipped, as she’s been wanting to coach young girls all season; how could she let Alyssa go? Plus, she’s been with Alyssa since the beginning. We thought Alyssa had the worst performance of the night, but weren’t surprised Gwen saved her, sending Kevin into the Instant-Save round.

As Team Camila hit the stage, we weren’t as confident in our predictions as they seemed to be getting more and more wrong. We thought Morgan Myles and Devix would advance automatically, and then Camila would choose to save Eric Who, since Kate Kalvach was new to her team. Surprising us at this point, all of that is exactly what happened!

(“Let Me Down Easy,” Billy Currington ) After the first chorus, the music stripped back and we finally got to hear the most beautiful parts of Bryce’s voice. He has such a gentle, soothing tone that feels warm on the ears. But there was a point earlier in the song where he sounded like he was pushing it a bit too much, on a part that didn’t need that, and it was pretty jarring. It was a sweet performance, but we weren’t sure it was enough.

(“When I Look at You,” Miley Cyrus) We’re not sure what it is, but Kate hasn’t been grabbing our attention this week as she’s done in the past. She sounded fine on the song, but there were no moments that slapped us across the ears and demanded our aural attention. Instead, it was just solid singing without any bells and whistles. If ever there were a time for the whole show, this was it. It didn’t feel like we got that.

(“Elastic Heart,” Sia) We wish the band behind her could have been a little softer so we could hear the nuance of her vocal. She was almost buried underneath the music, and with a song with such a challenging cadence, it didn’t serve her. She gave a great vocal throughout, handling all the rapid changes deftly, slipping into and out of falsetto seamlessly. It was clear she really loves the song’s message and felt connected to it.

(“Redbone,” Childish Gambino) An absolutely inspired song choice, Kevin threw everything he had vocally into this and left us with goosebumps. His soaring upper range in his head voice is so powerful and accurate, but we loved the full-throat sections as well. This was like a classic old-school vibe in the most fresh and current way. It’s easily the best Kevin has ever sounded. Every decision was tasteful and magical at the same time.

We thought Kevin Hawkins did enough to earn America’s vote, so we never expected him to be in this position. Then, he came out and delivered a showstopping performance so far beyond anything we’ve seen him do to this point. Had he done that Monday night, he’d have been in the conversation for best-of-the-night.

As it was, that had to be enough to stay, right?

As it was, it was not. In a complete shocker, it was the weakest of the night’s performers, Bryce Leatherwood, who advanced, keeping Blake’s entire time intact.

“The Voice” continues Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.