‘The Voice’: Alicia Keys & OneRepublic Perform, The Final Four Contestants Revealed

Caila Ball-Dionne | May 18, 2016 10:01 am

Good lord, someone just give Christina Aguilera her Voice trophy already. Pharrell Williams, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton have already triumphed, and it would be historic, after all, as it would make Xtina the first female to win the competition. Well…sort of.

This whole “let’s have a female finally win The Voice” narrative often leaves out the actual females who have won — as in the contestants. They’re still the ones competing, right? Eh, not in Christina’s eyes. She wants you to forget former champs Cassadee Pope, Danielle Bradbury and Tessanne Chin (as hard as that may be) and acknowledge who the real contestants are in this competition: The coaches.

Christina & Co. hit the semi-finals results last night, where four of their pawns – er, contestants – advanced to next week’s big finale. Alicia Keys and OneRepublic were on hand performing their new singles to help Carson Daly draw out the suspense.

Future coach Alicia Keys performed “In Common” with a slew of backup dancers and an even more robust backup track. Get ready to add this to your summer driving playlist.

Next, Voice regulars OneRepublic made their live television premiere of “Wherever I Go.” Get excited, because according to Carson Daly they might – might – have new music out soon. “New music we hope in the fall?” Carson called after Ryan Tedder and company, sadly receiving no response.

Even more suspenseful were the results. Three contestants were voted through, two were eliminated and the remaining three had to compete for the fourth finale slot.

Going to the Finals: Team Christina: Alisan Porter Team Blake: Adam Wakefield Team Pharrell: Hannah Huston

Just Straight Up Eliminated: Team Blake: Paxton Ingram Team Adam: Shalyah Fearing

Performing for an Instant Save: Team Blake: Mary Sarah Team Adam: Laith Al-Saadi Team Christina: Bryan Bautista

With no time to mourn the fallen contestants, the Instant save competition began. First up, Mary Sarah sang Carrie Underwood’s “Something In The Water.” It was solid, and the country vote is strong, so Blake’s absolutely unexciting country singer still stood a chance.

“I am literally your biggest fan, and it blows me away that you’re even in this position,” said Blake. “When you go back to Nashville you’re going to find that there’s a big, wide open door for you.”

Next up, Bryan Bautista sang Miguel’s “Adorn,” and it was an impressive Instant Save bid. All of the coaches were on their feet for his soaring performance.

“You came out here and you really showed everybody something new and something different that we haven’t seen before,” said Christina. “That’s why you’re a true artist.”

Finally, Laith Al-Saadi sang Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along The Watchtower.” As always, the only thing stronger than his growling voice was his guitar solo. After his performance, Adam got real.

“Laith is not a pop star. He is not a pop singer. In a lot of ways it’s crazy that he made it this far,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of talent but we’ve never seen this, and this deserves to be in the finale.”

Wins the Instant Save Team Adam: Laith Al-Saadi

Who said that reality singing shows are just for pop stars? Laith’s advancement means that every coach is represented in the finals, which is just about as exciting as The Voice gets.

Season 10 wraps next week with five hours of programming. Get your Team Alisan/Laith/Hannah/Adam shirts ready for the occasion.