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Best Song Choices Ever


Dai

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Not the same as best performances. Basically song choices that weren’t predictable or overused at the time of the performance and meant a moment for the contestant who sang it.

 

For me:


Amber Carrington - Sad
Tessanne Chin - Underneath It All
Christina Grimmie - Hold On, We’re Going Home
Matt McAndrew - The Blower’s Daughter

Koryn Hawthorne - Make It Rain

Amy Vachal - Hotline Bling
Kennedy Holmes - Confident
Rose Short - God’s Country

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Sam Smith was just starting to become really popular in the States when Usher cleared Stay With Me for Josh Kaufman. I think that song really solidified his frontrunner status. Sam became a fixture in the Voice songbook ever since that moment.

Edited by mjdolorico
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Christiana Danielle's Umbrella was really a surprising song choice for me that really worked well with her (maybe even the best cover for this song I've ever heard of) but team minivan were not a fan of her lmao. Umbrella was not a common song to sing especially in a competitive singing shows like this.

 

Addison Agen's Lucky imo, her version was absolutely stunning, never would've thought of her singing a Britney.

 

Jej Vinson's Passionfruit, I mean he really did a hell of a job with that song (but sadly, he went downhill on the voting shows).

 

Chris Blue's Take Me to the King was kind of surprising as I would not have pegged him as that artist who'll sing a gospel song, that actually is his most vulnerable performance for me.

 

Allegra Miles' Chandelier, I never pegged her type of artist to sing a really huge song, it went good for me (except for the enunciation problems)

 

 

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I thought it would be interesting to do this for Battles song choices, since those are harder to get right. My criteria will be how well the song allowed the two artists to showcase their individual styles.

 

Karli Webster vs Addison Agen - Girls Just Want To Have Fun 

Janice Freeman vs Katrina Rose - W.O.M.A.N.

Terrence Cunningham vs Livia Faith - Stars

Cody Ray Raymond vs SandyRedd - Cry To Me

Domenic Haynes vs Trey Rose - I Need A Dollar

Kim Cherry vs Kendra Checketts - Here

 

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This is so subjective and we’re all biased af, so I’ll just pick a few that stand out for me as game changers. Some of you are missing the point of the topic and just picking favorites. 
 

Sawyer Fredericks - “I’m a Man of Constant Sorrow” - He literally win the season within the first 10 seconds of this performance. 
 

CWB - “Old Rugged Cross” - Not a fan, but it is what it is. 
 

Alisan Porter - “Blue Bayou” - 

 

Sundance Head - “No One” - I downloaded the song, and I wasn’t even much of a fan. 

 

Chris Blue - “Take Me To The King” - One of the best pander choices of all time. 
 

Chloe Kohanski - “Landslide” - She wasn’t even on the radar before this. The performance was brilliant. I still can’t believe Miley picked Ashland. 
 

Brynn Cartelli - “Here Comes Goodbye” - Dipping into the country base with this one. Many of her song choices were questionable, but this one was perfect. 
 

Chevel Shepherd - “Travelin’ Soldier” - 26 million Facebook views. The rehearsal package + song choice + performance probably vaulted her to frontrunner status, and like Chloe, hadn’t really been on the radar after a montaged battle. 
 

Maelyn Jarmon - “Hallelujah” - Not a fresh choice at all, but it certainly locked up the win for her. 
 

Todd Tilghman - I don’t remember the song, but the one where he had all of his kids sitting in the room watching the performance, and he cried. LOL. It was freaking over at that point. 
 


 

 

Edited by TeamAudra
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Ones that haven't been mentioned on the thread yet (excluding blinds since the artists generally get more say there, so they can pick things that are more likely to work for them):

 

  • Amanda Brown - Dream On (I wouldn't have picked this in a million years, but the giant gamble paid off)
  • Michelle Chamuel - I Knew You Were Trouble (Picking something recent is always a risk and given all her other songs this was a bit unexpected, but it got her the iTunes bonus so clearly it worked)
  • James Wolpert - A Case of You (It was completely different from everything else he'd done on the show so far and ended up being a perfect example of how to do a "stripped down performance" that resonates with the audience)
  • Will Champlin - At Last (Team Adam was the only one in the top 8 that was still intact and James had already had a breakout moment while Tessanne wasn't going anywhere, so Will needed something to keep him off the chopping block - and flipping a song that is rarely covered by men and hitting it out of the park did it)
  • Toia Jones - Crazy in Love (If she hadn't been a battle steal against someone Adam wanted to keep safe, she would 1000% not been robbed)
  • Joshua Davis - Fields of Gold (Adam screwed up song choice for him and nearly got him cut the week before, but this kept him out of the bottom three by a good margin given it got an iTunes bonus)
  • Emily Ann Roberts - Burning House (Going upbeat the week before got her into the finale, so showing a more vulnerable side as the show-closer made sense and pushed her into the runner-up spot)
  • Aaron Gibson & Sa'Rayah - I'll Take Care of You (Say what you will about Aaron's run on the show and Miley's coaching skills, but finding a song that works for two very different singers that seemed like a leftover pairing and having them do it as well as they did was a moment)
  • Brennley Brown - Up to the Mountain (I remember there being a lot of side-eye and grumbling at her being a battle steal; this shut most of that up) 
  • Chris Blue - Superstition (This pretty much cemented him as Alicia's front runner, which was then confirmed with Love on the Brain)
  • Chris Blue - Rhythm Nation (The song choice made sense given previous work from him, but it was one that hadn't been done before on the show and likely gave him that final edge over Lauren because it was the show closer [although to be fair I absolutely wouldn't want to go after that performance either])
  • Janice Freeman - I'm Goin' Down (if anyone ever wants to know why the Internet claims Janice got robbed, direct them to this performance) 
  • Davon Fleming - I Am Changing (usually if it's a good song choice, I get one wow moment - Davon got several)
  • Chloe Kohanski - Total Eclipse of the Heart (she'd already gotten some buzz due to her KO and then she did this as the buzz was starting to die down and got all the way to #1 on iTunes)
  • Kyla Jade - You Don't Own Me (the coaches ate it up and the audience went nuts - and for good reason)
  • Brynn Cartelli - Fix You (like Chloe, her KO got a lot of buzz and this likely confirmed her as finale-ready)
  • Kymberli Joye - Break Every Chain (Remind me again how she was an instant-elimination at the semifinals?)
  • Max Boyle - when the party's over (Considering he was up against the verifiable vocal monster that is Katie Kadan, he should've been obliterated; instead, he ended up getting two coaches to try and steal him)
  • Thunderstorm Artis - Summertime (Though he didn't need a "moment" per se given how much love he got online elsewhere, this did have a very "John, you done goofed" feel about it by the time it was over) 

 

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* Amanda Brown _ Dream On

* Cassade Pope _ Over You

* The Swons _ Danny's Song

* Tessanne Chin _ I Have Nothing

* Will Champlin _ At Last

* James Wolpert _ A Case Of You

* Mathew Shular _ Cosmic Love

* Jaquie Lee _ IPASOY

* Josh Kaufman _ Stay With Me / I Can't Make You Love Me

* Craig Wayne Boyd _ The Old Rugged Cross / Can't You See

* Matt McAndrew _ The Blower's Daughter

* Chris Jamison _ Cry Me A River

* Sawyer Fredericks _ I'm A Man Of Constant Sorrow

* Jordan Smith _ Somebody To Love / Mary Did You Know / Great Is Thy Faithfulness

* Emily Ann Roberts _ Burning House

* Alison Porter _ Cry Baby

* Bryan Bautista _ 1+1

* Sundance Head _ Me and Jesus

* Billy Gilman _ I Surrender

* Chris Blue _ Love On The Brain / Take Me To King / Superstition

* Chloe Kohanski _ Landslide / TEOTH

* Addison Agen _ She Used To Be Mine

* Kyla Jade _ Let It Be / You Don't Own Me

* Brynn Cartelli _ Here Comes Goodbye

* Reagan Strange _ You Say

* Kymberli Joye _ Break Every Chain

* Kennedy Holmes _ Confident

* Jej Vinson _ Passionfruit

* Dexter Roberts _ I'm Here Without You

* Maelyn Jarmon _ The Scientist

* Ricky Duran _ A Woman Like Her

* Jake Hoot _ Desperado

* Katie Kadan _ Always Remember Us This Way

* Todd Tilgman _ Anymore / Love Me

* T-storm Artis _ Summertime

* Micah Iverson _ Your Song

* Toneisha Harris _ Lovin You

* Cammwess _ Say Something

 

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In term of what I can think of that actively changed the game...

 

Alisan Porter - Let Him Fly (Wakefield was starting to become more of a frontrunner by this point, but this put her back on top at a perfect time.)

 

Jake Hoot - Cover Me Up (It was essentially game over after this, especially considering the lack of country competition.)

Ricky Duran - Let Him Be (This ultimately convinced me that he was beating Katie.)

 

Maelyn Jarmon - Stay (I was tempted to put The Scientist here, but this outcharted freaking GOD BLESS THE USA from Gyth and gave Maelyn a second consecutive streaming bonus. At that point, it was game over. Hallelujah was the final nail in the country slaughter coffin.)

 

Sawyer Fredericks - I'm A Man of Constant Sorrow (No one else was winning after this.)

Jordan Smith - Chandelier (See Sawyer.)

 

Chevel Shepherd - Traveling Soldier (The facebook feedback said it all.)

 

Kimberly Nichole - What's Up (This took her from semi-forgettable to frontrunner status, and while she wasn't beating Sawyer it gave her a strong shot at going far)

 

Koryn Hawthorne - Make It Rain (See Kimberly)

Chris Blue - Take Me To The King (I had a sense that he was going to win after this performance, and was right.)

 

I'm sure there's plenty more, but I think that's enough for now haha

Edited by MatthewPalermo
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I should have clarified that I don’t consider pandering as an example of great song choices, even if they are usually the most clever and effective choices when it comes to giving someone the votes (see Todd and Craig, the kings of pandering).

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Although I would have preferred Allegra to move on, I'm not going to ignore how much of a bold move Toneisha's Lovin' You was. I was shocked that she chose it, as soon as I heard the opening notes. Although it wasn't as impressive as some other versions I've heard, we didn't know she would even get close to getting the whistle, so it was very impressive and an amazing move for the IS, cementing her moving on.

 

I will note though that she was probably already moving on, because she beat out Thunderstorm in the finale, while Allegra lost to Thunderstorm two times, meaning that Toneisha > Thunderstorm > Allegra, and I think the rest had lower votes than Allegra, so she was def moving on w/o that performance, but if there was any doubt, that performance removed it.

Edited by ashwinner
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Megan Danielle: Piece by Piece

Michael and Allegra: How Will I Know

Jake Hoot: Cover Me Up

Damalli: Sober

Jej and Beth: Jealous

SandyRedd: All performance in preliminaries

Kymberyli Joy and Oneup: Mercy

Janice Freeman (RIP): I’m Going Down and The Story

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4 hours ago, VintageVoice said:

Kymberli Joye - Break Every Chain (Remind me again how she was an instant-elimination at the semifinals?)

 

Her Semi-Final performance of Never Alone was actually really not that impressive as her BEC performance, she was pitchy at some point, so I really get it why she did had an instant elimination, and also she had been inconsistent all throughout

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43 minutes ago, anonymouskid_35 said:

 

Her Semi-Final performance of Never Alone was actually really not that impressive as her BEC performance, she was pitchy at some point, so I really get it why she did had an instant elimination, and also she had been inconsistent all throughout


Agreed. #unpop but I don’t think she was very impressive. She had range for days but she didn’t use it properly IMO (she oversang every song she was given). I think she stood out because the competition in her season was really bad (she could at least sing, and that was more than what most of the T8 from that season could do, I’ll give her that.)

Edited by Daillon
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Some that stand out to me:

 

Cassadee Pope- Over You (Giving his own song to her was probably Blake's smartest move, introducing a new side of her at that point that pushed her to the win)

Amanda Brown - Dream On ( I mean, anyone that tries to sing this song and nails the high note is on board. That song gave her an insane amount of hype and solidified her as a frontrunner)

Carter Lloyd Horne - Way Down We Go (Tailor made for his voice, what a fantastic choice, and coming after a not so memorable audition and a montaged battle, this performance did put him on the map)

CammWess - Say Something (An unmemorable audition and a lopsided battle could kill a lot of contestants, but this  was just what Camm needed to succeed and put himself on the map, even going to the finale. A fantastic showcase for his voice)

Joshua Davis - Fields of Gold ( No song has done more justice or capture his artistry better than this one, and considering he was in the bottom 3 the previous week, and not only was saved with this song but got an Itunes bonus, its impressive)

Maelyn Jarmon - Mad World (Fantastic showcase of her voice, and the fact that it came at a time where almost everyone else was struggling, pretty much sent her to the finale)

Hunter Plake - I Want to Know What Love Is (To this day, my favorite version of that song, and he arranged it in a way to fit his voice in a spectacular manner, not to mention it cemented him as a frontrunner on Gwen's team)

Pryor Baird - Night Moves ( Good ol' Seger proving to be Pryor's ideal voice match, and he showed more restraint here that ever, highlighting the vocal quality he had, and the performance gave him the first Itunes bonus of the season)

Janice Freeman - The Story (RIP, incredible performance that highlighted her powerful voice and pressence on stage)

Chris Kroeze - Long Train Runnin' (I loved this performance, one of my favorite songs done right both vocally and instrumentally, with a fantastic guitar solo to accompany it. It also helped him quite a lot i might say, he was one of the few not destroyed by Facebook that night)

Katie Kadan - Without You (Theatrical, vocally stunning , fantastic fit for her voice)

 

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34 minutes ago, Misirlou said:

Some that stand out to me:

 

Cassadee Pope- Over You (Giving his own song to her was probably Blake's smartest move, introducing a new side of her at that point that pushed her to the win)

 


Completely forgot about this one. It might the smartest song choice ever (even if I think the performance itself is a bit overrated :ph34rwave:)

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12 hours ago, Daillon said:


Completely forgot about this one. It might the smartest song choice ever (even if I think the performance itself is a bit overrated :ph34rwave:)

And it's the one song that should be on top of a "never again" list (given both Blake's emotional ties to the story behind the song and the original artist being his ex-wife).

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