‘The Voice’ Recap: Sasha Allen, Amber Carrington Fall Short of the Finals
No whammies, no whammies, no whammies!
We practically couldn’t watch The Voice results show last night because we were a little scared Michelle Chamuel might get eliminated in a shocking turn of events, considering she fell shy of the top 10 on the iTunes songs chart, while the Swon Brothers, Danielle Bradbery and Amber Carrington dominated. But the pimp spot never fails and she stuck around.
Indeed, the top 10 bonus (where download sales are multiplied by 10) is apparently no match for the power of the pimp spot – the vote-grabbing final slot on performance nights – as Amber was given the boot despite her higher placement on the chart. Also sent home was Sasha Allen, who dragged the bottom.
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That means Michelle, Danielle and the Swons will compete in next week’s finals, where the winner is crowned. It also means the end of the line for Amber’s coach Adam Levine and Sasha’s Shakira, who will now sit on the sidelines and watch Blake Shelton and Usher face off for supremacy.
Adam seriously needs to take stock of what happened this season, as his team went from the one to beat to down-and-out in the blink of an eye. Maybe next time he’ll hold on to an act like Midas Whale or more carefully scrutinize the songs he chooses. Something’s gotta change, because frenemy Blake has been putting him to shame.
But for now let’s focus on what might have gone wrong for the contestants who got the boot.
In Amber’s case, it was definitely that she didn’t distinguish herself enough while competing in a country-heavy contest. The Swon Brothers have gotten really far based on personality and likeability. But Amber just never really stood out in that sense. Also, she was inconsistent when it came to vocals, a flaw that was underscored on this week’s performance episode – her off-key rendition of Katy Perry’s “Firework” was cringe-worthy but then she turned around and did a beautiful (if bland) take on Maroon 5’s “Sad.”
Meanwhile, Sasha is one of those singers who sounds too trained, like she’s better suited for Broadway or even the opera than being a pop star. It’s a subtle but distinct difference from coming across as too professional, as was the case with Judith Hill. In the beginning, we thought Sasha was great, but eventually her voice wore on us because it never relaxed. There was always some sort of distraction – over-enunciation or off-putting vocal acrobatics or just too many dramatic notes strung together. There’s an art to being effortlessly pitch perfect, and Sasha unfortunately hasn’t mastered it yet.
Fleshing out the night were several performances, including a what-could-have-been-genius pairing of Fall Out Boy and Michelle on “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)” that fell short because the band didn’t utilize Michelle very well. She basically jumped around like an awkward hype man screaming “I’m on fire!” every once in a while as the band barely acknowledged her.
Also making appearances were past Voice contestants Nicholas David, Terry McDermott and Tony Lucca. Plus there was a performance featuring the top five singing Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” that was really a Swon Brothers jam, as they were prime-positioned atop a set of stairs while the female contestants fought for space below as the brothers’ mics boomed a lot louder than anyone else’s. Are we being set up for an upset next week?
Previously: Usher Declares Michelle Chamuel the Winner