by Jessica Blackwell

 

The Top 8 performances were seriously amazing. Everyone pulled out all the stops.The coaches were looking for Grammy level performances and the artists rose to the occasion. Here's how they did: 

 

Ryan Sil - "Open Arms" by Mariah Carey 

Ryan was looking to break out of the bottom three where he's been residing for the past two weeks. Noting that he keeps getting saved by the "skin of his teeth" Ryan was looking to really blow the audience away. I'm going to be honest. I'm really not sure how Ryan got this far when the likes of Reagan James and Maiya Sykes went home - something is clearly wrong with the show. His performance was "eh" because his vocals always fall flat. I think the only reason he keeps getting saved by America is because he's a good looking kid. The coaches don't agree with me (Adam said he doesn't deserve to have ever been in the bottom 3) but I think they're just going along with whatever scheme the show has going on. 

 

Craig Wayne Boyd - "Take it Easy" by the Eagles

Blake was a bit hard on Craig during rehearsals this week, but who can blame him? Craig is the last man standing on Blake's team and if Blake wants to keep his bragging rights, he has to ride this pony to the end. Luckily, Craig is a consistent pony and did a great job. Gwen said there was "nothing about his performance that didn't feel professional and it felt like he was a performer on the show, not a contestant." 

Danica Shirey - "These Dreams" by Heart 

Pharrell gave Danica this song because it showcases her ability in terms of range and scale, but it hit a personal note with her as well. The performance night turned out to be the four year anniversary of her dad's passing, and she dreams of him often. As always, she did an amazing job. She hit a note at the end that was just...WOW! 

 

Damien - "Someone Like You" by Adele

I think Damien may be the first male artist to cover an Adele song on The Voice. Adam felt like in order to get him to the semi-finals, Damien needed to go out and sing a song that he's going to crush and that he's the only one who should be singing an Adele song. I was curious to see how it would turn out with a male voice - and man did I get chills. This performance may have been one of the most beautiful ones I have EVER seen on The Voice. The coaches gave him a standing ovation and Blake said "he would swear Damien was  a machine if he didn't have to much  passion." Simply amazing. 

 

Chris Jamison - "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye

Adam wanted to get Chris away from the fun stuff and bring in the sexy stuff that would get the ladies to vote for him. What better than the number two baby making anthem (Let's Get it On is first). He did ok, but I'm not sure it was the best choice for him. I think the performance would have been more effective if he slowed it down and chopped it up. His vocals were very consistent however. 

 

Luke Wade - "Holding Back the Years" by Simply Red

Maybe I'm biased because this is one of my favorite songs - ever, but I didn't like this performance. Luke chose to go with a big song and he needed to deliver on it - but he didn't. Adam said that he wanted him to really let loose while performing and even pointed out his pitchy moment. 

 

Taylor John Williams - "Royals" by Lorde

Lorde and Taylor are both dark artists so him covering one of her songs was a match made in heaven. Taylor wanted to strip some of the pop away from the song because it didn't sound angry enough. He and Gwen stripped away the beat and added a bluesy/bluegrass feel that turned out to be amazing. Blake called him "150% pure artist" and Pharrell said he's waiting for his record. 

 

Matt McAndrew - "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice 

Adam gave him this song so Matt could blow it out of the water. I was very trepidatious about Matt doing this song because Season Two contestant Chris Mann, who was basically a trained Opera singer, recorded this song with Christina Aguilera for his album. Matt's version had more of a rock feel to it than classical but it was just as powerful, just in a different way. He closed out the show and did an awesome job. Blake called his performance "brilliant." I don't Matt has anything to worry about or for tomorrow's eliminations. 

 

The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8pm EST on NBC. 

 

(Image Courtesy of NBC)