Koatterce

I generally prefer clearer tones (twangy is fine too), but I have enjoyed contestants with some rasp before. I'm probably just a bit more picky with how they use it (probs can't take too much) and they may have a little more of an uphill climb for me to really like them. With that said, contestants should just sing how their voices are and sometimes that's just not my cup of tea and that's okay

iirc, Addison or someone close to her (her dad?) had said that going into the show, the ideal finish was 2nd because she wouldn't be locked into the contract and has more freedom to do whatever she wants afterwards

Plus there are tons of people who are great and a limited number of spots, so in that sense many eliminated contestants would've been deserving to continue. I've heard similar sentiments in other competitive settings, where if you trade out the entire group that made it and picked a new group, the new group would've been just as good, just different.

I wouldn't really classify Reckless Love or Oceans as gospel - they're more CCM

KAYLIN!!! I've loved her for years and her song Break Up Proof was my 11th most played song on Spotify this year (with others further down). I've loved Sarahbeth for a while too (Long Way at 34 on my Spotify last year, among others) but doesn't seem like she got that far. Haven't followed her that closely, but I've also heard Olivia multiple times and enjoyed her. I remember liking Rebecca on The Voice and same with Kendra and Allegra. Also Bk, you may want to put your lists on page 1 for ease of referral (since you so conveniently have a "lol" there)

My faves are definitely Wendy and Lana. Freaking gorgeous I think all the studios range from fine (meh/unremarkable) to great. I'm more concerned about bandzilla and ability to deliver live. Also I'm sure some contestants may have issues with this performance not lining up with what people want from them, but that's not their problem

they compete in the IS/wildcard

I don't think there's an upper limit. It's not like Idol where they specifically look for younger people. There have been a handful (I counted 5 on wikipedia) of no chairs over the age of 60 over the years (oldest one I can find was 68 years old from S18). It's just that as ages go up, there's fewer and fewer people who both want to go on reality TV and are good enough for it.

Nah it's happened many times before, I remember always laughing about what misspellings they can come up with for people with relatively straightforward names

Chloe & Addison Jordan & Emily Danielle & Michelle there are other pairs that were also great but less so my cup of tea

voted!

fyi the YT link for Victor's I Can't Make You Love Me is wrong (it's Rachel's I Hope You Dance)

Voted! this was a hard one, I like 4/5 of them and the 5th is still good, just not really my thing

My favourites are Chayce and Casey. Grace and Willie sound great but the songs are just okay.

1. female 2. doesn't matter, but the voices/tones/styles I prefer tend to be more common in females