Disclaimer: All these opinions are clearly subjective and I am in no way affiliated with The Voice or any other corporation.
Below is a compilation list of the top 24 best performances from The Voice this season. It was originally going to be the top 20, but since The Voice doesn't like to get to the point I thought it'd be poetic if I wasted time and added in four more "comeback" performances (to be clear, these performances were not a waste of time because they clearly made the list, haha). This is an extremely biased list of performances that took place after I started tuning in to watch the show so from The Knockouts forward.
"It's All Coming Back to Me Now" - Top 10
Paxton just has a way with his voice. It's all very theatrical but it's very captivating. It paled in comparison to his performance of "Break Every Chain" the week before, but this did not pale in comparison to the rest of the performances of the season. His voice was crystal clear, strong and emotional.
23. EMILY KEENER (TEAM PHARRELL)
22. BRYAN BAUTISTA (TEAM CHRISTINA)
21. LAITH AL-SAADI (TEAM ADAM)
20. BRYAN BAUTISTA (TEAM CHRISTINA)
19. ALISAN PORTER (TEAM CHRISTINA)
18. LAITH AL-SAADI (TEAM ADAM)
17. HANNAH HUSTON (TEAM PHARRELL)
16. BRYAN BAUTISTA (TEAM CHRISTINA)
15. SHALYAH FEARING (TEAM ADAM)
14. RYAN QUINN (TEAM CHRISTINA)
12. MARY SARAH (TEAM BLAKE)
10. HANNAH HUSTON (TEAM PHARRELL)
09. HANNAH HUSTON (TEAM PHARRELL)
08. SHALYAH FEARING (TEAM ADAM)
07. ADAM WAKEFIELD (TEAM BLAKE)
06. ALISAN PORTER (TEAM CHRISTINA)
05. SHALYAH FEARING (TEAM ADAM)
04. HANNAH HUSTON (TEAM PHARRELL)
03. ALISAN PORTER (TEAM CHRISTINA)
02. PAXTON INGRAM (TEAM BLAKE)
01. HANNAH HUSTON (TEAM PHARRELL)
"Lilac Wine" - Top 12
The fact that this was the performance that landed Emily in the bottom two makes this performance even sadder, and it was already pretty sad. Her vocal control was impeccable, her vocals soared as she seamlessly transitioned into her head voice. Everything about this performance was just haunting and emotional and all you could hope for from a performance this early in the competition. There was a point where her voice broke as she held out a note but it felt like it was supposed to be there. We lost her way too early.
"Sorry" - The Knockouts
This song pretty much cemented Bryan's place in the competition. He worked the stage, he worked those vocals and showed off that he was one of the front runners and very capable of being a star in today's market.
"Make It Rain" - Top 11
So much grit, this was such a mesmerizing performance. The coaches like to talk about how good some of the contestants are at telling stories with their singing and this was and example of that at it's core.
"PillowTalk" - The Playoffs
Bryan continued the momentum the week following "Sorry", further proving it wouldn't be any trouble transitioning him from The Voice stage to a bigger stage.
"Cry Baby" - The Playoffs
This powerful voice just completely killed the competition that night. Vocal juggernaut, girl.
"With a Little Help From My Friends" - The Playoffs
I'm honestly so petty, I liked Laith best when he sung songs that I knew and this was the prime example of a bluesy head banger. Laith's voice was perfect for this song.
"When a Man Loves a Woman" - Top 10
It took me a while to actually get into this performance from Hannah (feeling wise) but I never doubted that she sang the holy hell out of this song. Her tone is rich it provided just enough support to sell the song (that hand on the hip move was cute too!).
"Hurt" - Top 8
I don't get why he started at the piano for, like, a verse if he was just going to get up three seconds later. So you're just going to play one chord to show us that you can play the piano? Alright. This would be higher up on the list if Bryan didn't use so much of his upper register. It's really, really jarring to me. It was mostly pitch perfect (he was really flat at one point) but I'm not going to deny how emotionally vulnerable the performance was that made it so strong.
"A Change is Gonna Come" - Top 9
This performance came at the perfect time. She had just come off of two or three tragic performances but she pulled this one out of her ass. I hadn't heard her so in pitch in weeks and the emotion that she pushed out of it was tremendous. That growl was absolutely effortless.
"I'm Not the Only One" - The Playoffs
Watching his performance again depresses me because there was so much potential in him, man. He has the voice he just needed to work on, like, everything else. But when I tell you he had the voice? It justified his awkward presence on stage and he could have really turned into a force to be reckoned with.
13. SHALYAH FEARING (TEAM ADAM)
"Broken Wing" - The Knockouts
Shalyah's actually pretty versatile, she sold two country songs, an R&B track and two three soul ballads. This was one of the country performances and like I said, she hold the heck out of it. Her voice was absolutely insane, no shade to Emily (who was awesome) but I would have totally picked her if she performance in my knockout...damn!
"My Church" - Top 9
After weeks of dreadfully boring performances with good vocals, Mary finally got current and played up the fun factor and head stellar results. I had to admit that my head was actually bobbing to this performance and I got my entire life when she stepped away from the mic and started doing a little bit of a dance. Yes ma'am, you better let loose! (She pulled out a little bad ass growl at the end too!)
11. BRYAN BAUTISTA (TEAM CHRISTINA)
"1+1" - Top 9
I haven't kept it a secret that I'm not a fan of the tone of Bryan's voice (his upper register is strong and powerful but I personally cringe) but this performance was very strong. Vocal control was great, the emotion was there...the only thing that pissed me off was those damn finger guns. "I've been shot by you." We get it.
"Rolling in the Deep" - Top 10
This song has been done so much on The Voice but what separated Hannah's from everyone else's was her unique tone and everything that she puts into her performances. And the way she crescendoed her voice during the performance was absolutely genius. The little extra production touches (such as those drums right before the second verse) were also genius. Can we just leave this at Hannah's a genius?
"House of the Rising Sun" - The Knockouts
Before I started watching this season, all I heard was "Hannah Huston did the hell out of House of the Rising Sun"!!!! I thought this performance was definitely very powerful and soulful and was worth all of the praise it got. By the end she had me on my knees bowing down to her, geez Louise! Well, geez, Hannah.
"And I Am Telling You" - Top 8
Maybe Shalyah peaked too early? Regardless, this performance is the example of why she was such an underrated contestant. I was beyond pissed that America voted her off after THAT. I get that The Voice sabatoged her by throwing this masterpiece at the beginning of the night but at the end of the day it was America's job to at least get her to the place where she could have done the sing off, like she deserved to. After this? At 8:04 pm, I wasn't ready to lose my entire wig. When Shalyah looked directly into the camera and started growling I almost lost my head. The passion, energy and emotion was pouring out of her was almost too much to handle. If there was ever a get me to the finale performance, that was it!
"I'm Sorry" - Top 8
I personally felt that Adam was the most overrated contestant of the season. I couldn't really get why he was doing so well on iTunes but when this performance happened, all of my doubt just went away. There's no question that Adam had one of the most rich and powerful voices of the season but this performance just felt like everything came together. You could just hear the emotional connection in his voice and it was a very powerful moment in the night.
"Stone Cold" - Top 12
Maybe my love for the song pushed my love for this performance over the edge but Jesus, this was gorgeous. Alisan's connection to the song was just as rich and clear as her voice was this entire performance. If you're going to take on one of the most vocally challenging songs of this decade, you better do it like Alisan did. Not only were her notes big but her heart was really big as well. She belted a lot throughout the season but these were really the only belts that I thought were really earned the way she built up to them. Oh man, this was insane...
"Listen" - The Playoffs
America wasn't ready for Shalyah. Are you insane? Shalyah, girl, you out your goddamn mind. She probably gave the first standout performance of the season with this one right here. All the attention was on Alisan and Adam (for whatever reason...) but Shalyah was right here delivered standout performances all over the place. Sure, she had a few duds but when she really brought it she BROUGHT it. The Voice often feels manufactured to try and get you to feel something emotionally (something American Idol and X Factor were often able to do so effortlessly) but Shalyah did it for me right here. There were goosebumps everywhere after listening to this
"I Can't Make You Love Me" - Top 11
This was another example of Hannah's unique tone really allowing a performance to soar. I've heard this song so many times but it was just so captivating watching her perform it. It looked almost painful as she tried to get the words of the song out. Right before the last phrase she cocks her head to the side and that sort of just summed up how I felt watching the performance, it was stunning.
"Let Him Fly" - Top 10
Alisan has an outstanding voice, there's no question about it. It seemed to become a chore listening to her belt week after week by the time we got to this performance. To see her practice vocal control, restraint and see her just sit down and connect with a song and the audience was a beautiful thing to watch. I have to admit that at points in the season I felt Alisan was very, very overrated but it's little moments like these that made me see this part of her. It was gorgeous to watch this.
"Break Every Chain" - Top 11
Paxton was just as underrated, if not more, than Shalyah Fearing. Unlike Shalyah, I didn't hear more than maybe two or three notes that were off pitch in his entire time on the show. He came out every week and delivered vocally like he was fighting for something. This week, however? Paxton pulled something out of him that shocked almost everyone. The power in his voice was absolutely insane, and then just to see all of that love and power out of Paxton's small body was a bit overwhelming (in an amazing way). I wish this had been a turning point in the series for him because had he done more of these performances he would have not only stolen the show, he would have stolen the season.
"Say You Love Me" - Top 9
What was it about this performance that made it #1 for me? I have no idea. I just remember struggling through final exams listening to this song on repeat. It calmed me. But watching the performance, there's something ridiculously stunning about it. Hannah's ability to connect to a song to the point where she looked like she was about to break out of the song and just start balling on stage is one of the things that's so captivating about watching her performance. The way the song was built up was also very, very impressive. By the end where the background singers came around her and Hannah is standing on that platform and reaching out, And the cherry on top of it was the end where Hannah just drags out that final, heart wrenching "stay". I just couldn't handle it, man. There was a perfect amount of restraint and power in her voice that is almost impossible for me to describe, it was just the winning moment of the season for me.
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