Tag Archives: The Voice live shows

Postmortem: Season 4 Live Playoffs, May 27-28

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Little belated this week with end-of-month craziness, but here we are!

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Are We In For A Team Blake Three-Peat?

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The Voice - Season 4

Could Blake Shelton three-peat on The Voice?

It certainly looks that way after this week’s results eliminated his biggest competition, and left all the show’s other coaches – Adam Levine, Shakira and Usher – each with only one artist to pin their hopes on.

Team Adam’s Judith Hill and Sarah Simmons, who both turned four chairs in their blind auditions and were each considered possible winners, were sent home on Tuesday. Their exits mean that the only Team Adam singer left is Amber Carrington. Amber is actually a country artist, as Blake has mentioned several times on the show, including this week.

Shakira has only Sasha Allen and Usher is counting on just Michelle Chamuel.

Meanwhile, Blake has all three of the acts he brought to the Top 10 – Danielle Bradbery, Holly Tucker and The Swon Brothers. If you’re doing the math, that means there’s a 50% chance that a Team Blake artist will be the new Voice champion, with each of the other three coaches having a just slightly better than 16% shot.

Danielle has long been considered another favorite, and with Judith’s departure, becomes the new best bet. This week, she was again referred to as a potential huge star in country music following her performance of The Judds’ song “Grandpa.”

Since two artists are dropped from the show each week, the worst-case scenario is that The Voice sees two of its coaches taken out of contention in the same night. It wouldn’t be unheard of: last season’s finale was also Team Blake-heavy, with two of the three finalists being from that group.

If one of Team Blake’s three artists does in fact earn the season title, it will be the third time in four seasons that the country music star has been The Voice‘s winning coach. He led Cassadee Pope to victory last December and before that, Jermaine Paul won last May. (The show’s first winner, Javier Colon, was from Team Adam.)

However, it’s worth noting that audiences haven’t yet seen how Blake’s picks perform in the music industry. Cassadee Pope signed her record deal and has been on tour with Rascal Flatts and The Band Perry, but is still working on post-show music. As for Jermaine Paul, he’s released only two singles since being crowned the champ, and one was a cover. His album “Finally” still doesn’t have a definite release date.

Fans will find out if anyone can stop Team Blake when The Voice continues next Monday. In the meantime, you can join Blake, Usher and a slew of other musical guests including Reba McEntire and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder as NBC broadcasts Blake’s “Healing the Heartland” concert to benefit disaster victims in Oklahoma. The special will air tonight at 9 PM ET/PT on NBC and several NBCUniversal cable channels.

(c)2013 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Excerpts appear at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.

‘The Voice’ Celebrates Memorial Day

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The Voice - Season 4

The Voice’s latest performance show fell on Memorial Day, but being on a TV show didn’t stop the singers from recognizing the holiday.

Some of the Top 8 artists said the occasion lent an extra significance to their performances. Others recognized loved ones who had served or who are serving. All of them agreed that they were happy to have taken the stage.

“The show must go on, isn’t that what they always say?” Team Adam’s Amber Carrington told TODAY.com after Monday night’s performances. “But I think it was really cool, because we got to sing and it was in memory of our troops and everything. We got to put on a show for people.”

“It was kind of interesting,” agreed her teammate, Judith Hill. “It was really cool to know that today’s Memorial Day and sing with that in mind.”

“There’s always that thought in our heads of ‘Oh, my gosh, it’s another week. We have to survive. We have to practice. We have to do all this.’ But [we were] able to get a little bit away from that today,” said Team Blake’s Holly Tucker, “and really remember all the sacrifices that people have made for us. I’m always thankful for that. So I made sure that people knew that today.”

She has several relatives who have served. So did both Amber and Judith’s grandfathers. Team Adam’s Sarah Simmons got emotional as she mentioned loved ones currently in the military.

“My cousin is in the Air Force and then one of my best friends is about to go to Afghanistan soon,” she told us, wiping tears from her eyes.

Yet as Team Blake’s The Swon Brothers pointed out, being a musician often means working on all sorts of holidays. “More than likely – judging by our past schedule – if we were at home, we’d be performing somewhere,” said Zach Swon.

Team Usher’s Michelle Chamuel agreed. “I’ve been in a band before [the show] for five years,” she explained. “We played almost every holiday. New Year’s Eve, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Halloween.”

For those observing Memorial Day who still decided to tune in, the Voice artists expressed a desire to have brought something positive to a national day of remembrance.

“I hope that it could bring joy to people. I know we’re supposed to be celebrating our troops and our country. There are more important things than a singing competition show,” said Team Shakira’s Sasha Allen. “I don’t have any family members who’ve served, but I take it to heart, all the soldiers that have lost their lives for our freedom.”

(c)2013 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Excerpts appear at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.

Postmortem: Season 4 Live Playoffs, May 20-21

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Coverage for May 20-21:

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Carson Daly Says ‘Inconsistencies’ In This Week’s ‘Voice’ Voting: Does It Matter?

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The Voice

Host Carson Daly opened Wednesday’s The Voice results show by announcing that there had been “inconsistencies” found during the first round of live playoff voting, but assured fans that the situation did not affect the outcome.

Daly brought on stage Jason George, the CEO of Telescope – the company which oversees voting for not only The Voice, but other reality competitions as well. Daly then revealed, “We noticed some inconsistencies in this week’s texting and online voting.”

“For complete fairness, votes cast via text and online were not included in the voting results,” he went on to state, adding that, “Telescope certifies removing those votes did not affect the voting for any team.”

Neither Daly nor George explained specifically what was meant by “inconsistencies,” nor did they offer any details about how the issues were detected.

The admission did not come as a surprise to many The Voice fans, who reached out to the show’s official Facebook and Twitter accounts on Tuesday to speak up about problems voting. As of 11:30 PM PST (an hour and a half after the show’s West Coast airing), both The Voice Facebook app and show website were stating that voting was closed, when in reality it ended at 10 AM EST on Wednesday morning.

Further complicating matters, a Twitter user with the handle @NAIDetectives tweeted on Tuesday that the phone number given to vote for Team Shakira’s Karina Iglesias was wrong. Iglesias was eliminated on Wednesday.

Yet with Daly asserting that the removal of text and online votes made no difference, four artists were dropped from The Voice as scheduled: Iglesias, Caroline Glaser, Justin Rivers and Cathia.

Did the voting issues really not affect Wednesday’s results?

Without knowing the specifics of the tabulation process, it’s hard to say for sure. However, it seems doubtful. With the disqualification of text and online methods, the only votes that counted were from iTunes and phones. Yet at least one phone number may have been wrong.

In addition, iTunes voting was more difficult this week, as the usual link to purchase The Voice singles was missing from the iTunes Store front page. Not to mention that iTunes voting is one of the least popular methods to use, as it requires that a fan must purchase an artist’s single for each vote they want to cast – at $1.29 a pop. If you vote the maximum number of times, that will cost you $12.99.

It’s not implausible to say that there may have been many more votes cast by people who prefer to vote strictly online – people who were not able to vote at all because of the website and Facebook errors.

The Voice has a recent history of complicating voting. Starting in season three, the show introduced a new rule in which an artist’s number of iTunes votes is multiplied by 10 if their song is charting in the iTunes Top 10 at close of voting. This greater emphasis on downloads may have proved which artists sell better, but it also marginalized the other methods. Fans could easily tell which artists would be leaving by inspecting the charts, with eventual winner Cassadee Pope a virtual lock due to her string of iTunes hits. Meanwhile, those unwilling or unable to spend money questioned how much their votes mattered.

Now The Voice has another voting controversy. Despite the reasonable doubt, it’s not hard to see why NBC proceeded with Wednesday’s elimination show. The alternative would have been to allow all 16 artists to perform again next week. But that would also have required adding a week to the season’s schedule, and the network has already set The Voice finale for June 18.

(c)2013 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Excerpts appear at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.

Episode Recap: Season 4 Live Playoffs, Night 2

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The Voice - Season 4

After Team Adam and Team Usher performed on last night’s The Voice, it’s time for Team Blake and Team Shakira. Blake is overjoyed that he has a team of all country artists, restating his dream of bringing a country artist to the grand finale. Shakira, on the other hand, is nervous and comparing herself to a mama bird. Usher and Adam are asked to reflect on how their teams did the night before, and dole out the usual amount of praise, as if Carson expects that one of them is going to go on live television and say something negative about their artists.

Team Blake starts the show, with a clip package of them getting coaching at a karaoke bar. Being taken to a karaoke bar by Blake Shelton has to be one of the most awesome experiences on the planet. Performances of party songs ensue, with the most entertaining of them being Danielle Bradbery laughing her way through “YMCA.” This segues right into Team Blake’s group performance of “Boondocks.” Such a Blake choice, and it sounds exactly like you’d expect it to.

Leading off the individual songs is Team Shakira’s second-chance artist, Garrett Gardner. Shakira has asked him to sing John Lennon’s “Imagine” – an iconic tune if there ever was one – and play the piano. Turns out that Garrett is a Lennon “fanatic,” so that must add a little pressure for him, too. However, he’s got nothing to worry about. His version is pretty darn fantastic, and if he can pass muster with Adam, who is a well-known admirer of that track, he should get through to the next round. On another note, Usher confuses the words “computer” and “piano.”

Usher: I’m happy to see you at a computer…I’m happy to see you at a piano.

Following Garrett is Team Blake’s Holly Tucker, with “How Do I Live” by LeAnn Rimes, best known as the closing theme from the 1997 Nicolas Cage-John Cusack flick Con Air. Blake wants to see her have more fun because she’s so hard on herself. If you’ve ever heard the original version of this song, Holly has the power to give the track the push that it needs. It’s a straightforward country ballad done by a straightforward country artist, and Blake is way too excited about it.

Carson: He’s a proud papa…and he’s been drinking.

In the middle of uniform applause for Holly, there’s this lovely gem:

Adam: You’re better looking and more talented than Blake is.

Blake’s so happy, he applauds that, too. Maybe we should cut off his supply of Starbucks lattes but that probably wouldn’t help much. Moving on, it’s Team Shakira’s Kris Thomas. Shakira has assigned him Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” (there’s a lot of Bruno Mars love on the show this season). The two of them sing part of the song together during rehearsal, which throws Kris for an understandable loop. His performance is solid, if a bit nervous, as Adam points out. Blake points out that people should be nervous under these circumstances. Going on to try and describe the difference between male and female singers, he then makes Carson wish they weren’t on live TV.

Carson: It’s clear tonight Blake doesn’t know what a ‘girl place’ is. Thanks for that.

Kris is continuing to work hard every week, and there’s no huge fault with anything he’s done so far. If there’s a question about him, it’s if he might run into some trouble later on in the competition, when he could up splitting the R&B vote with Vedo.

Next to perform are the show’s only remaining duo, Team Blake’s The Swon Brothers. Their take on Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Fishing in the Dark” is the usual good time we’ve come to expect from them. Shakira points out how they make her feel at ease and comfortable. Adam is happy that Blake finally has his country moment, and then mentions that an instrument was out of tune. Blake laughs at Adam for not knowing the song, which is ill-advised, as Adam points out in his retort:

Adam: You never know any songs ever. The first song I didn’t know. Leave me alone.

After more Sprint Skybox chatter, Blake and Shakira combine for Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now.” You wouldn’t expect a Latin superstar to handle a country song so well, but she does. Even though she has a noticeable accent, Shakira enunciates the lyrics better than some American singers out there. Blake, of course, could probably perform this song while asleep. As an added bonus, you can even see Usher clapping and singing along. If you missed that duet, it’s at the end of this recap.

Team Shakira’s Karina Iglesias has to follow that, with her version of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.” Hearing that, Adam is disappointed that he let her go. Blake laughs at Adam admitting to his mistake. Everyone thinks Karina did well. Following her is Team Blake’s Justin Rivers, whom Blake has handed Diamond Rio’s “Meet in the Middle.” Usher believes Justin’s performance was cool even though he felt like he was the only person who didn’t know what was going on. Then there’s Adam.

Adam: I like that there’s a country artist that’s genuinely a threat to Blake’s career. That’s kinda awesome.

Shakira takes her team to meet with her choreographer in order to prepare for their performance of “We Are The Champions.” They’re going to have to work hard because the song was already covered well, first by the coaches and then by Season 2′s Tony Vincent. No one can deny they’re trying, but it’s just not the fist-pumping rock anthem this particular song should always be.

NBC has wisely saved two of the stronger artists to the end of the show. The first is Team Blake’s Danielle Bradbery, with the Pam Tillis song “Maybe It Was Memphis,” which Blake correctly predicts a lot of peole won’t know.  Those people certainly know the song now as Danielle continues to perform like someone a lot older and more experienced than she is. After Adam jokes that Blake has never said any wise words, he crowns Danielle one of the best singers in the competition, and reminds us all that she’s just sixteen years old. We can now all look back on what we were doing at sixteen and feel inadequate.

Finishing off the night is Team Shakira’s Sasha Allen, with “Oh! Darling.” Juliet Simms pretty much delivered the definitive version of this song in Season 2, but Sasha hits some crazy notes in her version. Adam suggests she could win the show if she were on Carson’s team. Blake laughs at Adam again and continues to do so up until the point where Shakira starts talking. It’s clear that Sasha has won over the coaches, and she probably made a few new fans, too.

You can vote to save your favorites from Team Blake and Team Shakira until tomorrow morning (voting has closed for Team Adam and Team Blake) on nbc.com, Facebook, and iTunes. Once you’ve done that, don’t forget to tune in to a special results show tomorrow night, when four artists will be sent home, leaving your Top 12.

(c)2013 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Excerpts appear at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.

Episode Recap: Season 4 Live Playoffs, Night 1

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The Voice - Season 4

Starting The Voice live shows – and first to sing for your vote -  are Team Adam and Team Usher. Fans know that anything can happen during live playoffs, especially on the first night. So how did the introductory chapter of season four go?

First of all, Team Usher has their own labeled sweatshirts. Their coach has brought them to the gym in order to get them in gear for their first group performance, which surprises Josiah, who didn’t expect to be working out for a singing competition. He finds out that singing and exercising simultaneously is difficult. Carson makes a slightly corny Floyd Mayweather joke before Team Usher performs “Black and Gold” on an appropriately colored stage. It’s exactly the performance you’d expect from a team coached by an R&B singer.

Team Adam’s Amber Carrington gets the first solo spot. The wardrobe department seems to love dressing her in black. She’s singing “Stay” by Rihanna, which is something simpler and more emotional than what we’ve heard from her before. In keeping with that approach, the setup of her stage is pretty minimal, allowing us to focus on the clarity of her vocals. Adam gives Amber a standing ovation, while Blake thinks she set the bar for the evening pretty high before plugging the official coffee carrier of The Voice.

Blake: Makes me want to thank Starbucks for this latte.

Number two on the set list – after another awkward Sprint Skybox segment – is Team Usher’s Josiah Hawley. His take on “Starlight” by Muse is stronger than the performances we’ve seen from him previously, but it still doesn’t quite reach out and grab you like other artists have done. Carson thinks it sounded great. Shakira thinks it’s Josiah’s best performance so far. Adam approves of Usher’s coaching. Then there’s Blake being Blake.

Blake: Looks like the world’s going to lose a male model. I’m gonna have to fill in.

Following that is Team Adam’s Sarah Simmons, who’s selected Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel.” It’s a song guaranteed to make people cry; ask Javier Colon, who did it in season one. Sarah’s voice has a tone to it that is reminiscent of McLachlan, so it’s a great choice and you can see the emotional connection she has to the lyrics. It’s also worth noting that Sarah almost always enunciates, which is something that’s underappreciated in music. Blake calls her angelic and tells his team to do that, while Usher offers just some mild criticism, before Shakira whips out some more Spanish. And Adam? Oh, just calls her one of the most incredible singers he’s ever heard. No big deal.

There’s another break in the competition for Carson to chat up Today‘s Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker, in the first installment of NBC cross-promotion. Once that’s over, it’s time for Team Usher’s Cathia and her version of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing,” which has been done by Cheesa in season two and Devyn DeLoera in season three. We learn that the song was Usher’s choice, though, and he probably didn’t know that. While Cathia delivers a good effort, it comes across as more volume than emotion. Shakira doesn’t agree with the song choice. Carson doesn’t care what Adam thinks. Usher is a bit vague, talking more about how he believes in Cathia than anything else.

He takes a break to team with Adam on a cover of “Superstition” complete with horns. It’s pretty darned fun, and it makes you wonder if the show’s going to ask Shakira and Blake to collaborate next (it’d be fair, wouldn’t it?). Once the coaches have left the stage, it’s time for Team Adam’s Caroline Glaser. Adam hands her Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team,” which is a pretty popular song of recent, so that adds to the challenge. She admits to being nervous, but it definitely doesn’t come across on stage. Blake comments on his latte again. Adam nearly facepalms.

Adam: Did they pay you or something?

Team Usher’s Vedo sings Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds,” which was previously done by another R&B vocalist, Jermaine Paul. But it’s another coach’s choice. Vedo doesn’t even know who Phil Collins is. After another emotional performance from Vedo that is pretty impressive for a guy who’d never heard of the original artist before, Shakira makes a comment about the universe and Adam busts out a faux-Italian accent. It’s one of the most random segments of coach feedback in the history of the show.

The spotlight then turns to the entirety of Team Adam, as they visit Adam’s family’s clothing store, meet Adam’s stylist and get some fashion tips before they gather for their group version of Florence and the Machine’s “Shake It Out.” But they do not have matching sweatshirts. As you’d expect from a team of ladies handed an epic song by a female vocalist, they nail their collaboration, particularly Amber and the ever-impressive Judith Hill. If one of them doesn’t win this season, they could always get back together as a group act.

After that comes Team Usher’s Michelle Chamuel, performing Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors.” Usher thinks it’s a perfect song for Michelle, going so far as to bring out a mirror because he wants her to see how the song applies to her. Her rendition isn’t quite as alive as the one by James Massone in season two, but it has an earnestness to it that makes it likeable. Adam thinks it was a breakout moment for her, and Blake is annoyed that he didn’t get to say that first. The consensus is another great performance.

Last but not least is the woman everyone is waiting for: Team Adam’s Judith Hill. What’s she going to do in order to continue wowing the audience? That would be “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone, which Dez Duron did a fantastic version of last season, but if anyone can bring as much soul as he did, it’s Judith. Adam thinks this is a statement performance for Judith, specifically citing her former teammate Sasha Allen as tough competition. Not to discount Sasha, but Judith has nothing to worry about based on what she does, which is a rendition that wouldn’t be out of place on a Broadway stage. She knows how to command an audience, and considering it’s the audience that’s deciding her fate, that’s a very good thing.

Usher: You came out here and you took us to church.

On that high note, the first live playoff night draws to a close. Tune in tomorrow to see Team Blake and Team Shakira take the stage – and then watch Wednesday to find out which artists won’t make America’s first cut to be named ‘The Voice’ for season four.

(c)2013 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Excerpts appear at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.

Episode Postmortem: Season 3 Finale

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The Voice - Season 3NBC has crowned its third ‘The Voice’ in just over a year – and on Tuesday evening, the winner, the runners-up and the coaches joined Big Red Chairs on the red carpet to give their final thoughts about the junior season of the hit series.

Team Blake’s pop-rocker Cassadee Pope was named the winner of the competition at the end of Tuesday night’s season finale, joining previous winners Javier Colon from Team Adam in Season 1 and Jermaine Paul from Team Blake in Season 2.

Her win was expected by most of America – and also by her fellow finalists, teammate Terry McDermott and Team Cee Lo’s Nicholas David. “Absolutely,” said Terry when asked if he had thought Cassadee would take home the title. “I think the biggest reason we had that feeling was because her songs had been reaching such a large cross-section of the public. Her continually crushing iTunes speaks volumes for itself.”

“She deserves it,” he continued. “The right person’s won.”

Added Nicholas, “I had a feeling i was going to go a long time ago – but I never looked at it like a competition. I’ve always just been blessed to be here.”

Even Cassadee, who previously stated that she tried not to be affected by the buzz, said she felt confident in her chances. “At one point I felt like ‘Okay, this could become a reality,’” she said. “I actually felt that back when ‘Over You; got to number one. I was like, ‘If this keeps happening I might have a shot.’”

It proved to be just one of her many charting iTunes hits that helped deliver her the title – as those iTunes downloads which were in the Top 10 singles chart at the close of each round of voting had their total number of downloads (which then translated directly into votes) multiplied by ten.

Her coach, Blake Shelton, had plenty to say about Cassadee’s victory and how he would continue to support her after the show, as he has done with many of his artists throughout the history of The Voice. “She knows that this doesn’t end with the finale of The Voice, [our] relationship,” he told reporters. “I don’t want to make one dime off of her in my life, but i do want to see her go on to be a superstar and end up in relationships in this business that are the best for her.

“If I’ve got to get in the way of something that she doesn’t like or she doesn’t agree with, then I will because I’m her friend,” he continued. “I’m her friend, I’m Terry’s friend, and I will be until the day I die. I just want to see them do whatever it is they dream of doing because they’re good people and they deserve it.”

His fellow coaches Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera – who celebrated her birthday on Tuesday – also weighed in on Team Blake taking the title for the second straight season. “It’s not about did the right person win,” said Christina. “I just think that she kept improving week by week and I think we all recognized that.”

Agreed Adam, “It was her moment. Cassadee excelled at the best times. We’re really happy, even though it’s not our team, we’re happy for Cassadee.

“We chose Cassadee, too, she just didn’t choose us,” he quipped. “We all chose the winner, damn it.”

The coaches closed the season with one final performance reflecting on their three seasons together. As previously revealed in September, Christina and Cee Lo will not be part of The Voice Season 4. They will be replaced by Shakira and Usher respectively.

However, both Christina and Cee Lo are on record as saying they want to return for Season 5, as the series has been renewed through that fifth cycle, which is expected air in the fall of 2013.

What’s next for each of the three finalists? “I’m going to release something quick,” said Cassadee, who asked her fans to support the new music she’ll put out.. “I have to, and it’s going to be great.” You can keep up with her on Twitter at @CassadeePope.

“I’m going home,” said Minnesota native Nicholas, who has family time and Christmas shopping on his to-do list, as “I haven’t really had time to do anything except the show.” He can be found on Twitter at @thefeelin.

“I’ve always been motivated by new music and being part of it and creating it,” said Terry, who added that he has “an idea and direction” for what he wants to do next. His Twitter handle is @TerryMacMusic.

All three artists reflected on the many accomplishments they’d achieved through being part of The Voice‘s third season. “There’s so many, from the chair turning to meeting all the people,” said Nicholas. “Meeting Cee Lo, to sing with Cee Lo, meeting Bill Withers, to sing with Smokey Robinson. it’s a freaking adventure of a lifetime and that’s the truth.”

“I’ve been lucky enough to meet some wonderful people along this ride and really form relationships with some great people,” concurred Terry. “It’s made it such a pleasurable journey. there’s been nothing negative about this experience.”

Cassadee was able to perform with her musical idol, Avril Lavigne, and remarked that “I met her and she just blew my mind with how nice she was and how thankful she was to have me there.”

Still, she added, she’s ready to see what the music world has in store for her next. “I’m absolutely happy to move onto the next chapter,” she added.

The Voice returns in just over three months – Season 4 premieres on March 25, 2013.

For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).

(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.

Episode Postmortem: Season 3 Performance Finale

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The Voice - Season 3The Voice is less than 24 hours away from crowning a Season 3 winner. As they waited for America’s votes, finalists Terry McDermott, Cassadee Pope and Nicholas David joined Big Red Chairs on the carpet to share their thoughts.

The evening started with a touching tribute to the victims of the recent Newtown, CT school shooting, as the Voice coaches joined their live show finalists, host Carson Daly and social media correspondent Christina Milian for a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” while holding placards with the names and ages of the victims. If you missed that opening performance, you can view it here.

The tragedy also affected Cassadee later in the evening, during her repeat performance of Blake Shelton’s hit “Over You,” as the artists were asked to reprise their top renditions of the season. “I connected with it even more now because I was thinking about Connecticut and how horrible that is and losing people,” she said afterward. “I was thinking about that.”

The show had to go on, however, and the artists made the most of it with a trio of new performances as well as duets with their coaches. “[The night] started off on a somber note but we’ve got to celebrate life while we have it,” said Nicholas. “I was excited to end [my run on] the show like that. [A] piano was on fire, things were blowing up, people were hanging from trapezes, there’s a mini Cee Lo. It was too cool.”

Going out on a big note was definitely his intention. “After last week’s performance being so stripped down and emotionally raw, I was like ‘Let’s just blow some stuff up,’” he continued. “Let’s go for it.”

Another surprise on Monday night was Adam Levine guesting on Blake Shelton and Terry’s performance of Aerosmith’s “Dude Looks Like A Lady” – with the shirtless Maroon 5 front man channeling Axl Rose. According to Terry, Adam’s wardrobe choice (or lack thereof) wasn’t part of the plan.

“I have no idea,” he said when asked where it came from. “All the way through rehearsals, he had a shirt on. There was no headband. There was nothing. So that was a surprise to us. That’s why when I looked over, Blake is laughing his ass off, and I’m like ‘Really, what the hell’s going on here?’”

“We had great fun with that,” he added. “It was just a nice little touch. we were having great fun in rehearsal but that just finished it off.”

Terry was shocked when Blake revealed that his father, Terry McDermott Sr., had flown to Los Angeles to support his son in the finale. “To have him in the room to feel the atmosphere, to see the action, it was wonderful,” he said, though he added that his heart might be a little weak after all the surprise appearances from his loved ones over the season. “I was like, you could just put me through an assault course or an endurance test, you don’t have to keep wheeling out family members,” he quipped.

With their final performances in the books, all the three artists can do is wait for America to vote and crown a winner. Cassadee is the favorite to win if you listen to Internet buzz, but not necessarily if you ask her. “I try not to let it affect me because I feel like the moment you get comfortable in this situation, the moment it bites you in the ass a little bit,” she explained. “It’s been a great encouragement and it makes me feel good, but I’ve always kind of been my worst critic.”

Never having looked at the series as a competition, Nicholas was just enjoying the experience. “This has been the adventure of a lifetime,” he reflected, “but I’m excited to close the chapter on this adventure and start a new book. I felt this was a good way to end it.”

Teammates Cassadee and Terry are now head-to-head, but Cassadee added that it’s not an uncomfortable experience to compete against her friend. “It’s not weird at all because we’re individuals,” she said. “Our coach makes us feel very special individually. He doesn’t do favoritism or anything like that. There’s never been a weird moment.”

“Frankly, we’ve never really been that competitive,” agreed Terry, who could have summed up the entirety of the Voice season as he said, “We get on so well, and the way we’ve always viewed it is you just leave it on the stage and then other people decide. Nobody’s trying to sabotage or be negative. We want the best for each other and if you win, it’s because you deserve to.”

The season 3 winner will be revealed as The Voice wraps up its two-night Season 3 finale Tuesday at the special time of 9 PM ET/PT on NBC.

For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).

(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.

Episode Postmortem: Season 3 Live Shows, Night 13

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The Voice - Season 3After a shortened semifinal performance show on Monday, The Voice sent one more contestant home on Tuesday.

Team Cee Lo’s Trevin Hunte – who had been an early favorite to take the title – was the unlucky man out, and both he and Voice host Carson Daly joined Big Red Chairs on the red carpet after his elimination was revealed.

“This has been the best experience for me in my whole entire life,” said Trevin. “I always say that I didn’t expect to make it this far, even past the blind auditions, so to have made it to the top 4 has been a great accomplishment for me.”

“I would have to say that I prepared myself for something like this,” he continued, adding that he wasn’t brokenhearted about leaving the competition. “I’m definitely super, super excited. I have an opportunity to relax and to see how things go on the other side as far as watching my fellow team member Nicholas [David] perform. I can’t complain. I’ll be here for the week and I’ll get to see Cassadee [Pope], Terry [McDermott] and Nicholas perform at the finale.”

He also had some parting words for his fans. “I just want to thank my fans so much,” he said. “Words can’t even begin to thank them. They’ve been so strong and they’ve been so passionate about me. I definitely thank them and I appreciate everything they’ve done for me.”

You can keep up with Trevin Hunte on Twitter (@Tamor_11).

Was Carson Daly surprised by Trevin’s dismissal? “A little bit,” the host admitted. “I didn’t know how it was going to all come down. I might have thought that Trevin was going to get saved, if I’m being completely honest with you. I’m not surprised that Nicholas is in the top three because he’s awesome, but just thinking about the fact that an R&B artist won these last few years, I was kind of thinking that maybe Trevin would have it.”

As far as what he enjoys most about being the master of ceremonies for the show, he said that “Just to be with regular folks is nice – people who I can relate to who love music like I do. I was a radio DJ not that long ago and made $18,000 when I was 24. I still can relate to the common person so I think for me to do the blind auditions where I’m in there with the families and grabbing the moms’ arms is what I love about the show the most. The journey of being with them, making them feel comfortable on a red carpet and a fake environment in Hollywood is something that I actually really enjoy about the job.”

In addition to being the host of The Voice, Daly is also known for using his radio show and late-night NBC talk show to help artists who have appeared on the series, no matter how far they advance in the competition. “I just had Jamar Rogers on my show to try and give him a little help with his promotion. He’s doing really great. He lives in LA now. It’s great to have Juliet [Simms] and RaeLynn and those guys are obviously doing well. Chris Mann is doing well,” he explained.

“At this point with Fallon and Kimmel and Leno and Letterman, there are so many places in late night where all the arrived celebrities can go and chitchat,” he added. “I really like my show to be about trying to help people still make that pursuit. My door is always wide open.”

He also pointed out something that stood out to him about The Voice‘s Final 4. “We’re not talking about somebody that stood in line at the Staples Center because they wanted to be on a singing competition to become famous,” he said. “We’re talking about people that care about music.”

Cassadee Pope, Terry McDermott and Nicholas David remain in the running to be named ‘The Voice’ for Season 3. The final performance show airs next Monday at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC.

For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).

(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.