half hour to go 

171. Jonathan Wyndham (Season 7) "Say Something" by A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera     Season 7 was a season of trends and patterns, with one of them, clearly, being "smoldering man gets four chairs, joins Team Adam, and is instantly curbstomped in the Battles". Just Like Joe Kirk, Jonathan Wyndham was on the receiving end of a healthy helping of producer hype, even having the honor of closing his Blind Audition episode. And, credit where credit's due, the hype wasn't entirely undeserved. The choice of "Say Something" – a song that was relatively new around the time Season 7 was taped – for his audition definitely lent itself really well to an emotional, earnest delivery of a mournful lyric; if there's anything Jonathan needed help with, it certainly wasn't conveying the feeling behind the song, not at all. Between the Jeremy Jordan-ish cry in his voice when he got to the higher notes and the intensity behind the chorus, he definitely did a good job selling the emotion.   As a singer, however, Jonathan struggled a little bit with being just a smidgen undercooked, and it was a myriad of little things that not only justify Jonathan's low ranking on the list, but also, in my opinion, foreshadowed Jonathan's jarringly early elimination in the Battle Rounds. For one thing, the guy's breath control is rough – it doesn't even sound like he's breathing before some of these lines, and, as a result, a lot of the verse ended up feeling really wispy and wavery. It definitely helps the song feel a little more earnest ~sad~, but, at a certain point, it stopped feeling like an intentional choice on Jonathan's part. The result is a lot of the song lacking precision or strength before the chorus. And, even then, the chorus didn't open things up nearly enough for me to really be sold on the performance as a package. It doesn't help that he kept adding words and lyrics to "Say Something" that are... very much not there in the original song? I mean, I think Christina Aguilera had enough restraint not to utter the words "baby, please" in most performances of the original song, actually.    The closeup of Jonathan at the very end of his audition – where you can see his hands visibly trembling as he clutches onto the microphone – kinda sealed the deal for me as far as this audition goes. Jonathan had a lot of tools to make this audition great, but the guy was just a little too green when he auditioned, and, whether or not it was inexperience or just middling confidence, his lack of firepower in the audition helps make his seemingly premature elimination make a lot more sense, I'm afraid.   Clue Breakdown 171. ... Cracker Barrel? One part of his intro package emphasized how his life's goal was to hit every Cracker Barrel in the United States. Hope he's made some progress in the last decade! Point: @thevoiceisthetop   170. Ryan Innes (Season 4) "Gravity" by John Mayer     If we're really going to sit here and split hairs, I would have to argue that Ryan Innes' audition is probably the weakest the four chair turners of Season 4 had to offer, despite the Morgan Twins ranking lower than him a few write-ups ago. Because while there was something entirely unsettling about the sight of two identical blonde women delivering an unblinking rendition of an Alicia Keys ballad, ultimately, there are more objective issues of note to discuss when analyzing Ryan's middling rendition of one of John Mayer's biggest hits, yeah? "Gravity" is a song that's been done to death on The Voice, but Ryan's delivery clocks in as one of my lesser favorite takes we've heard in the last twenty-five seasons for one major reason: the mismatch of vibe.   The core appeal of "Gravity" is how Mayer marries his inclinations towards R&B and soul with a laidback, guitar-driven groove, creating a song that, in theory, feels effortlessly silky without being boring. The easy mistakes to be made with "Gravity", then, go one of two ways; if you wanna stumble with this song, you gotta either lean in so far into the laidback nature of the song that it becomes a snoozefest, or you gotta overload your rendition with melisma and strip the song of its effortless nature. Ryan fell into the latter category with a version of "Gravity" that feels very... for lack of stronger wording, effortful. Aside from a few nice-sounding runs, Ryan overshoots most of the song, from an overbearing (if not pleasant sounding) falsetto to a few screamy power notes in the song's chorus. The result is a performance that not only feels incongruent with the song itself, but ends up sounding pretty sharp for an uncomfortable while, which doesn't fare well for his overall sense of musicality, unfortunately.    Ryan's got some neat tools in his disposal, for sure, but the reason "Gravity" doesn't work for me, ultimately, comes down to a misuse of the tools at hand, whether he's using the wrong ones or using them for the wrong reasons. Ryan misjudging his approach to his songs ended up being a pattern throughout his run, ending with him taking a hard tumble in the Knockouts later on – I wonder what would've happened if he was able to work out these kinks and figure out how to really shine on the Voice stage.    Clue Breakdown 170. First (of three) is the worst (of three). Three people on the list got four chairs to turn singing "Gravity"; one of two songs on the list with this honor. There's an alternative answer to this clue for someone we'll be hearing from later down this list.  Point: @FloorWax   169. Pip (Season 2) "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals       I want that twink obliterated.   Pip's an interesting one, because, frankly, "House of the Rising Sun" by way of the Jimmy Awards wasn't exactly on anyone's bingo card for the auditions this season, right? Thing is, Pip's admittedly theatrical approach to the song could've definitely held up with the right vocal choices, especially because, credit where credit's due, Pip's got a really strong higher end of their range. And they can belt like a champion, too! Getting to see them let loose a little near the end of the song was really fruitful, because it gave us something really gritty and exciting during a rendition of the song that was otherwise extremely milquetoast.    The thing with Pip's "House of the Rising Sun" isn't necessarily that it was theatrical or poppy – we've seen those stylizations work for other contestants time and time again. For me, the problem lies within the presentation and delivery, because wow this is the least gritty version of this song I've heard... maybe ever? Pip's got a fine tone, but it's very thin – not necessarily nasally, but certainly without the kind of heft you'd expect going into someone taking on The Animals – and it's there where listeners quickly learn that Pip just isn't a really natural rocker (though this wouldn't be the last time they'd give that lane a try during their run). It definitely doesn't help that he auditioned the same season as folks like Juliet Simms and Jamar Rogers, contestants who are perfectly seasoned when it comes to taking on classic rock. Meanwhile, you've got Pip taking on The Animals with distractingly literal hand gestures and the kind of restlessness that left him standing awkwardly off to the side of the stage during his final glory note. Seriously, the shot of him adjusting his suspenders while smoldering at the camera left me jumping out of my seat.    (Quick side note: Pip uses they/he pronouns, so if you see me referring to them with alternating pronouns, that's why!)   Clue Breakdown 169. __ without a __ is like Blake without alcohol. Refers to a joke Blake cracked about Pip and his bowtie during the Live Shows of his season. Point:  @TyDSC   168. Carson Peters (Season 21) "Tulsa Time" by Danny Flowers     Remember when the entire forum thought he was a lock for the Finale by sheer virtue of being a country singer swinging all four chairs around? It made a little more sense in a post-Kenzie Wheeler world, but, after Carson's audition aired, his pleasantly surprising loss to Lana Scott in the Knockouts started to make a little more sense. If there's one word to describe this audition, it's definitely "underbaked". You can hear it in how tremulous his tone is and the way he keeps scooping the start of a good handful of his phrases, and you can certainly see it in how he, like Ryan Innes, is performing an utterly unserious ode to Oklahoma like he's got a gun to his head. After all, a fake smile is better than no smile at all.   It's hard to pretend that Carson's audition isn't at least a little eyebrow-raising in a good way, especially for someone who was on the younger side when he auditioned. There's merit to how he shaped the song's "arc", leaving room for the song to progress and grow from the beginning to the end, where he got wail a little bit and show off a hell of a lot more range than he seemed to have at the start of this performance. And hey, he played guitar, too! Kinda wish we got more from his instrumentation during his run on the show, because you can tell he's got the goods there. At the end of the day, Carson's audition would've probably killed had he auditioned, say, this past season – a little more time in the oven could've done the guy a couple of favors when, really, his only genuine issue was the fact that he just auditioned a little too soon. Kinda weird to say that when he auditioned the same season as Hailey Mia, but hey...   Clue Breakdown 168. At least they'll always have the Opry? Carson's claim to fame before The Voice was performing at the Grand Ole Opry with Ricky Skaggs when he was a youngster. Point: @FloorWax   167. Ryan Whyte Maloney (Season 6) "Lights" by Journey     It's hard to find something to say when the most interesting thing about your audition is the fingerpicking before you've even sang a note. I'll say this – it was pretty good fingerpicking! It would definitely be a whole lot more meaningful if there was anything else to say about Ryan Whyte Maloney's audition aside from "Gene Taylor clears".    In the name of putting together a proper writeup, I'll say that Ryan really shouldn't be this low. Not because of any matters regarding the ranking itself, mind you; it's because he should've done a whole lot better singing a song like "Lights", one that demands a ridiculously high range and enough vocal stamina to let said range do the talking. Here's the thing, though; remember how I mentioned Carson's audition benefited from a really strong arc between the start of the song and the end? Well, how about a song with zero arc whatsoever? "Lights" is a great song, don't get me wrong, but it's a repetitive one, too – and not only did Ryan not put together a particularly flattering cut of the song for his audition, but, because of how hard he blew from the very first note of the song, it felt like the song just went absolutely nowhere. Belting the same specific high note over and over, delivering verses that barely had words for their lyrics... the pattern wasn't exactly one he benefitted from following, but he kept on with it, and, by the time the song ended, it felt as though he turned a few of those chairs for a few impressive notes at the start and little else.   Ryan's got a lot going for him from the get-go. After all, even though his tone is not a particular favorite of mine, he's got a really strong range and some impressive musicality to his name. It's just hard to stay impressed for a contestant's ninety seconds of action when those strengths are channeled into excess – especially when there's nothing else to cut up the action.   Clue Breakdown 167. They've got a name a little too long for my liking, but things might not be so bright if we were to make the easy cut. Ryan's middle name is "Whyte". Get it?  Point: @Someone648   166. Caity Peters (Season 10) "Jealous" by Labrinth     This one is a tough one to drop so low, because, while Caity's run up to her elimination in the Playoffs definitely wasn't the most glamorous, at her best, she was up there amongst the strongest her season had to offer. This... just isn't her best, not by a long shot.   On paper, this song really could've been a moment for Caity, especially when we've seen other contestants (see Parijita) really shine with Labrinth's heartbreak ballad. In practice, however, Caity's audition suffered from two major problems; confidence and arrangement. For sure, Caity's stylizations are definitely a little bit of a mixed bag for me, especially on this song. There's a distracting quality to the way she holds out the ends of her phrases through the moments of silence, like there's a sense of insecurity over the moments where Caity isn't singing, and the way her voice kinda falls in certain places, like on the "you're happyyyy" feels less emotionally guided and more affected. There's a palpable sense of nervous energy to this audition that holds Caity back from really blossoming, especially when, on the verses, her voice sounds like its shrinking upon itself.   More grievously, however, is the way the arrangement completely drowned her intimate whisper-like approach to the song out – something that, if I had to guess, isn't really Caity's fault? Aside from the instrumentation sounding... off, it feels like it's trying to go bigger than what Caity's delivering, and it ended up not matching her tone in the slightest. Caity's style feels conversational, almost like a younger Joni Mitchell or maybe an alto Birdy – the band just feels like its thumping along without any acknowledgment of the intimacy this rendition needs to really shine. It's hard not to feel like Caity was done a little dirty when all is said and done, because there's a lot left to the imagination as to what could've been had this performance shaped itself around her interpretation a little more cleanly.    (By the way, if you want to hear what happens when Caity's tone really shines, check out her Knockout performance of Sam Smith's "Leave Your Lover". When the time comes for me to do a countdown of my favorite Knockout performances, it'll be hard to leave this one unmentioned.)   Clue Breakdown 166. No relation to the singer two doors down. So, this is C. Peters! Not to be confused with C. Peters a few entries back, of course. Kinda surprised no one caught on to this one. Point: none

My flop predictions based on this video 🤣: -Nathan: Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond -Zoe: Lucky - Britney Spears -L: Popular - Wicked

💥TWO💥   Ika - [][][][][][][] Keesha- [][][][][][][] Cassandra - [X][X][X][][][][] Vanessa - [X][][][][][][] Betty - [][][][][][][] Britney - [X][X][X][][][][]   Britney   Ika as HOH and Keesha/Cassandra as nominee's will be playing in the power of veto.  Vanessa, Betty, Britney chosen by Random Draw.  First to 7 wins the power of veto.  If one of the nominee's wins it, it will automatically be used on them.     ROUND RULES (Please copy with your vote): 5 votes per day, 1 hour apart. For each vote, you can vote for 1 houseguest and put an X in their box. Once a houseguest received 7 X's, they will win the Power of Veto. If a nominee wins the Power of Veto, it will automatically be used on them.  If anyone else wins, there will be another round.

Well, at least Nytsch gave Triston a 1.  🤭