‘The Voice’: Pharrell Performs “Just A Cloud Away”
On Tuesday night (November 17), The Voice managed to stretch a single elimination into an hour-long results show…and there weren’t even any guest performances! Well done, Carson Daly, well done indeed. Taking advantage of the in-house talent, the show featured performances by Blake Shelton and Pharrell Williams, along with plenty of waxing poetic about how there are no real losers in music from Blake, Pharrell, Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani.
If there aren’t any losers, though, why did that one contestant get sent home? Just like a tree absolutely falls in a forest and likely makes a noise, even if no one’s there to see or hear it, a Voice contestant definitely got eliminated even if the coaches don’t wish to acknowledge last place exists. We’ll get to that in a moment.
First, Blake Shelton joins his team to perform a bluegrass-meets-country version of “Lean On Me.” Though it’s typically ill-advised to bastardize the Bill Withers original, Emily Ann Roberts, Barrett Barber and Zach Seabaugh all complement Blake’s country explosion nicely. They could, however, stand to take a few lessons on how to naturally sway to music.
Pharrell performs his own jam, “Just a Cloud Away,” with team members Madi Davis, Mark Hood and Evan McKeel. It’s decidedly cooler than the Team Blake performance, due in part to the fact that Pharrell wears his Céline sunglasses inside, at night, all night, but due mostly to the fact that Pharrell is Pharrell, and Blake wears vests like they never went out of style.
Those performances were just not high stakes enough, so let’s throw the threat of elimination into the mix. After the following ten contestants make it through…
Team Adam: Amy Vachal, Jordan Smith and Shelby Brown Team Gwen: Jeffrey Austin and Braiden Sunshine Team Blake: Emily Ann Roberts, Barrett Barber and Zach Seabaugh Team Pharrell: Madi Davis and Evan McKeel
…Team Gwen’s Korin Bukowski and Team Pharrell’s Mark Hood are left to perform for an instant save. Both were in the bottom last round as well, but no longer have the grace of their coaches to bestow a save. Time to work it for America.
Mark Hood sings Stevie Wonder’s “Signed Sealed Delivered.” It’s an energetic crowd-pleaser that hits the top of his range, the bottom of his range and everywhere in between. If he’s nervous, it doesn’t show.
“Your spirit is just so big and beautiful and honest,” says Gwen. “That was magic.”
“The crazy thing is people are still standing up right now,” says Pharrell. “You gave it everything. You just bared your spirit for the whole world to see.”
Korin Bukowski takes a more low-key route, singing Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why.” They must be pumping Xanex into the Voice water, because she’s equally calm, and delivers a nerves-of-steel performance. The song choice is perfect for her voice, and Korin earns rave reviews from the coaches.
“That was my favorite performance of the entire show for you,” says Adam. “I just want to continue to hear more from this person.”
“That was my favorite performance you’ve ever done,” Gwen agrees. “She deserves to be here. I hope everybody votes for her.”
Love for both contestants, but only one can stay. And the winner is…
Team Gwen: Korin Bukowski
Meaning Team Pharrell’s Mark Hood is the unlucky contestant who defied the 1 in 12 odds to get eliminated. Bummer. Speaking of…an entire week to go down from twelve contestants to eleven? Let’s move this along, Voice, or you’re going to push the finale into late January.
There was just one elimination made this week, but was it the right one? How do you feel about Team Pharrell’s Mark Hood getting cut from the finalists?
