‘The Voice’: Andy Samberg And Adam Levine Perform “I’m So Humble”

Caila Ball-Dionne | May 11, 2016 8:17 am

Snaps for synergy, NBC Universal, because it’s unclear if last night’s 8 p.m. time slot was The Voice results or an hour-long promo for Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping, with periodic interruptions for eliminations. How deftly you integrated musical genius Andy Samberg into not only a live performance with Adam Levine, but also a full pre-taped segment in which he was announced as his character, Connor4Real. Such overlap of fiction and reality is typically reserved for Real Housewives on Bravo, but kudos for bringing it to network.

Truly, though: when will a sarcastic font make its way into the zeitgeist?

In non-extended trailer news, The Voice had its final single elimination show before next week’s cut-in-half bloodbath. Eight contestants from Teams Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Pharrell Williams moved on to the semi-finals, while one was eliminated in an Instant Save that came within 100 votes. 100 votes! It was the most exciting thing that has happened to Carson Daly in years.

To make sure no one’s blood pressure got too high, James Bay was on hand to perform “Let It Go.” It’s definition mellow, but at least it was an actual musician, and not a character. That seems like a given, but it brings us to…

…Andy Samberg (as Connor4Real) performing “I’m So Humble” with Adam Levine. It might be the most ridiculous performance that’s ever happened on The Voice stage, and that’s saying a lot. That said, get ready for some self-loathing because it’s going to get stuck in your head right quick.

Stuck in your head yet? Maybe the results will nudge it out.

Advancing to the Semi-Finals

Seven contestants made it through by popular vote, tweet and download, leaving all teams with at least one member going into the semi-finals.

Team Pharrell: Hannah Huston Hannah looks shocked, but she shouldn’t be. Team Pharrell’s last standing member is a strong one!

Team Blake: Mary Sarah, Adam Wakefield Yeah, that’s about right. The country vote is strong, and Paxton Ingram’s Whitney Houston cover Monday night was not.

Team Adam: Laith Al-Saadi, Shalyah Fearing That’s why Laith’s beard is so big: It’s full of talent.

Team Christina: Alisan Porter, Bryan Bautista What, you think one over-sung performance would be enough to knock Alisan off her path to the finals? Think again.

Fighting For an Instant Save

Team Blake’s Paxton Ingram and Team Christina’s Nick Hagelin battle it out for the Instant Save.

Paxton doubles down on the Whitney Houston covers and sings “How Will I Know?” (the Sam Smith version). It’s much better than Monday night’s “I Want To Dance With Somebody,” and he is brimming with confidence despite the rough circumstances.

“That was the way that you sing to save yourself,” says Pharrell. “You sang with zero fear, and that’s what a leader does.”

“That was so good, and it was so powerful,” says Blake. “Every time you take a song and you honor the original artist, and you also make it your own.”

Nick sings Eric Clapton’s “Change The World.” The ladies in the audience love it, of course, but it’s not quite on Paxton’s level.

“You and Paxton are such bright shining personalities, too. I can’t imagine not having you guys around,” says Adam.

“Your performance just now made me smile so much,” says Christina. “It’s been an incredible journey with you, and getting to know you has been so wonderful.”

And the winner is…

Paxton Ingram takes the Instant Save by less than 100 votes! Among those less than 100 votes, Paxton can thank Laith for 23, Hannah for 2 and himself for 32. Nick got in 29 votes for himself, and all the other contestants rode the fence by voting for both or not voting at all.

After two weeks in the bottom two, it’s not a huge surprise that Nick is out. He’ll just miss working with Pink, who’s on board to mentor during the semi-finals. Silver lining for him, though: He’ll also miss next week’s four-contestant elimination going into the finals. That’s going to be rough, but such is the life of reality contestants.