After an ethereal but charged performance from Florence + the Machine – with Team Cee Lo providing back-up – to open the evening, Carson Daly reveals who were the top vote getters from Team Adam and Team Cee Lo. America voted to save Tony Lucca and Jamar Rogers, respectively, and as much as Jamar is not very surprising, that Tony’s not singing to advance is a bit eye-opening. Apparently, America ate up the aural defiance and granted him the pass. As mentioned last night, Adam’s team as a whole isn’t as strong as the other three groups with Katrina as the standout. Either of the other two singers could easily be ousted, so it’s a bit disconcerting that Katrina has to fight for her place.
Team Adam
Mathai – Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova”
Katrina Parker – Pink’s “Perfect”
Mathai sings first, picking a somewhat interesting song for her choice. It’s a fun song with a good beat that keeps her affected voice more on track than we usually see it. Still it’s a bit shaky and Christina notes that her nerves still peeked through. Christina and Cee Lo both commented on her “aggression” in the song and it was noticeable but never really pushed her over the top. Katrina comes out with a bit of her own nervous energy to start her song but it’s quick to melt away. She builds further upon her trend of confident, strong performances and her big sound and natural growl approximate Pink’s voice very well. Her superb command of the notes and the energy of the song allows her to own the song and, despite any hemming and hawing on Adam’s part, his decision is made for him.
Cee Lo comments that Katrina sings with a clarity and conviction and it’s something that Adam gravitates towards when making his decision. He mentions how he kept waiting for Mathai to have her breakout moment but never quite got there.
Eliminated: Mathai
Team Cee Lo
Cheesa – Kelly Clarkson’s “Already Gone”
Juliet Simms – Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn”
After wowing the in-studio audience and most of the viewing public – I’m sure she was second behind Jamar in voting – with “I Have Nothing” last night, Cheesa is first for Cee Lo’s team to perform and she makes perhaps an odd choice in song. As “Already Gone” was featured on another show as a goodbye song to dismissed contestants, it almost seems as if Cheesa is resigning herself to leaving. Beyond that, her performance doesn’t offer much more to keep her around. She starts out pitchy with flat energy, never really giving herself to the song. She has a better time at the start of the chorus but it crumbles as she moves forward until she hits that final big note.
Juliet has merely to show up on the stage, as she’s quickly become the star voice of Team Cee Lo, to win. She makes an odd song choice as well, as the softer, slower parts of the opening verse of “Torn” don’t serve her voice well, something Christina comments on. She appears a bit pulled back from her usual full-bodied dive into a song but still commits and punches the chorus very well.
Another simple choice given the performances on the night but also clear in the strengths of the singers over the last few weeks.
Eliminated: Cheesa
The live quarterfinals draw to a close with each judge/coach taking two contestants on to the semifinals. All should be performing next Monday night. While Team Blake and Team Xtina both appear to be the stronger factions on the competition, both Adam and Cee Lo have some contenders that can really shine and stand out amongst the others.
What did you think of the quarterfinals this week? Were the right singers eliminated? Who is your favorite of the eight going into next week? Let us know in the comments below.
