The Voice Recap: Did the Right 8 Acts Make It Through to the Semi-Finals?

As we approached Tuesday’s eliminations on The Voice, Monday’s song assignments started to seem on one hand prescient (Team Ariana Grande’s Holly Forbes mangling “Last Dance”) and, on the other, ironic (because how many people really wanted Team Ariana’s Jim and Sasha Allen to “Stay”?). Did either act — or both — get the chop ahead of Season 21’s Semi-Finals?

Before we found out, we were treated to a performance of “Horoscope” by the show’s youngest-ever winner, Season 19’s Carter Rubin (whose single was nice enough but didn’t hold a candle to his “Rainbow Connection”), and Mae Muller singing “Better Days” with all the glossiness of an 8×10 photo.

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And in the moment(s) of truth…

SAVED BY AMERICA’S VOTE (in Chronological Order)
Paris Winningham (Team Blake) — really? After Monday? Mmkay.
Jim and Sasha Allen (Team Ariana) — really?!? Aw, c’mon!
Girl Named Tom (Team Kelly)
Wendy Moten (Team Blake)
Joshua Vacanti (Team Legend)
Lana Scott (Team Blake) — so… many… mystifying… results
Hailey Mia (Team Kelly)

WILDCARD INSTANT SAVE

Jeremy Rosado (Team Kelly), “What Hurts the Most” — Grade: C | It seemed shrewd as hell of Jeremy to try to rope some of the country vote with a Rascal Flatts cover. Trouble was, his anxiousness to make it to the Semi-Finals led to a performance that was as wobbly as a Weeble. Blake Shelton worked so hard not to comment on it that he just assured Jeremy that he had a bright career ahead of him on his coach’s network, NBC (Nothing But Clarkson).

Holly Forbes (Team Ariana), “Because of You” — Grade: C+ | Poor Holly. From the first note, she sounded like one of my panic attacks. When she reached the chorus and could’ve gone big, she went flat. In the second half of her Kelly cover, she gained some momentum and started wailing like she knew what she was doing. But overall, not great. “This to me does not make any sense,” said her coach. “Go back and listen to ‘Last Dance’ again,” replied the audience. “It will.”

Jershika Maple (Team Legend), “What Is Love” — Grade: A | I don’t get the dislike for Jershika that I keep seeing in the comments. Just goes to show, I guess, how subjective music is. Every time she opens her mouth, I’m enthralled. Here, she turned in a performance that was so freaking powerful, she rattled my innards. This wasn’t even a contest, as far as I could hear. The choice was between one magnificent vocalist and two nice people who sing a bit. Needless to say, I was braced for the worst.

SAVED BY AMERICA’S VOTE | Jershika Maple (Team Legend) — whew!

ELIMINATED | Jeremy Rosado (Team Kelly), Holly Forbes (Team Ariana)

So, in a word, your reaction to the results — ready, set, comment.

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