We’ve now reached what previously were the finals for The Voice, but is now being billed as the semifinals: the Top 4. For the first time in the show’s history, only two coaches – Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green – have artists in the mix. Team Blake’s Cassadee Pope and Terry McDermott, and Team Cee Lo’s Nicholas David and Trevin Hunte, are singing to find out which three of them will go head-to-head next week for the title of ‘The Voice’ of Season 3.

Perhaps owing to the reduced field, Monday night’s performance show is only an hour long, and Carson reveals that it includes the Final 4 being sent back to their hometowns, similar to what American Idol did this past season with their finalists. Trevin reunites with his family at a homecoming party, then visits his middle school to speak to the kids there. Trevin’s performance this week is another ballad, “Wind Beneath My Wings”, which Carson says is dedicated to his middle school.

Adam tells Trevin that he’d coincidentally said “out loud, with witnesses” that Trevin should do that song. Christina relates her history with that song before saying that Trevin “took it to a whole different level.” Blake is skipped over before Cee Lo reminds his artist how “amazingly beautiful” his voice is. Warm and fuzzy moment: accomplished.

Next to be featured is Trevin’s teammate Nicholas David. First, audiences get to see him head back to Minnesota to check out his new house and be reunited with his family. After that, he and his wife head to the doctor to hear the heartbeat of their impending child, and as if that wasn’t enough, Nicholas gets a huge reception at the Mall of America including the gift of a golden microphone before heading off to play a hometown gig.

Nicholas’s song is “You Are So Beautiful” which he dedicates to his family. If you were moved by his past rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” this is even better – and a little bit surprising given that it’s his first performance on the show without his trademark sunglasses. Because this is still a TV show, the camera is sure to pick up multiple shots of Nicholas’s family as he sings, too.

Adam calls the performance “all I ever care about with any kind of singing” and says that he likes Nicholas as an individual. Carson then passes over Blake and Christina to get feedback from Cee Lo, who calls the rendition “so heartfelt, so beautiful” and it’s hard to disagree.

With that, the focus shifts to Team Blake, and to frontrunner Cassadee Pope. She heads back to her native Florida, where there’s a surprise party waiting at her mom’s house. After that, she is greeted by a crowd of supporters at a local radio station before she gets a key to the city of West Palm Beach and delivers a live performance for plenty of adoring fans.

Cassadee sings “Stupid Boy” by Keith Urban to try and secure her spot in the Voice finale. It’s another country song that proves that if she ever wants to step beyond pop-rock, there’s a whole second genre waiting for her. Her rendition gets another standing ovation from her coach.

Christina comments that “sometimes your voice sounds so right on that you almost sound Auto-Tuned.” Carson moves directly from her to Blake, who explains that the reason Cassadee has done country songs on the show is because of her ability to connect with a lyric, which lends itself toward certain country tunes. It’s an explanation that makes perfect sense, though I wonder: who was making that big of an issue of their song choices that he felt the need to publicly comment on it? It doesn’t seem like a big deal to me.

Terry McDermott gets to close out the hour. Fans get to follow Terry not back to Scotland, but to his adopted home of New Orleans. His return is a surprise to his son, who is overjoyed to see dad. Also on Terry’s to-do list is a trip to the local Hard Rock Cafe to dedicate some memorabilia from his time on The Voice and a performance at the Crown & Anchor Pub, where he’s shocked to see his aunt and uncle, who have flown all the way from Scotland to support him. “The look on his face was just absolutely brilliant,” says his aunt afterward.

Terry’s song choice is another classic rock tune by the most iconic of bands: The Beatles’ “Let It Be”. Carson prefaces this by calling it one of the most loved songs of all time. No pressure, Terry! But if he’s intimidated, our Scotsman doesn’t show it. With a minimal set design that rightly places the focus on the music and some support from yet another choir, he goes out there and sings his heart out. It’s a simple, heartfelt song and he doesn’t overdo it. He’s even got Adam singing along with him.

Carson calls the rendition “awesome” before throwing the discussion to Adam, who says “Thank God for you, Terry. You’re so wonderful.” There’s no time for Christina or Cee Lo, so it’s right to Blake, who says that Terry is one of only a handful of singers who should ever attempt that song. “In my heart, I believe that was musical perfection,” he adds. Can’t get a stronger endorsement than that.

Other than the four performances by the finalists, the rest of the shortened show is filled by guest appearances by Team Blake mentor Michael Buble (whose Christmas special airs later Monday night), Howie Mandel (promoting his new NBC game show Take It All, which broadcasts between The Voice and the Buble special), and the entirety of Team Blake Season 3, who are welcome faces, every one. If you didn’t know already, they sung on the version of “White Christmas” which appeared on Blake’s Christmas album. Oh, and there’s a commercial for Christina Aguilera’s new fragrance.

Monday also marked the arrival of Team Blake alumnus Erin Willett’s new EP, which includes a guest appearance from Team Cee Lo’s Jamar Rogers. You can purchase it on iTunes.

Which three artists do you want to see in the finale? And have you set your DVR for another shortened performance show next week as that finale ends a half hour earlier at 9:30 PM ET/PT? Most importantly, have you voted yet? Voting for The Voice is open until 10 AM EST tomorrow morning and the results will be revealed tomorrow night 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, Examiner & Fanbolt with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.

The Top 8 are singing for your votes again – must be Monday on The Voice. But first, if you found yourself missing guest performers, you’re in luck: Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is in the house to perform “My Life,” his new single featuring Adam Levine (as well as Eminem, who is not in the house). In case you’re not familiar with him, 50 Cent has brought a giant “50″ with him. It goes nicely with the fog machine. The song itself is a little hard to judge, in part because the audio keeps breaking up, perhaps due to the network censors. If you enjoyed it, though, you can download the new tune here.

Once the smoke has cleared, it’s time for coach chat. Adam admits that he still misses Bryan Keith (so do I, coach!) while Carson points out that Cee Lo is the coach with the most artists left in the competition. “It’s just a matter of continuing to just make the right song choices,” Cee Lo tells him. Conversely, Christina is down to just Dez Duron. “He’s my last man standing,” she reflects. “I’m rooting for him all the way.” The ladies in the audience cheer. And then Carson goes spoils the surprise by revealing that Terry McDermott will be singing one of Blake’s songs tonight. “I made him do my song,” Blake quips.

Back to the real action: it’s Team Adam’s Amanda Brown batting leadoff tonight, with Adele’s “Someone Like You.” Adam suggests she try “kicking its ass a little bit.” That’s a wise choice, given that another member of Team Adam, Angel Taylor, did a great straightforward version of the same song just last season. While Angel’s take had a certain poignancy to it, Amanda brings back the attitude she imbued “Dream On” with, and the audience loves it. Mission accomplished, Adam.

Blake says he “really enjoyed that” and points out that Adam is usually hard on folks for trying to do Adele songs like Adele, but this time they made an Adele song an Amanda Brown song. Christina calls the performance “really dynamic” and says “you definitely went for something different.” She adds, though, that she still doesn’t quite understand Amanda as an individual artist. Cee Lo says that he really appreciates Amanda’s bravery. Adam chimes in that he’s never seen anyone do that song the way Amanda did it. “I think everyone’s extra hard on you because we expect so much of you,” he tells her.

Team Cee Lo’s Cody Belew draws “Somebody To Love” by Queen, which Cee Lo gave him because “I believe the torch can be passed from Freddie Mercury to Cody.” That’s a ringing endorsement if there ever was one, and it’s a little more daunting for Cody because the rock legend is one of his heroes. It’s a totally different number than his huge Beyonce performance last week; in fact, he took a page from his teammate Nicholas David’s book, because now he has the choir backing him up. Carson wants to know how it felt to stand on the piano.

Adam says that’s one of his favorite songs and tells Cody that “there were little things that I noticed” but that overall, “you did a fantastic job.” Blake again comments on the “right connection” between Cody and Cee Lo: “It’s just the perfect combination, it really is,” he says. Christina remarks that “you are definitely a risk-taker through and through” and calls the song “a good vocal challenge” for Cody, suggesting that “we need to hang out.” Cee Lo praises Cody’s growth and ability to perform well under the pressure of live nationally-broadcast competition.

We then take a break in competition for a group number where the members of Team Blake join forces with the sole member of Team Christina and one-half of Team Adam. Terry, Cassadee, Dez and Melanie unite on All-American Rejects’ “Move Along,” and once again, I complain about not being able to download group performances on iTunes.

Next up is Team Blake’s Terry McDermott, who takes a huge step outside of his classic-rock comfort zone by performing Blake’s song “Over”, which Blake calls “better suited for Terry than it ever was for me.” He tells Terry that he wants Terry’s version of the song to erase his, and while it doesn’t do that simply because Blake has more power to his voice, it’s a pretty great rendition that proves Terry is far more than a one-genre pony.

Christina tells Terry that “it was a little unexpected for me this time around but it was still a solid performance.” Cee Lo makes strange analogies before saying that Terry reminds him of great rock vocalists and should keep going. Adam quips, “So that’s what that song’s supposed to sound like!” before complimenting the precision with which Terry hits his notes. That brings the discussion back around to Blake, who tells Terry, “You just performed that song the way I always wish I could…You just proved yourself as the real deal.” Will America agree? Here’s hoping so.

Team Adam’s Melanie Martinez is performing Alex Clare’s “Too Close.” When she mentions that she’s going through a breakup, Adam tells her that Maroon 5′s first album Songs About Jane was basically a breakup album, and saying that he’s like a big brother, volunteers to kick someone’s ass for her. He’s a full-service coach! Carson pokes fun at this by referring to Team Adam as ‘Team Big Brother’ before he introduces Melanie, who puts her own spin on this song in the same way she did with The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” last week.

Blake really likes Melanie bringing back the tambourine but that’s as much as he can muster. Christina calls the set “so cute” and the song her favorite performance of Melanie’s thus far. Cee Lo compliments Adam for his new arrangements of songs, calling the rendition “a success.” Adam tells Melanie that he’s sure her ex-boyfriend feels like an idiot right now, before complimenting her artistry.

Next we come to Team Christina’s Dez Duron, who is performing a Justin Bieber song called “U Smile”. Hey, we already had covers of One Direction and Carly Rae Jepsen, so we were kind of due for Bieber. Dez lends a certain smoothness to the song that makes it much better than expected. If he doesn’t win this show, he’s got a career with his own Vegas lounge act or something similarly hip and awesome. It’s also worth noting that Paul Mirkovich is playing an awesome bright red piano emblazoned with the Voice logo in the background. Hopefully he gets to keep that thing as a ‘thank you for being everywhere, ever’ gift.

Cee Lo calls Dez “well rounded” but admits that he doesn’t think it was Dez’s best performance. Adam compliments Dez on having the guts to walk away from Yale to make it in music. Blake says that everyone’s always known that Dez has “star quality” and thinks the performance had the same kind of groove as his previous one. Christina tells her artist that he “killed it” and compares Dez to Mackenzie Bourg, although she can’t remember his name.

Team Cee Lo’s Trevin Hunte takes on the late Whitney Houston with his version of “Greatest Love of All”. After his Usher performance last week, he’s back to the ballads. Cee Lo calls it a “big mountain to climb” but reassures Trevin that if anyone can do it, he can. The fog machine makes yet another appearance in the episode during Trevin’s performance, and he’s got his own choir behind him, but for all that, the rendition is not as strong as some of his previous outings.

Adam says he hopes that when he dies, that’s what he sees in heaven. “It’s so tranquil,” he comments, before telling Trevin he doesn’t think there’s a song that Trevin can’t sing. Blake thinks that “this song was more in your wheelhouse.” Christina calls it a “wonderful job, as usual.” Cee Lo is amazed at Trevin’s humility and tells him that Whitney would be proud.

There’s another group performance afterward, this one involving the four folks you didn’t see in the last one – Amanda, Nicholas, Trevin and Cody – who are singing Journey’s “Any Way You Want It.” It feels strange for there to be a classic rock song without Terry McDermott somehow involved. But that’s okay, because Terry’s busy having an on-air reunion with his wife and son, which is one of those ‘aww’ moments, at least until Carson jokes that he was watching Terry and his wife making out. That’s just a little creepy.

Team Cee Lo’s Nicholas David brings his good feeling to Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” after that. He’s shocked when the legendary Bill Withers, whose song he performed last week, walks into the rehearsal room and gives him some advice. (Cee Lo has all these great friends and Adam can’t get one person to crash his team’s rehearsal? What’s up with that?) There’s really nothing to say about Nicholas that hasn’t already been said. He’s found the niche that he’s very, very good at and he’s sticking with it.

Adam comments that he’s super-jealous of Nicholas because of his song choices, and that he’s just going to be a fan of his forever as both an artist and a human being. Blake jokes that he “didn’t realize until this week that you’re blind,” which falls flat, before thanking Nicholas for being on the show. Christina is skipped over in order to go right to Cee Lo, who talks about music being “a healing property” before telling America to vote for Nicholas. Meanwhile, Carson decides to see what he looks like with sunglasses on.

That means Team Blake’s Cassadee Pope is closing out the show – maybe owing to her deservedly reaching #1 on iTunes last time out – with her version of Michelle Branch’s “Are You Happy Now”. Blake calls the song choice “the right next step” as she once again draws on everything she’s been through to deliver another emotionally-driven performance. It’s also pretty much in her wheelhouse, more on the pop side of Branch’s pop-country catalogue.

Cee Lo says he’s not happy now because Cassadee could win the competition. Adam tells her that Maroon 5 used to open for Michelle Branch and takes a detour to bash The Roxy as a concert venue and say he was momentarily scared by the fan on the set before coming back to call Cassadee the frontrunner. Blake wishes Cassadee’s mom a happy birthday before telling America that we’re seeing something important.

With that, everything is in America’s hands. Voting for The Voice is open until 10 AM EST tomorrow morning and the results will be revealed tomorrow night 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, Examiner & Fanbolt with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.

It’s time for two more eliminations on The Voice, as the Top 12 become the Top 10. Having sung their hearts out on Monday night, Tuesday night the artists found out which two performers received the lowest number of America’s votes and were therefore removed from the competition.

With more votes being cast than were counted for the Season 2 finale, and with all 12 artists charting, it was a close race. The unfortunate pair were Team Blake’s Michaela Paige and Team Christina’s Adriana Louise. An emotional Adriana thanked her coach, saying “You believed in me more than I believed in myself.” Michaela also praised Blake, saying, “The moment that he turned his chair around for me, I know that I won. If I inspired anyone out there, that’s all I came here to do.”

In addition to the results, the audience was also treated to two more group performances: Team Cee Lo joined their coach for a rendition of the disco hit “Stayin’ Alive,” including a giant disco ball and Cee Lo flashing some skin at the camera, with Team Blake and their coach teaming for their take on “Life Is A Highway.”

The night also saw coaches Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green perform “Make The World Move,” their duet off her album Lotus, which released on Tuesday, and an appearance by country singer Jason Aldean, backed by Dez Duron and Bryan Keith. (Even better than Aldean’s singing was his dishing on Blake, with Blake yelling at him in the background – the first time all season that a Sprint Skybox segment has been funny.) Oh, and who caught Tony Lucca‘s Kia commercial?

Perhaps the best part of the night, though, were the “confessionals” from the artists, including someone wanting to get a tattoo of Cassadee Pope‘s face on their knee, Nicholas David being recognized in the bathroom, Terry McDermott pointing out that his haircut is not a mullet, and someone wanting to adopt Trevin Hunte.

For more from the Top 12, you can read my backstage interviews from Monday night’s performance show. The Voice continues the live playoffs on Monday, November 19 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, Examiner & Fanbolt with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.

After Team Adam and Team Blake took the stage on Monday night, Wednesday night on The Voice belongs to Team Christina and Team Cee Lo.

As in the previous installment, the show opens with a joint performance by both teams. Teams Christina and Cee Lo draw the My Chemical Romance hit “Sing,” for which they’ve color-coordinated their wardrobe, but despite some great individual moments it doesn’t quite have the same pop as Teams Adam and Blake’s take on Boston’s “Peace of Mind” from Monday. There’s a Samsung spot featuring coach Blake Shelton and Season 2 champ Jermaine Paul that follows, which brings back fond memories of Season 2.

But it’s time to look forward to Season 3. It’s Team Christina’s Adriana Louise who gets the leadoff spot, singing Katy Perry’s “Firework,” which Christina describes as “a lot of notes that have to be accurate.” The choice is right up Adriana’s alley, and she knows how to get the audience into the song, so it’s a wonderful choice to start the night. (On an unrelated note, there’s a bug in the corner of the screen that reminds us Adriana is part of Team Christina. Maybe there really are too many contestants this season if NBC doesn’t think we can remember who’s on what roster.)

Feedback time: Cee Lo tells Adriana that “Team Cee Lo does consider you worthy competition,” which is an odd compliment. Adam notes that it’s “a total bitch to sing that song,” and tells her she did an “incredible job.” Blake remarks that “it’s a big deal” every time Adriana performs and quips that he doesn’t like it. Christina tells the world that Adriana is “sweet and genuine” (which she is, if you haven’t interacted with her on Twitter yet), and thanks Adam for pointing out the difficulty of the song. “I don’t know if I’d be up for that challenge,” she admits, but Adriana clearly rose to it.

Team Cee Lo’s Cody Belew gets the second spot with George Michael’s “One More Try,” which Cee Lo handed him to give him “a very intimate and emotional moment.” This proves to be a pretty good idea, because Cody does very well with the song, and even gets the ladies swooning a little bit.

Adam calls it “a genius choice of song.” Blake tells Cody that he and his wife Miranda Lambert are fans of his. Christina concurs with Blake. Cee Lo praises Cody’s charisma and stage presence. Could Cody be a dark horse in the competition?

After Carson helps NBC plug Chicago Fire – while quipping that Blake won “CMA Employee of the Month,” which makes up for the forced feeling of the cross-promotion – Cody is followed by Team Christina’s De’Borah with the Pink song “Who Knew.” In rehearsal, Christina hopes that De’Borah relaxes and finds her confidence. De’Borah is far from reserved when she’s on stage, though, and the crowd clearly loves her.

“Hearing great music is one thing; feeling it is something else,” says Carson afterward, weighing in himself before throwing it to Cee Lo, who says “I feel your confidence,” so obviously it’s mission accomplished. Adam tells De’Borah “there’s nothing regular about you” and Blake adds that he’s envious of her energy on stage: “if that would’ve been me, I would’ve hyperextended something.” Christina declares that De’Borah commands the stage.

Next up is Team Cee Lo’s Diego Val, coming to the stage with Enrique Iglesias’ “Bailamos,” another Cee Lo choice and a curious one since he has to ask Diego what the title means. Either Cee Lo doesn’t know Spanish, doesn’t know the song that well himself, or both. Diego admits he’s not as comfortable with the song selection as his coach thinks. (But hey, we found Purrfect the Cat!) Carson calls Diego “the Peruvian Magic Mike” after the ladies start squealing.

It’s when we get into the feedback portion that things get interesting. Adam thinks that Diego wasn’t a hundred percent into the tune, but still calls it “a good performance.” Blake admits that “I didn’t know what you were saying anyway” but thinks Diego’s cool regardless. Christina echoes Adam’s comments (“It’s a miracle!” Adam quips) and asks Diego what his favorite song is. Diego admits something that a lot of Voice artists would concur with – that he prefers his own music and that doing covers of someone else’s songs can be difficult. After hearing that as well as Adam and Christina’s thoughts, Cee Lo seems somewhat apologetic for his selection, though he also says that he doesn’t think it was Diego’s best vocal performance. Will taking his coach’s direction do Diego in?

After Diego is his teammate Mackenzie Bourg, and since he’s done “Good Time” and “Call Me Maybe” before, it’s not that surprising that Cee Lo wants him to do One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful.” Although his coach says he doesn’t want people to think Mackenzie is a one-trick pony, his choice of song seems like it just reinforces that idea. Mackenzie has to be given credit for taking on a track originally sung by five people, though. Ultimately, while it’s a good performance, it’s too much like what he’s already done.

Adam is also a little critical, saying that “You’re an American Idol but I don’t know if you’re the winner of The Voice…I just kind of want to see more happen.” Blake needs a moment to understand Adam, but believes Mackenzie’s popularity could help him. Christina agrees with Adam, wanting Mackenzie to “step out of the box a little bit more.” Cee Lo thinks Christina made a great point, but then says that it was a great song choice and wants more energy from his artist, so make what you will of that. Oh, and Carson wants to remind you to audition for Season 5.

Team Christina’s Devyn DeLoera is next to perform with Leona Lewis’s “Bleeding Love,” which Katrina Parker knocked out of the park in Season 2. While Devyn’s version is not on that level, judging by her performance, you wouldn’t know that she had to work to connect with the lyrics. Carson thinks that it might have been “the right song at the right time” for her, and I’m inclined to agree with him. One must also give Devyn credit for not tripping on the train of her dress.

Cee Lo, however, disagrees with that assessment, saying “I know you’re a much better singer than this performance suggests.” Blake was looking for more of Devyn’s softer side. Christina’s surprised that Adam doesn’t get to give feedback, but then doesn’t agree with Blake, telling Devyn that “this was definitely showcasing a softer side of you.”

It’s Team Cee Lo’s Nicholas David that follows Devyn, and he’s got Barry White’s “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything,” which is another Cee Lo choice. The coach wants “swagger” and Nicholas doesn’t know what that means. He doesn’t really need to, though, because his distinctive voice earns plenty of applause from the audience despite the fact that many of them probably don’t even know who Barry White is, as Adam points out. “I want to make a baby now,” he says, a statement that the women in the crowd approve of.

Blake calls Nicholas “my favorite singer on Team Cee Lo and it blows my mind because you’re not supposed to look like that and then sound like that.” Christina gets skipped over in order to go directly to Cee Lo, who thinks Nicholas “can do no wrong in my book.”

Team Christina’s Sylvia Yacoub is next, with another Katy Perry song, “The One That Got Away,” and she gets behind the piano for her performance, with the same goal as her teammate Devyn – to show that she’s more than a powerhouse vocalist. While there’s an amount of that in the song, she’s at her best in the beginning, when she’s much quieter and more vulnerable. Bringing the piano into it also showcases her ability as a musician, not just a singer.

Cee Lo calls the rendition “my favorite performance of the night” and Adam likes the intimacy of it. “You definitely deserve to move forward,” he says. There isn’t time for Blake to comment, so Christina calls Sylvia “a tried and true artist…you came with this whole vision.” Will it be enough to distinguish Sylvia from Devyn and Adriana?

Then it’s Team Christina’s Dez Duron, who has already proven to be one of the favorites this season. Christina has chosen Hunter Hayes’ “Wanted” for him, which isn’t in his genre but that’s the point. “It’s important as the competition progresses to keep on showing new and different sides of yourself,” she explains. The ladies love Dez yet again, but even if you took that out of the equation, it’s a solid performance and one that’s miles away from the Dez who tried out for Season 2 (not that he wasn’t good then either). The fact that Carson has to silence the crowd afterward suggests that Dez should move into the Top 12 easily.

Adam points out that Dez’s popularity with the ladies isn’t what we’re talking about here, and compliments Dez’s precision between his vocal runs and “you shop at the same stores as I do, clearly.” Blake is mock-offended that Dez is singing a country song, but agrees with Adam. Carson skips Cee Lo and goes right to Christina, who gives Dez a one-woman standing ovation.

It’s really no surprise that Team Cee Lo’s Trevin Hunte gets to close the night out, given his own immense popularity throughout the entire competition. He gets Michael Bolton’s “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?” because Cee Lo thinks it’s right in his wheelhouse, and Trevin betters the original while also looking fabulous. This may be the first time a Michael Bolton song is cool with the under-25 crowd.

There’s very little time for feedback on his performance, but it’s not as if everyone’s not all thinking the same thing. “Every time you get on the stage, you move me,” Blake tells Trevin. “You have everything it takes to win The Voice.” Christina seconds that, with the “but” that she wants Cee Lo to push him further. Adam gets skipped over, and Cee Lo says “nobody’s going to miss out on you.” It’s a perfect way to end the evening.

Now that we’ve heard all four teams perform, who has the edge in Season 3? The early advantage has to go to Team Adam and Team Blake. Compared to Monday night’s show, Wednesday night’s was missing something. Team Christina has a lot of talented singers on the roster, but as Blake pointed out during the knockout rounds, several of them are good at the same thing, which only serves to divide the popular vote. Looking at Team Cee Lo, there’s cause for a little concern, as it seems like Cee Lo is calling most of the shots and his choices worked for some artists and may have hindered others. In contrast, the other three coaches seem to be taking more feedback from their artists. All four teams, though, have at least one artist that’s won the viewers over so far, so which individual performer might win it all is still very much up for grabs.

Now that the performances are over, it’s time for fans to start doing your part for Season 3. Make sure you’re voting for your favorite artists to stay in the competition – because the Top 12 will be revealed live tomorrow night 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, Examiner & Fanbolt with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.

The Voice has reached its final phase of competition: the live shows, or as they’ve suddenly been re-christened, “live playoffs.” For the next six weeks, the voting public of America get to help decide the fate of the Top 20, until there’s only one left standing.

Teams Adam and Blake are performing on Monday night, and as host Carson Daly explains, only three of the five from each team will be moving forward – two by America’s vote and one by their coach’s save. The other two will be eliminated from contention when the results are revealed on Thursday.

The coaches are prepared for the competition. “Adam’s once again built a really strong team,” Blake says in voiceover, “but don’t count out Team Blake.” Meanwhile, Adam’s sense of humor rears its head as he calls the live shows a “more serious Olympics.” And Carson has a problem looking at Cee Lo with a straight face since Cee Lo showed up in another ridiculous outfit.

The show opens with both teams joining forces to perform Boston’s  “Peace of Mind.” The highlight of this number is getting to hear Team Adam’s Bryan Keith in harmony with Team Blake’s Terry McDermott, but the entire thing brings back fond memories of The Voice Live on Tour.

Following that, Team Adam’s Joselyn Rivera is the first performer to step onstage, singing Demi Lovato’s “Give Your Heart A Break.” In rehearsal, Adam warns her that she must connect with her audience, no matter what else is going on around her. That’s a tip that Joselyn seems to have taken to heart, with a very simple performance setup and several moments where she does her best to engage the crowd. Plus, she’s got pink highlights that match her wardrobe. That’s kinda neat.

Blake tells Joselyn that “you’re one of the people we can always count on to be great” and he’s still bitter that she’s not on his team. Her former coach Christina praises her for “working the stage” and says she’d like to hear a ballad from her next. Joselyn cracks up a bit when they get to Cee Lo, with Adam telling her “Try to take him seriously; it’s extremely difficult right now.” That brings it back around to her coach, Adam, who praises her for listening to what he told her but also staying true to herself. “You really thrived in this environment,” he says.

After a trip to the new “Sprint Skybox,” which is about as useful as the “Sprint Lounge,” Terry leads off for Team Blake, armed with another classic rock song that everyone knows: Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Unsurprisingly, he sings it a whole lot better than the many, many people who’ve attempted it at karaoke night (myself included). He hits all of his notes while maintaining the spirit of the song.

Christina tells him that “the precise clearness in your tone and the execution, it’s effortless,” and says she’s a fan. Cee Lo cracks himself up before he compliments Terry’s confidence. No one asks Adam what he thinks, as Carson goes right to Blake, who agrees with Christina and Cee Lo, adding that “when God was passing out the ability to rock, he gave Terry just a little bit more.” This is a pretty awesome compliment, and one that is well deserved.

From Terry it’s on to Team Adam’s Melanie Martinez, the fan favorite who’s singing the Ray Charles classic “Hit The Road, Jack,” which Adam quips is “way older than she is…people are going to freak out.” Such a different song choice, though, is typical Melanie, who puts the same unique spin on it that she did on Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and La Roux’s “Bulletproof.” It’s reminiscent, at least in vibe, of Juliet Simms tackling James Brown’s “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” in Season 2, except that the latter had more punch behind it, whereas this is more jazzy.

Blake comments that he admires how “you always find a way to make something your own, no matter what…you’re just not that interested in fitting in. You just want to be Melanie.” Christina seems slightly unimpressed, saying that “it started out a little pitchy” but that “I appreciate your vision as an artist.” Skipping Cee Lo, Carson goes directly to Adam, who informs Christina that the song choice was Melanie’s, and adds that “I didn’t find myself comparing it to [the original]…I was totally mesmerized by that whole performance.”

Team Blake’s Liz Davis is next to sing, with Martina McBride’s “Independence Day.” Blake is pinning his hopes on her as she’s the only country artist remaining in the competition. Liz is a little too attached to her microphone stand through the first part of the song, but eventually loosens up. Unfortunately, her chorus doesn’t seem quite as powerful as one would expect (or maybe the volume of the band is a little too loud, as was a problem last season). It’s a good performance, but it’s not standout.

Christina calls Liz and Blake “such a perfect match” and approves the song choice. Cee Lo tells Liz that she made him proud to be an American, perhaps not aware of what the song is about. Moving past Adam, Carson goes to Blake, who reiterates that Liz is the “right country artist to bring into the live rounds.”

After Liz is her teammate Cassadee Pope, singing Avril Lavigne’s “My Happy Ending,” which is a safe choice for the former rock band lead singer, and the only thing that’s not expected in her performance is that she knocks the mic stand over when she pulls the microphone loose. That’s not to say her rendition is poor, but it leaves one curious about what it would have been if she’d gone ahead with her initial ideas about doing something different.

Christina calls the version “solid.” Cee Lo thinks Cassadee gave the tune “a lot more vulnerability.” Adam tells her “I still want to know who you are…I still feel like I’m kind of waiting a little bit to see who is the real Cassadee Pope.” Blake retorts that Adam will have plenty of time to figure that out, as he expects her to be around for awhile.

Next to bat is Team Adam’s Bryan Keith. He’s performing The Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris,” and his coach wants “a serious delivery of everything you got.” The song is a wonderful match for Bryan, who does it justice as he sounds a little bit like John Rzeznik, with the same grit and emotion.

Blake has a hard time giving feedback over the sound of screaming girls, but eventually compares Bryan’s lower register to that of Neil Diamond. Christina declares that Bryan “really owned it” and “that was the most passion I’ve ever seen you perform with.” Adam confides that he “had to do very little” coaching of Bryan on this particular song, and he’s proud of his team member: “This crowd loved you so much [and] I love you.”

The show moves on to Team Blake’s Michaela Paige with Neon Trees’ “Everybody Talks,” which her coach calls “back to just being who you are.” He assures her that her age doesn’t matter. As Michaela leaves the rehearsal room, Blake quips, “Don’t hit your hair on the door.” Ladies and gentlemen, Blake Shelton, the dispenser of both wisdom and wit.

Michaela definitely has stage presence, and a very interesting outfit to go with it. I’m not familiar enough with the song to comment on the quality of her rendition, but the crowd loves it. So, too, does Cee Lo, who calls it “the best performance of tonight” and “a flawless vocal performance.” Adam says that Michaela “really surprised me today” and likes the song choice: “hopefully it wasn’t [Blake's] because I hate giving him compliments.” That puts a grin on Blake’s face as he comments that Michaela is making him look smart and that her hair just might rival Cee Lo’s.

Her colleague Julio Cesar Castillo follows after her, getting to go “back to his roots” with the mariachi song “El Rey.” Blake says he needs Julio to “dramatize this song” since most folks who watch The Voice won’t be familiar with it. Given that Julio gets the audience chanting his name, Blake had nothing to worry about. Christina tells him that “you made all the Latino people out there so proud.” Blake admits that “I don’t know what you’re saying,” but points toward the crowd’s reaction as proof that his team member made the right choice.

Team Adam’s Loren Allred is next, bringing Lisa Stansfield’s pop hit “All Around The World,” which she hopes will be a “breakout” choice for her. She’s certainly got the sassy part down, and like Bryan, the song works for her because she’s not that far removed from the sound of the original artist. Loren has clearly found her wheelhouse if she hadn’t before. The track doesn’t have a huge standout moment in it, though, so whether or not it will be enough for her to move forward is much less clear than her vocals.

Cee Lo tells Loren this is one of his favorite songs and that he’s “not really surprised” at how well she did with it. Carson then passes Christina and Blake, going right to Adam, who is happy with her performance and wants to hear more of that should she continue on.

It’s Team Adam’s Amanda Brown who gets to close out the night, and she does it with Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” As Adam points out during rehearsal, this is not a song you would expect her to perform – but perform it she does, with plenty of attitude and some wicked notes that are jaw-dropping. It’s dumbfounding to think that if there wasn’t a steal this season, she would’ve gone home and America would’ve never heard that performance, which cements Amanda’s status as a frontrunner this season.

Carson rushes the coaches through final comments, with Christina saying that Amanda did a great job and Adam once again remarking on how he stole Amanda from Cee Lo before telling everyone that “this, by far, was the actual best performance of the night.” The crowd clearly agrees with him, as they half drown him out while he’s talking. While they’re still cheering on Amanda, the first live show of Season 3 comes to a close.

There’s no show Tuesday due to Election Day, so be sure to tune in Wednesday and Thursday, starting at 8 PM ET/PT, to see the rest of the live shows for this week. Most importantly, don’t forget to vote for your favorite artist!

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, Examiner & Fanbolt with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.