The Voice Recap, The Quarter Finals Get Weepy

The Voice coaches Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton had the hard task of eliminating singers from their team right after all the performances. Knowing this, maybe it did get some of them to work a little harder to stay in the competition. The coaches also joined their teams during group performances. How did they do individually?

First up from Team Blake was Raelynn. She did "She's Country" by Jason Aldean. I don't know where Blake was going with the whole "I don't like people that do Country but don't have a Country lifestyle." Ugh, well I don't think you have to live on a farm to perform like a Country star, but whatever. It was a pretty literal performance, cowboy boots and sitting on a bale of hay. She sounded good but it was nothing new from her. I do give her credit for not doing a slow song though. The other coaches thought she was great, and Adam said it was the best moment she's had since she's been on the show. Blake was of course a proud coach.

From Team Christina, Jesse Campbell sang Beyonce's "Halo." He struggled with it at first and I thought this might be a bad song choice for him. Jesse has been hitting it out the park since the audition rounds and I would hate for him to lose votes just because of one questionable song. The start was a little shaky but when the chorus kicked in it was amazing and his ad libs added to the emotion of the song. Also, I think the way Jesse was dressed made him look a little younger, which could help him out with votes too. He is up against all these youngins.

Jordis Unga almost got eliminated last week but returned to sing Sarah Evans' "Little Bit Stronger." Blake said it would be better to hear Jordis the singer and not Jordis the screamer, but I kind of miss that rock side of her. Her stage was straight out of a sappy Country music video, the lonely bed, her wedding (?) dress. I felt like she tried to force the emotion, which is weird because she has a lot to give, girl has been through some stuff. The coaches thought it was "touching" but I think maybe they were trying to be nice.

So Christina and her team visited a church in Crenshaw to invite the choir to perform with them. I love how genuinely surprised many of them were. I liked how she pranked Blake by coming out singing a Country song, one of his I think, and having some male dancers grind upon him. What is his problem with male dancers?! They performed Xtina's hit "Stronger" and it sounded pretty damn good, her team is incredibly in sync and the choir sounded amazing.

Ashley De La Rosa sang a rock version of Jewel's "Foolish Games." They turned into an Evanescence-type song, and it really worked for Ashley. For some reason this didn't sound as good as it did when she and Christina were rehearsing, but her big not at the end was clear. Again, the fake emotion was a little corny but otherwise it was an ok performance. The other coaches thought she came into her own and delivered something different. I still don't know what type of artist Ashley could be, but her coach Christina thinks she has a lot of potential. We'll have to see.

Then Adam Levine and Maroon 5 got together with Wiz Khalifa to do their latest song "Payphone." Did you get all that? Now I am a big fan of Maroon 5, but I wasn't really feeling this, but I'm sure it'll be a big summer hit.

Erin Willett went with Adele's "Set Fire To The Rain." Even though she was nervous about doing the song, she found some confidence by sharing a moment with Blake about the death of their dads. Now I think Erin has a good voice, but there wasn't anything during her performance that really put it over the top for me. The little part where the backup singers joined her was the best part for me. I have hesitated about saying this, but I think frankly just because you are a plus size girl, doesn't meant that you have to sing Adele. It just feels...obvious. Also, her songs are just hard to sing. But Erin got through it okay, and without being set on fire by the sparks behind her.

Lindsey Pavao has the honor of being the top seller on iTunes from this season. I was actually a little surprised by that. She originally wanted to do a mash-up of Rihanna songs but switched to Katy Perry's "Part Of Me." Christina told her that it was coming off a little one-dimensional, which would explain the geometric shapes in the background. I still just don't know what Lindsey is trying to do, this came off like something Dev (check her out) would perform. Adam pointed out her pitchiness, but I don't think that Christina was completely happy with the final product. But trusted her enough to let her take a risk in performing a lesser known song from Katy.

Then Blake's team performed, and well it was exactly what you would expect him to have them do. The harmonies were excellent though!

Jermaine Paul sang "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins. Family, being on the show, against all odds! We get it. Jermaine is a great singer but all these slow songs were killing me. If he wanted to go this route, I would have preferred he do a slow love song or something, hell--even another Alicia Keys record. (He was her backup singer, in case you forgot.) So it was another good Jermaine performance but it didn't really move me. Christina said Jermaine was her favorite from Blake's team, and Cee Lo thought he made the song his own. His coach thought it was the moment that could turn him into a superstar.

Chris Mann did "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay. He chose this to try to step out of his comfort zone more and I think it fit his voice very well. All the singers love their coaches, but Chris especially seems to really adore Christina, which is cute. I liked the Robert Palmer-esque violin players that were on stage with him, but even though Chris does have this big voice it doesn't do a lot for me. Adam wasn't really all that moved either and actually wanted him to sing more Opera. Chris struggled to find himself during the competition, but I give him props for trying new things.

When it came time for Christina and Blake to eliminate a singer from their teams, Christina kind of dragged things out but surprisingly decided to eliminate Jesse Campbell. WTF! This was Christina's best bet to win this year, Jesse was the one to beat. Blake was swift in his decision and decided to go with how American voted last week, Jordis Unga was sent home. I think that was the best choice for his team, but DivaJulia and I are still reeling from Christina's decision.