The One Where VintageVoice Ranks People: Season 19 Edition (FINAL FOUR POSTED)

[FloorWax]

21 minutes ago, VintageVoice said:

Here's the hints for the final four - and clue order may or may not matter this time.

• This contestant lives in a hotbed for their musical genre of choice.
• This contestant is the only contestant to have worked with the majority of the panel.
• This contestant's audition shares one difference from the others in this group.
• This contestant sang with or against another member of this group at some point.

 

- Taryn (because The Voice is a hotbed for country???)

- Sid (John, Kelly, Blake)

- Cami (I don't know.... um... it was in the middle of an episode??? Didn't open/close?)

- Desz (against Sid for KO's)

 

4. Taryn

3. Sid

2. Cami

1. Desz

Edited March 1, 2021 by FloorWax

[disney1024]

27 minutes ago, VintageVoice said:

Here's the hints for the final four - and clue order may or may not matter this time.

• This contestant lives in a hotbed for their musical genre of choice.
• This contestant is the only contestant to have worked with the majority of the panel.
• This contestant's audition shares one difference from the others in this group.
• This contestant sang with or against another member of this group at some point.

1. Taryn Papa (country artist)
2. Sid Kingsley (worked with 3 coaches)
3. Cami Clune ("blocked artist" like Taryn, chose John like Sid, and 4-chair turn like DeSz)
4. DeSz (paired against Sid during the KO)

 

The order of the rankings is obviously Taryn at #4 and DeSz at #1. Talk about taste! 

Edited March 1, 2021 by disney1024

[disney1024]

5 minutes ago, FloorWax said:

Cami (I don't know.... um... it was in the middle of an episode??? Didn't open/close?)

Cami was "blocked artist" like Taryn, chose John as her coach like Sid, and she was a 4-chair turn like DeSz 

[FloorWax]

Just now, disney1024 said:

Cami was "blocked artist" like Taryn, chose John as her coach like Sid, and she was a 4-chair turn like DeSz 

The clue says shares one difference from the others. You stated her similarities with the others.

[disney1024]

Just now, FloorWax said:

The clue says shares one difference from the others. You stated her similarities with the others.

Well, the clue is poorly worded. You can't "share" a difference. If you share a characteristic with someone else, that's a similarity lol 

[VintageVoice]

1 minute ago, disney1024 said:

Well, the clue is poorly worded. You can't "share" a difference. If you share a characteristic with someone else, that's a similarity lol 

In my defense, I never claimed to be good at English even though it's my native language oops  I'll go back and change the wording for that one.

[FloorWax]

34 minutes ago, VintageVoice said:

This contestant's audition has one difference from the others in this group.

 

@disney1024

[disney1024]

2 minutes ago, FloorWax said:

@disney1024

It's still Cami because the other clues only work for the other three artists lol 

[FloorWax]

Just now, disney1024 said:

It's still Cami because the other clues only work for the other three artists lol 

true true

[David68]

This contestant lives in a hotbed for their musical genre of choice. - Taryn Papa

This contestant is the only contestant to have worked with the majority of the panel. - Sid Kingsley

This contestant's audition shares one difference from the others in this group. - Cami Clune

This contestant sang with or against another member of this group at some point. - DeSz

[Bk1234]

4 minutes ago, David68 said:

This contestant lives in a hotbed for their musical genre of choice. - Taryn Papa

This contestant is the only contestant to have worked with the majority of the panel. - Sid Kingsley

This contestant's audition shares one difference from the others in this group. - Cami Clune

This contestant sang with or against another member of this group at some point. - DeSz

I agree with this!

[QueenCami]

1 hour ago, VintageVoice said:

Here's the hints for the final four - and clue order may or may not matter this time.

• This contestant lives in a hotbed for their musical genre of choice.
• This contestant is the only contestant to have worked with the majority of the panel.
• This contestant's audition has one difference from the others in this group.
• This contestant sang with or against another member of this group at some point.

4. Taryn Papa: Being a lady in country is tough [not gonna lie, I had to look up what hotbed means lmao]

3. Sid Kingsley: Worked with John, Kelly, and Blake

2. *Cami Clune: Blake was not a choice for her in the BAs [DeSz is the only one not in Episode 2, but she fits for first] [Sid is the only one who didn't turn Kelly, but he fits for third]

1. DeSz: Went against Sid in the Knockouts.

 

This order wouldn't be particularly surprising to me, I would have thought you'd put Cami above DeSz, but that's probably because that's what I'd do LOL

 

*I liked what someone else said about Cami not opening or closing; that's probably more likely to be the reasoning for Cami Clune.

Edited March 1, 2021 by QueenCami

[VintageVoice]

Working on the write-ups for the last four - I'm gonna get them up before tomorrow's premiere; I'm writing now since I have a bunch of work-related stuff to do tomorrow (I got a job but since it's part time I'm trying to pick up a second one).

[QueenCami]

1 minute ago, VintageVoice said:

Working on the write-ups for the last four - I'm gonna get them up before tomorrow's premiere; I'm writing now since I have a bunch of work-related stuff to do tomorrow (I got a job but since it's part time I'm trying to pick up a second one).

Congrats on getting the job! 

 

unless im misunderstanding your use of "got" and i'm making a fool of myself rn

[Bk1234]

3 hours ago, VintageVoice said:

5. Carter Rubin (Team Gwen)

Explanation:    Picture this: IDF is waiting for more contestant information during the lull between when the Season 19 blinds and battles tape, and someone confirms there's a young male vocalist who got two chairs to turn. A lot of initial predictions write him off as unlikely to do well on the show, given the last teenage boy to make the finale was several seasons ago at this point - and it's been even longer since the lone teen boy winner won the whole shebang. Fast forward to the Friday before episode 3 of the blinds is set to air, and who gets leaked? If your answer is said teenage boy, you'd be correct. Carter was the youngest solo contestant to make the show at just 14 when he auditioned. Said audition showed off an impressive amount of control and polish for someone that young, not to mention a really pretty tone and just the right amount of vibrato to be widely appealing. After picking Gwen, Carter got paired with Gwen's second-youngest team member; he and Larriah then pulled off an impressive battle, especially considering how young both of them were. Carter's advancement to the knockouts got him to his breakout performance of "You Say" - it was at this point that most of the audience that hadn't yet been suckered in by Carter's dimples and natural poise took note of him, and Carter went from middle of the pack to Gwen's likeliest front-runner. The second-biggest head-scratcher of Carter's run on the show was the choice to give him a Mariah Carey song, considering many adults struggle with her discography. Carter, to his credit, made it through in one piece and got the Team Gwen public vote. He followed into the semifinals with the biggest head-scratcher of his time on the show, at least on paper: a Muppets song. Of course, because almost nothing fazes Carter, he nailed it; in fact, he did well enough with it that it's currently the lone live shows performance to get over the million-view mark on YouTube. After that, it basically turned into a race for second for everyone else. Carter's finale night was the only time I'd seen a hint of nerves from him all season, as they crept through during his cover song; during his original, he'd recovered enough that he was just fine. A little over 24 hours later, Carter was declared winner of The Voice - only the second teen boy to win and the second-youngest winner overall. After winning the show, Carter has been doing some songwriting and is working with Gwen's management to figure out the best direction for his career. Best of luck to Carter as he continues to grow as an artist.

Hint:     This contestant was part of the only trio to make the finale. ( All three members of Carter's semifinals trio performance made the finale. )

Montage/Leak: He was not montaged at any point and his blind audition was leaked.

Genre: Pop

Favorite Performance: Rainbow Connection (semifinals)

Love this write-up. 

[FloorWax]

56 minutes ago, QueenCami said:

*I liked what someone else said about Cami not opening or closing; that's probably more likely to be the reasoning for Cami Clune.

tbh I feel like Blake not being an option is more probable lmao

[+Spurrious]

On 2/28/2021 at 7:17 PM, VintageVoice said:

6. Julia Cooper (Team Legend)

Thanks for showing Julia some respect.

 

IMO: She didn't get near enough of that during her short run.  In my world view she should have made the finals. 

[VintageVoice]

Me, thinking I'd have write-ups done before the S20 premiere tonight:

[+Spurrious]

7 minutes ago, VintageVoice said:

Me, thinking I'd have write-ups done before the S20 premiere tonight:

You had a plan, it didn't work out.   I can't says anything because there's an outside chance it could happen to me some day.  

[QueenCami]

25 minutes ago, Spurrious said:

Thanks for showing Julia some respect.

 

IMO: She didn't get near enough of that during her short run.  In my world view she should have made the finals. 

julia should have gone way farther. her voice was honestly crazy amazing. unfortunately a large portion of the voting demographic wouldn't like her.

[VintageVoice]

Finally back to working on this, in the meantime I’m bumping this so I don’t have to dig through a zillion pages to post the final four when everything is done.

[VintageVoice]

 

RANKINGS ROUND 10 - IT'S THE END OF THE ROAD 

4. Taryn Papa (Team Blake)

Explanation:     In fourth place lands the contestant who was arguably the most excited to be a part of the Season 19 cast. Taryn had been auditioning for the show for a while (I don't remember the exact number of times off the top of my head) and her persistence eventually landed her a spot in the blind audition lineup for the show. Good female country rep, especially good adult female country rep, is hard to come by on the show. Taryn, as evidenced by her pre-show work, is a very capable vocalist, and was strong enough audition wise not only to get three chairs to turn but also deemed good enough for Blake to use his only block on her. Since Taryn had a history with Blake's Nashville Ole Red location, it was unsurprising that she picked Blake as her coach. For her battle, she got paired with Blake's country trio on an uptempo song; because it was more uptempo than her blind, I was a tiny bit concerned for Taryn despite knowing she was capable of high energy performances. Luckily, Taryn's battle performance pushed all my doubts to the side. Though Taryn was the solo standout from the battle, she lost to Worth the Wait. Luckily for her, Blake saved her and she moved on to the 4-way Knockout. It was in the 4-way Knockout that Taryn chose to tackle a "big ask" Faith Hill song. Unfortunately, the vocal wasn't as good as Taryn had previously shown she was capable of being; there were some parts where her vocals were strained and pitch issues popped up. Though it later came out that there were smoke inhalation issues due to California wildfires, it seems like Taryn was the most blatantly affected by this of the 4-way Knockout participants. Fast forward to the playoffs and the person IDF expected to win the 4-way Knockout gets DQ'd; thus, Taryn was crowned the 4-way Knockout winner and got to perform in the top 17. Taryn's reaction to winning the 4-way Knockout showed she clearly didn't expect to win, but she put on her best performance face and went back out to do her playoffs song. I didn't think her playoffs song was the best showcase for her voice personally, but the original artist of the song reposted Taryn's performance and she managed to get radio airplay for her cover of the song, so it worked out well enough at the end of the day. Taryn's performance wasn't enough to get her beyond the playoffs, but considering I didn't even expect her to make the playoffs in the first place I'm happy she got one last performance on the show. Now that she's off the show, Taryn is back performing at Ole Red, released her own merch, and recently celebrated eight years in Nashville. Crossing my fingers for more good things in her future.

Hint:  This contestant lives in a hotbed for their musical genre of choice. (Taryn lives in Nashville, which is widely considered the home base of country music)

Montage/Leak: She was not montaged at any point and her audition was leaked.

Genre: Country

Favorite Performance: Little White Church (battle round)

 

3. Sid Kingsley (Team Legend --> Team Kelly --> Team Blake)

Explanation:  The bronze medal on the list goes to someone whose voice grew on me over time. As the last male artist to be ranked, the "scruffy guy with a soulful voice" thing that Sid has in spades continues to be one of my favorite types of male artist on the show. Pre-season during the spoilers I wasn't 100% sold on Sid since I wasn't sure how his voice would translate to the show, but I joined his fan thread shortly before his audition aired I think, it was either the day before or morning of if my memory serves me correctly. Gwen hit the nail on the head when she said Sid sounds like a guy who's been making records forever, despite Sid not being much for singing in front of others until relatively recently. Kelly, the only coach that didn't turn, admitted she wanted another level of vulnerability from Sid's blind; Blake rose to Sid's defense and said had Kelly turned, those last puzzle pieces would've clicked. In any case, Sid picked John as his initial coach and moved onto the battles, where he got pitted against Bailey Rae on the singing show staple "Tennessee Whiskey." Despite the song being more in Bailey's wheelhouse, Sid also nailed his vocals; watching back and seeing Kelly go nuts over her button when Sid has a solo part, I'm not surprised John picked Bailey over Sid in the battle since it allowed both of the artists to stay on the show post-battle. Kelly stole Sid after he lost the battle, and decided to pit him against Desz in the Knockouts. In his Knockout, Sid went with the Foy Vance version of "Make It Rain" and killed it - in any other KO matchup on Team Kelly, he likely would have won. Since he got paired against Desz, who also killed it (more on that later), he ended up losing that Knockout but earned a double-steal. After choosing John originally, Sid moved to Team Blake for the playoffs (the choice his mom wanted him to make in the first place). In the playoffs, Sid got a song choice he later admitted he wasn't thrilled about, but the Leon Bridges number still turned out fine considering Sid didn't know the song before it was assigned to him. Was it enough to move him out of the playoffs? Sadly, the answer was no, something that bummed out a good portion of IDF, but at least Sid got to end on a decent note and he was on the show long enough to showcase his saxophone skills on the top 20 performance, so it was a decent run overall. Post-show life for Sid has included getting married and posting covers, including a Tracy Chapman cover you can listen to here.

Hint:  This contestant is the only contestant to have worked with the majority of the panel. ( Sid was coached by John, Kelly, and Blake during his run on the show.)

Montage/Leak: He was not montaged or leaked at any point.

Genre: Folk/Soul

Favorite Performance: Make It Rain (knockout)

 

2. Cami Clune (Team Legend -> Team Kelly)

Explanation:  Finishing as runner-up on this list is an IDF "it girl" and all-around excellent vocalist. Cami's tone is intoxicating, and her audition is probably my favorite from Season 19's overall talent pool. The way her voice worked the song had an almost elastic quality to hit with how she stretched some syllables out and molded the song to work for her. It's little wonder that she got all four judges vying for her - or at least, she would have had Kelly not blocked Blake. She got a standing ovation from the not-blocked judges and Blake going "my name is Blocked Shelton" is a whole-ass mood. Though I would've loved to see what Gwen would've done with Cami, Cami picked John and was placed with James Pyle. Their harmonies were phenomenal, but I didn't feel like the battle allowed either Cami or James to fully shine as artists. Luckily, Cami won the battle and got to move on the Knockouts. It was the Knockout round where Cami had another "moment" - it was also the moment I looked at John and wondered why he'd ever risk sending her or John Holiday home. Cami's rendition of "I Put A Spell On You" was a darker, spookier take on the song rather than a more forceful and dramatic version that's the "standard" that comes to mind when the song gets mentioned in singing competitions, but the version Cami did was absolutely perfect for her voice. Thankfully, Kelly still had her steal left and took Cami through to the lives after she lost the Knockout. Though Team Kelly opened the playoffs, Cami was the closer for the team and lucked out because by that point, production had mostly figured out the sound mix and her version of "Never Tear Us Apart" was considered one of the stronger Team Kelly performances of the night. Going into the results, I was nervous for Cami as a knockout steal on Team Kelly had only ever advanced via public vote and I wasn't sure Cami would get it. Though I was right about not getting the vote, Kelly chose Cami for her coach save and Cami advanced, much to my (and most of IDF's) relief. For the semifinals, Cami was tasked with covering Brandi Carlile's "The Joke" and she did what she could with the number, but it was a step back from her previous two performances. Cami then ended up in the Instant Save and got to do Billie Eilish's "when the party's over" which was great, but not quite enough to win her the save. Since the show, Cami has released covers of her audition and knockout - check the latter out here.

Hint:  This contestant's audition has one difference from the others in this group. (Cami's audition was the only one that didn't open or close an episode.)

Montage/Leak: She was not montaged at any point and her battle and knockout were both leaked.

Genre:  Indie/Alternative/Pop

Favorite Performance: I Put A Spell On You (knockout)

 

1. Desz (Team Kelly)

Explanation:  There is one thing that, for me, trumps both female country and soulful scruffy artists - and that's good alto representation. As a woman that cannot hit a note higher than an F5 to save my life, getting female artists on the show with that stronger lower register gives me a big old serotonin boost, and Desz fits that perfectly. Desz was the last artist we met in episode 3 of the blinds, but man, that wait was absolutely worth it. The deeper tones at the start were rich and smooth, the higher bit at the end was solid, and not a note or run was misplaced or out of tune throughout. I graded two auditions as "A"s - one was Cami's, and Desz got the other. After ending the episode on a cliff hanger, it was revealed that Desz opted to join Team Kelly. For her battle round, Desz was paired with Joseph Soul - both were good, but unlike her partner Desz had no nerves impacting her performance, which ultimately led to her being victorious. Desz was then matched up with Kelly's stolen artist, Sid Kingsley. While Sid was great, Desz undeniably knocked this one out of the park and tbh Kelly screwed up by pairing them together. She nailed every single one of the runs she did, showed off her range nicely, and got the crowd and coaches jamming out. Kelly ultimately chose to advance Desz as part of her playoffs team, and said team was chosen to open the show. Desz ended up opening the playoffs with a Tina Turner song that may have tanked a less experienced vocalist; though not quite at her knockout's level, Desz did great with it and advanced via public vote to the semifinals with little issue. She went back to 90s R&B for the semis and though En Vogue is a big ask, Desz abso-flippin-loutely crushed it, including the high note towards the end. Unsurprisingly, she got the public vote into the finale. Here, Desz was stronger on her original song, which had a gospel edge she hadn't got to utilize while still being soulful and powerful. Though I liked her take on her cover song, going for Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" was a bit of a head-scratcher and a small step back from her semifinals performance. That said, Desz was still fantastic, so no complaints here. For the finale coach duet, Kelly and Desz went the Chaka Khan route and were the strongest duet of the night that is scientific fact and I will not be taking criticism. Considering how consistent Desz was over the course of the season, I was confident she could finish at least third; thus, I was just as disappointed as Kelly when she ultimately came in fourth. After her run on the show, Desz did several Instagram lives about Season 20 of The Voice throughout the course of the season. Wishing all the best to Desz with her musical career. 

Hint:  This contestant sang with or against another member of this group at some point.. (Desz' knockout partner was Sid.)

Montage/Leak: She was not montaged at any point and her battle was leaked.

Genre: R&B

Favorite Performance: Can We Talk (knockout)

[David68]

Congrats to Desz!!!!

[VintageVoice]

Final Thoughts

• This was a lot of fun but took way longer than I expected my own damn fault, but oh well
• I did my best to be relatively unbiased in my explanations.
• While I like being thorough, the Season 20 version may be less in-depth than this version probably not but we'll see
• The Season 20 ranking is coming soon - I need some time to get my final ranking in order + start typing up the explanations so hopefully the Season 20 version is done in less than five months.

[Bk1234]

8 minutes ago, VintageVoice said:

 

RANKINGS ROUND 10 - IT'S THE END OF THE ROAD 

4. Taryn Papa (Team Blake)

Explanation:     In fourth place lands the contestant who was arguably the most excited to be a part of the Season 19 cast. Taryn had been auditioning for the show for a while (I don't remember the exact number of times off the top of my head) and her persistence eventually landed her a spot in the blind audition lineup for the show. Good female country rep, especially good adult female country rep, is hard to come by on the show. Taryn, as evidenced by her pre-show work, is a very capable vocalist, and was strong enough audition wise not only to get three chairs to turn but also deemed good enough for Blake to use his only block on her. Since Taryn had a history with Blake's Nashville Ole Red location, it was unsurprising that she picked Blake as her coach. For her battle, she got paired with Blake's country trio on an uptempo song; because it was more uptempo than her blind, I was a tiny bit concerned for Taryn despite knowing she was capable of high energy performances. Luckily, Taryn's battle performance pushed all my doubts to the side. Though Taryn was the solo standout from the battle, she lost to Worth the Wait. Luckily for her, Blake saved her and she moved on to the 4-way Knockout. It was in the 4-way Knockout that Taryn chose to tackle a "big ask" Faith Hill song. Unfortunately, the vocal wasn't as good as Taryn had previously shown she was capable of being; there were some parts where her vocals were strained and pitch issues popped up. Though it later came out that there were smoke inhalation issues due to California wildfires, it seems like Taryn was the most blatantly affected by this of the 4-way Knockout participants. Fast forward to the playoffs and the person IDF expected to win the 4-way Knockout gets DQ'd; thus, Taryn was crowned the 4-way Knockout winner and got to perform in the top 17. Taryn's reaction to winning the 4-way Knockout showed she clearly didn't expect to win, but she put on her best performance face and went back out to do her playoffs song. I didn't think her playoffs song was the best showcase for her voice personally, but the original artist of the song reposted Taryn's performance and she managed to get radio airplay for her cover of the song, so it worked out well enough at the end of the day. Taryn's performance wasn't enough to get her beyond the playoffs, but considering I didn't even expect her to make the playoffs in the first place I'm happy she got one last performance on the show. Now that she's off the show, Taryn is back performing at Ole Red, released her own merch, and recently celebrated eight years in Nashville. Crossing my fingers for more good things in her future.

Hint:  This contestant lives in a hotbed for their musical genre of choice. (Taryn lives in Nashville, which is widely considered the home base of country music)

Montage/Leak: She was not montaged at any point and her audition was leaked.

Genre: Country

Favorite Performance: Little White Church (battle round)

 

3. Sid Kingsley (Team Legend --> Team Kelly --> Team Blake)

Explanation:  The bronze medal on the list goes to someone whose voice grew on me over time. As the last male artist to be ranked, the "scruffy guy with a soulful voice" thing that Sid has in spades continues to be one of my favorite types of male artist on the show. Pre-season during the spoilers I wasn't 100% sold on Sid since I wasn't sure how his voice would translate to the show, but I joined his fan thread shortly before his audition aired I think, it was either the day before or morning of if my memory serves me correctly. Gwen hit the nail on the head when she said Sid sounds like a guy who's been making records forever, despite Sid not being much for singing in front of others until relatively recently. Kelly, the only coach that didn't turn, admitted she wanted another level of vulnerability from Sid's blind; Blake rose to Sid's defense and said had Kelly turned, those last puzzle pieces would've clicked. In any case, Sid picked John as his initial coach and moved onto the battles, where he got pitted against Bailey Rae on the singing show staple "Tennessee Whiskey." Despite the song being more in Bailey's wheelhouse, Sid also nailed his vocals; watching back and seeing Kelly go nuts over her button when Sid has a solo part, I'm not surprised John picked Bailey over Sid in the battle since it allowed both of the artists to stay on the show post-battle. Kelly stole Sid after he lost the battle, and decided to pit him against Desz in the Knockouts. In his Knockout, Sid went with the Foy Vance version of "Make It Rain" and killed it - in any other KO matchup on Team Kelly, he likely would have won. Since he got paired against Desz, who also killed it (more on that later), he ended up losing that Knockout but earned a double-steal. After choosing John originally, Sid moved to Team Blake for the playoffs (the choice his mom wanted him to make in the first place). In the playoffs, Sid got a song choice he later admitted he wasn't thrilled about, but the Leon Bridges number still turned out fine considering Sid didn't know the song before it was assigned to him. Was it enough to move him out of the playoffs? Sadly, the answer was no, something that bummed out a good portion of IDF, but at least Sid got to end on a decent note and he was on the show long enough to showcase his saxophone skills on the top 20 performance, so it was a decent run overall. Post-show life for Sid has included getting married and posting covers, including a Tracy Chapman cover you can listen to here.

Hint:  This contestant is the only contestant to have worked with the majority of the panel. ( Sid was coached by John, Kelly, and Blake during his run on the show.)

Montage/Leak: He was not montaged or leaked at any point.

Genre: Folk/Soul

Favorite Performance: Make It Rain (knockout)

 

2. Cami Clune (Team Legend -> Team Kelly)

Explanation:  Finishing as runner-up on this list is an IDF "it girl" and all-around excellent vocalist. Cami's tone is intoxicating, and her audition is probably my favorite from Season 19's overall talent pool. The way her voice worked the song had an almost elastic quality to hit with how she stretched some syllables out and molded the song to work for her. It's little wonder that she got all four judges vying for her - or at least, she would have had Kelly not blocked Blake. She got a standing ovation from the not-blocked judges and Blake going "my name is Blocked Shelton" is a whole-ass mood. Though I would've loved to see what Gwen would've done with Cami, Cami picked John and was placed with James Pyle. Their harmonies were phenomenal, but I didn't feel like the battle allowed either Cami or James to fully shine as artists. Luckily, Cami won the battle and got to move on the Knockouts. It was the Knockout round where Cami had another "moment" - it was also the moment I looked at John and wondered why he'd ever risk sending her or John Holiday home. Cami's rendition of "I Put A Spell On You" was a darker, spookier take on the song rather than a more forceful and dramatic version that's the "standard" that comes to mind when the song gets mentioned in singing competitions, but the version Cami did was absolutely perfect for her voice. Thankfully, Kelly still had her steal left and took Cami through to the lives after she lost the Knockout. Though Team Kelly opened the playoffs, Cami was the closer for the team and lucked out because by that point, production had mostly figured out the sound mix and her version of "Never Tear Us Apart" was considered one of the stronger Team Kelly performances of the night. Going into the results, I was nervous for Cami as a knockout steal on Team Kelly had only ever advanced via public vote and I wasn't sure Cami would get it. Though I was right about not getting the vote, Kelly chose Cami for her coach save and Cami advanced, much to my (and most of IDF's) relief. For the semifinals, Cami was tasked with covering Brandi Carlile's "The Joke" and she did what she could with the number, but it was a step back from her previous two performances. Cami then ended up in the Instant Save and got to do Billie Eilish's "when the party's over" which was great, but not quite enough to win her the save. Since the show, Cami has released covers of her audition and knockout - check the latter out here.

Hint:  This contestant's audition has one difference from the others in this group. (Cami's audition was the only one that didn't open or close an episode.)

Montage/Leak: She was not montaged at any point and her battle and knockout were both leaked.

Genre:  Indie/Alternative/Pop

Favorite Performance: I Put A Spell On You (knockout)

 

1. Desz (Team Kelly)

Explanation:  There is one thing that, for me, trumps both female country and soulful scruffy artists - and that's good alto representation. As a woman that cannot hit a note higher than an F5 to save my life, getting female artists on the show with that stronger lower register gives me a big old serotonin boost, and Desz fits that perfectly. Desz was the last artist we met in episode 3 of the blinds, but man, that wait was absolutely worth it. The deeper tones at the start were rich and smooth, the higher bit at the end was solid, and not a note or run was misplaced or out of tune throughout. I graded two auditions as "A"s - one was Cami's, and Desz got the other. After ending the episode on a cliff hanger, it was revealed that Desz opted to join Team Kelly. For her battle round, Desz was paired with Joseph Soul - both were good, but unlike her partner Desz had no nerves impacting her performance, which ultimately led to her being victorious. Desz was then matched up with Kelly's stolen artist, Sid Kingsley. While Sid was great, Desz undeniably knocked this one out of the park and tbh Kelly screwed up by pairing them together. She nailed every single one of the runs she did, showed off her range nicely, and got the crowd and coaches jamming out. Kelly ultimately chose to advance Desz as part of her playoffs team, and said team was chosen to open the show. Desz ended up opening the playoffs with a Tina Turner song that may have tanked a less experienced vocalist; though not quite at her knockout's level, Desz did great with it and advanced via public vote to the semifinals with little issue. She went back to 90s R&B for the semis and though En Vogue is a big ask, Desz abso-flippin-loutely crushed it, including the high note towards the end. Unsurprisingly, she got the public vote into the finale. Here, Desz was stronger on her original song, which had a gospel edge she hadn't got to utilize while still being soulful and powerful. Though I liked her take on her cover song, going for Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" was a bit of a head-scratcher and a small step back from her semifinals performance. That said, Desz was still fantastic, so no complaints here. For the finale coach duet, Kelly and Desz went the Chaka Khan route and were the strongest duet of the night that is scientific fact and I will not be taking criticism. Considering how consistent Desz was over the course of the season, I was confident she could finish at least third; thus, I was just as disappointed as Kelly when she ultimately came in fourth. After her run on the show, Desz did several Instagram lives about Season 20 of The Voice throughout the course of the season. Wishing all the best to Desz with her musical career. 

Hint:  This contestant sang with or against another member of this group at some point.. (Desz' knockout partner was Sid.)

Montage/Leak: She was not montaged at any point and her battle was leaked.

Genre: R&B

Favorite Performance: Can We Talk (knockout)

Love this Top 4