‘The Voice’ Recap: Judith Hill, Sarah Simmons Cut in Shocking Elimination
Wow, wow, wow. In the blink of an eye, Adam Levine‘s team got decimated last night on The Voice, as early frontrunner Judith Hill and Sarah Simmons were both told to hit the road.
Now, Adam gets to sweat out the rest of the season alongside Usher and Shakira – whose respective teams came out unscathed – with just one contestant left in the competition while Blake Shelton dominates with three. What a difference a week makes, huh?
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Judith’s ouster is the first truly shocking viewer-voted elimination of the season, since it seemed like she could potentially win it all. The former Michael Jackson duet partner was consistently great week after week, showcasing powerhouse vocals and a natural ability to entertain.
However, she made a risky move by picking will.i.am’s latest lukewarm single “#thatpower” – and the funky, futuristic performance clearly didn’t connect with the audience. Also, in general, artists who are seen as too polished or professional often don’t do well on reality singing competitions once viewers have a say, since said viewers seem to think someone less experienced deserves the win. It’s a sad loss for the show, as Judith had the type of vocal chops and stage presence that should really be rewarded by such a competition, but it wasn’t meant to be.
On the other hand, it seemed like a good time for Sarah to go. We’re sure some of you will disagree. But for us, she just never got to the next level. Like several of her other performances, her rendition of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” was disappointing. On the surface it seemed like a perfect fit, but she wasn’t able to make it work once she stepped onstage. Plus, that song’s been done to death on the show. Admittedly, though, we thought Shakira’s Sasha Allen should have taken her place. (Even Shakira was shocked Sasha was safe, risking life and limb to climb up onstage in her pencil-thin high heels and skin-tight skirt to give her lone wolf a hug.)
Upon seeing the writing on the wall for his team, Adam seemingly grumbled “I hate this country” under his breath while off camera. (Happy post-Memorial Day to you too, buddy.) But we have a feeling he’ll backpedal on that if given the chance, ’cause, really, that’s not going to win any votes for his sole survivor, Amber Carrington.
While we feel Adam’s pain, we actually had our first true “yes!” moment of the live shows when Usher’s last woman standing Michelle Chamuel was triumphantly deemed the first person safe. Dark horse, the race is now wide open. She just has, oh, four country artists to compete against in the top six. So, good luck with that, right?
Previously: Michelle Chamuel Keeps Team Usher Alive