The Voice US Rankdown (Winner Reveal pg. 117)

[Solaris]

3. Kimberly Nichole

Season 8 - 6th Place

 

 

Average: 5.63

 

RANKINGS:

Andrew - 2/15

Lily- 2/15

Elliott- 3/15

Public- 4/15

TVITT- 6/15

Chris- 8/15

MJ- 9/15

QK- 11/15

 

 

Andrew

 

Quote

 2. Kimberly Nichole

 

 

Kimberly Nichole is "the Voice". Literally. Imagine creating a show about finding the best voice and then having someone as talented as her audition and not having her win. Atrocious. A crime against humanity. I will hear no arguments to the contrary that Kimberly is, bar none, the best singer to ever grace the Voice stage. Every single one of her performances deserves to be in the conversation for one of the best ever. It may sound like hyperbole, but it's true.

 

I remember sitting on the couch at my parents place, watching the 3rd night of auditions in Season 8 and seeing her come out. I knew, before she even sang, that she'd be one of my favourites. She had the attitude and the swagger and when I saw that she picked "Nutbush City Limits", I was hooked. The fact that only Pharrell and Blake turned around for her is truly atrocious. I can't imagine hearing her voice and not immediately hitting my button. I feel justified that all the comments on youtube agree with me that the judges not all hitting their buttons is extremely confusing. I choose to believe this was the one time that Adam and Christina were aware that they are bad coaches 

 

 

I wasn't surprised Kimberly chose Pharrell since he has infinitely better taste than Blake, but I also wonder if Kimberly would have been more successful with Blake as her coach. However, her partnership with Pharrell was not meant to be since he, SOMEHOW, chose to eliminate her in the battle rounds after she sang "Hound Dog" against someone named Lowell Oakley. I honestly can't remember if Lowell is a guy or a girl, so that just goes to show how successful that the choice was. Kimberly was left to choose between Adam and Christina and made the smart choice by choosing Christina, who at least knew what songs to give her.

 

Thus began Kimberly's streak of rock tinged ballads that proved she could sing anything and then some. During the knockouts, she sang a gorgeous rendition of Sting's "If You Love Someone Set Them Free" and knocked out heavy hitting Koryn Hawthorne. I was glad Pharrell saved Koryn though, because I liked her too.

 

Then, in the live rounds, Kimberly absolutely obliterated "What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes. Up until that point, I had never really took notice of that song but her version of it has made me love that song. She somehow channelled the true meaning of the song and found all sorts of ways to make her voice shine. Naturally, she advanced by the public vote that night.

 

 

The next week, she destroyed "House of the Rising Sun". I think we all knew that song well after Haley's version of Idol, but Kimberly's blew hers out of the water. There was something so dark and gritty about the way she sang it. It honestly felt like my soul left my body watching it live as it happened and still, to the day, I get chills when I rewatch it. America rightly put it in the iTunes Top #10 that night and advanced her to the next round, but the fact that it was #3 and Sawyer was #2 still disgusts me to this day.

 

 

At the Top 10, Kimberly sang the h*ck out of Etta James' "Something's Got A Hold On Me". This was definitely one of her more subdued performances, but I still love it and think it was a smart choice since, by this point, some of the facebook moms were accusing her of "screaming"...  Just say you're racist and go!

 

At Top 8, she went back to her rock roots and made white men everywhere cry when she sang the best version of Radiohead's "Creep" that has ever been done on one of these shows. When this performance started and we saw the candles and that dress, I knew we were in for some crazy stuff, but what she did with the song blew my expectations out of the water but when, surprise surprise, only the two white men ended up in the iTunes Top #10, I knew some shenanigans were going to go down on this show. I still had hope that she would make the finale, but after the way the judges had treated her up until that point, I was nervous, but she was safe again that night.

 

 

Then, the Top 6. Oh man, do I have a lot to say about this. This + the results show that followed rank among one of the most frustrating sets of episodes I have ever watched. To watch Christina pick Tom Petty's "Free Fallin" for Kim, which I will give her credit for handling very well, but it wasn't exactly a stand out song pick and then for her to come out and absolutely MURDER Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" only for the facebook moms to be telling her she's too raunchy and screams too much. Oh man, I fought with so many people in the comments that night.

 

 

And then for her to be in the bottom against India and Christina to pick the White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" for her which is a great song but, again, very subdued for an instant save performance. Don't get me wrong, I love Kim's version of it, but I'm convinced Christina ran out of rock songs that she knew by that point and then India to win the instant save after a very middle of the road version of Pink's "Perfect". No. This doesn't make sense with my French Vanilla Fantasy. I am still, to this day, baffled by the fact that Kimberly placed SIXTH, especially with Sawyer and Joshua still there. We deserved a Kimberly, Koryn, India, Megan Top 4 and instead we got... this. And that fact that she would have sang Tina Turner at the Top 5. Highway robbery.

 

With that being said, I'm glad Kimberly Nichole is still booked and busy. It's what she deserves. She's also released some phenomenal original music, including her singles "Veruca Salt" and "The Witch" on Spotify, which go HARD. 

 

 

 

Lily

 

Quote

What an icon. Kimberly is one of the greatest talents from this show in all twenty seasons and I refuse to hear otherwise. Every performance she did she absolutely DOMINATED. I cannot believe she gave us "What's Up", "House of the Rising Sun", "Something's Got a Hold on Me", "Creep", etc. etc., week after week. It was thrilling to follow this season as a Kimberly supporter just seeing her knock it out of the park repeatedly. She was well and truly robbed this season, sixth place was so wrong. It was a bittersweet moment rooting for India and being amazed that she was able to get through another week whilst also knowing Kimberly deserved way better. I loved her partnership with Christina too and I feel like they almost learnt from and inspired each other each week, which says a lot with a powerhouse like Christina. Kimberly's such a gem and I hope she performs well in the rankings.

 

Elliott

 

Quote

 Kimberly Nichole. aka Kimberslay, as I referred to her as during S8. aka THE greatest singer that The Voice has ever had the privilege of having on their show. Kimberly Nichole absolutely, whole-heartedly, without a doubt in my mind not only deserved the season eight win, but deserved it by the supposed landslide that S*wyer won it with. Kimberly Nichole was a FLAWLESS contestant, and her placing sixth is the single greatest injustice in reality television history. And no, I'm not even exaggerating. 

 

Kimberly's first performance in season eight was her audition to Nutbush City Limits, where we got to see her swag and confidence on full display! The way that only two of the judges turned for her... the level of unprofessionalism, far too much! What were we even paying them for??? She picked Pharrell's team, where she was then eliminated in the battle rounds. Imagine being Pharrell Williams and having THE Kimberly Nichole decide to grace your team with her presence, only to eliminate her the first chance you get! That is grounds for immediate firing from the show, sorry not sorry!

 

Fortunately for the gays everyone, Christina Aguilera made the best decision she'd ever make in her life by choosing to steal Kimberly! So Kimberly went on to Christina Aguilera's team, where she proceeded to vocally bitch slap Adam, Blake and Pharrell every week by showing them what they were going to miss out on by not having her on their team. Queen sh*t.

 

In the playoffs, Kimberly took on one of the most iconic 90s alternative rock songs, with 4 Non Blondes' What's Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TZTAiA1reI. Imagine being able to completely reinvent such an iconic song as your own. Legends only.   Making good decisions for once, America rightfully advanced her into the finals, where Kimberly was just getting started.

 

With the Top 12 pimp spot, Kimberly Nichole stormed on stage and threw down the gauntlet in what is THE best performance on The Voice in the history of ever. People will try and disagree, but they're wrong! Kimberly's House of the Rising Sun is a two minute tour de force of vocal slayage, stage presence galore, and confidence that nobody else could ever, or will ever, match. Kimberly took us all on a JOURNEY that evening, and the conclusion was that she will forever reign supreme as the Melinda Doolittle/Candice Glover of The Voice. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that this performance instantly became my favourite performance in the history of the show, and it has remained with that title for six years now!

The way that she effortlessly belts out the words from 0:55-1:02 and then casually struts across the stage afterwards like Yeah, I just hit those notes, what about it? constantly lives rent free in my mind. Kimberly Nichole honestly should've won the whole damn season in that very performance. (Side note: According to Wikipedia, S*wyer charted higher than her on iTunes after this performance... I mean that's nasty.)

 

After showing how much she could make an uptempo song her bitch, Kimberly decided to slow it down at the Top 10 and perform a ballad. I'm sure some people were worried she wouldn't be able to slay a subdued performance, but this is Kimberly Nichole we're talking about, so of course she did!  Something's Got a Hold on Me was magnificent and another gorgeous vocal performance, but it's Kimberly Nichole, so that's to be expected. The next week, she was assigned Radiohead's Creep and took on the Postmodern Jukebox arrangement that was made popular by IDF's eternal It girl, Haley Reinhart. Of course Kimberly also made the arrangement her bitch, delivering another true vocal masterclass and claiming the song as hers now. Can we say legendary behaviour?

 

Wow, and suddenly we're at Top 6 week, where Kimberly delivers another set of performances for the annuals. For the first round, which was a dedication their mother's/loved ones, Kimberly took on a performance to Tom Petty's Free Fallin'. It was another flawless performance from the queen, where she started off slowly and subdued, building to the epic conclusion where she let loose and took us to church. I'm not even religious, but Kimberly Nichole could take me to church!

 

But the best was on deck, where she followed that up with a cover of Michael Jackson's Dirty Diana and delivered THE second greatest Voice performance of all time! Imagine delivering House of the Rising Sun and Dirty Diana in the same season, only three weeks apart! Things Kimberly Nichole did? THAT.

 

If HOTRS was Kimberly Nichole showing what she was capable of, Dirty Diana was Kimberly Nicole showing us what a full Kimberslay concert would look like, and we're all better for having the ability to experience it. The way that some contestants struggle with not getting lost on stage, but Kimberly delivered a full-fledged rock concert experience in the span of three minutes? WHEN WILL YOUR FAVES. The arrangement, the vocals, the stage presence, the way Kimberly Nichole claimed male sexuality as her own with the microphone stand? She is an icon, she is the moment, and she was far too f*cking good for this show.

 

 

I will also forever remember several comments that users at IDF and elsewhere made after Dirty Diana, where they talked about her being too "cocky" or that she sexualized the performance too much which just made me rage.  Like, I'm sorry (but not really) that you're all bothered by a black woman being confident and knowing she's the best singer The Voice will ever have! And I'm sorry that you think her emulating what male rockstars of the 80s did is too sexualized, but that's why I loved Kimberly. She was unashamedly hers and wasn't going to tone down anything she did. It was glorious to see how many people on Facebook were pressed by her every week.

 

Of course because we can't have nice things, Kimberly landed in the bottom two that week.  Imagine delivering THAT performance of Dirty Diana and being rewarded with (likely) the lowest vote total... if Kimberly wanted to sue all of America in that instance, I would've supported her cause! Her Instant Save performance was Seven Nation Army, which was a song right in her wheelhouse! And in typical Kimberslay fashion, she put her own spin on it, having fun with the song, and turning into a rock-jazz hybrid!

 

Considered how badly India flopped with Perfect, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Kimberly was sailing into the Top 5... except the Twitter vote remained split at 50/50 the entire time, and Kimberly just narrowly missed out on advancing? I mean no offence to India as I was a fan of hers that season, but I raged so hard when Kimberly was eliminated. Imagine having a show called The Voice and then eliminating the best contestant you've ever had in f*cking sixth place! Like at least Amanda Brown's robbery at sixth made some sense (emphasis on SOME because it was still a choice!) because her performances that week weren't the best... but this was just disgusting. NBC should've just cancelled the show right then and there, and I would've fully supported Christina breaching her contract and walking away from the show at that very moment.

 

Anyway, I obviously LOVE Kimberly Nichole. What's not to love about a confident black female rocker who give zero sh*ts about appealing to the masses while delivering a setlist of amazing performances? I do prefer Chloe to her, but I also think Kimberly needs a bit more support, so hopefully me ranking her here will help her out. I'm glad I was about to get her into the final vote, because I would've lost my sh*t had she been robbed in this rankdown as well.

 

Public

 

Quote

Queen! Ugh she got so disgustingly robbed on Season 8…. it was ugly. I still remember her slaying “What’s Up” and “The House of the Rising Sun.” - Wallace

 

Quote

My second favorite from Season 8.  But she truly is the most consistent.  Every performance she gave was dynamic, entertaining and professional.  She delivered some of the best performances in the season, hell in the history of the show.  Her vocals are crazy.  Happy to  see her do well in the votes, even if shes not in my personal Top 10 ever.  Dirty Diana remains my favorite from her, gives me chills.  Congrats to the Rock n Roller in a tutu! - Sola

 

Chris

 

Quote

 

When it comes to thinking of a contestant who had a flawless journey on The Voice,  a name that often come to mind is Miss Kimberly Nichole, the queen of Season 8.  And this was the case from the start of the season when she auditioned with "Nutbush City Limits" - it's truly a crime that she only received one chair turn. It truly felt that she was chosen as a fodder by Pharrell but she decided to prove him wrong when she slayed "Hound Dog" during the battle round - he obviously chose that song for Lowell Oakey (who?) and sadly for Pharrell, Team XTina suddenly got better than his team when she stole Kim from him.  

As part of Team Christina, she completely slayed week after week especially when it came to song choices although they were a bit overdone at time. Miss Kimberly constantly delivered us vocals week after week whether it was on "What's Up" or "Something's Got a Hold of Me". However, the highlights of her journey were her flawless performances of "Creep" and  "The House of the Rising Sun" where she delivered the BEST performance of this song ever performed on a reality-tv singing competition stage.  And it's truly a crime that she was eliminated during the Top 6 especially over Sawyer Fredericks or Joshua Davis - both of her performances were better than theirs. 

Anyway, Kimberly Nichole is one of the greatest singer to ever appear on The Voice and I truly wish I could have ranked her higher than this, but I want Meghan to have a shot at winning so I ranked her a bit lower than I originally would have had - I am sure the opposite will happen, though.

 

MJ

 

Quote

 KIMBERLY NICHOLE, Season 8 (Team Xtina)



If I were to stan a Voice contestant on the merits of only one of their live performances, it has to be Kimberly Nichole with What’s Up. That’s it, that’s the writeup.

FAVORITE PERFORMANCE: What’s Up (Live Playoffs)
 

Wig, socks, mind, pants…… all blown away.

 

QK

 

Quote

 Kimberly was on season 8 of The Voice and she was on Team Pharrell & Team Xtina. Kimberly is an underrated artist who likely deserved a finale spot of some of the people that made it into the finale. She had really great performances such as House Of The Rising Sun. I think I prefer Hannah Huston's version of that song but Kimberly's performance is still very good though. I probably would have ranked her a little bit higher than I actually did but deals were made so that pushed her down a couple spots because of that. Nonetheless I think she earned her spot in the top 15 and I wish her the best of luck going forward.

 

 

 

 

 

@sublymonal @*Chris @Elliott @*Lily @Teraginn @QueenKalie @thevoiceisthetop

Edited August 6, 2021 by Solaris

[Solaris]

The Top 2 showdown.   Chloe vs Cassadee

[QueenKalie]

Iconic top 2 we really did that huh 

[Elliott]

18 minutes ago, Solaris said:

The Top 2 showdown.   Chloe vs Cassadee

[QueenKalie]

if I had to guess who was going to be the top 2 at the start of the rankdown this would have been my guess so no surprises here but a great outcome nonetheless. 

[*Wallace]

All of my Top 3 gone now.   

 

But VERY happy for Kimberly coming in at #3 which I knew she would. She is amazing and really something else. And iconic write-ups from Andrew & Elliott there!  

[QueenKalie]

I have seen both these girls and got to talk to both of them so yeah I am glad this is our top 2. 

[Elliott]

42 minutes ago, *Wallace said:

And iconic write-ups from Andrew & Elliott there!  

I was expecting her to be one of the first few reveals so I was prepared to educate people on why they were wrong

[Elliott]

We deserve to live in the timeline where Lemonade came out in 2015, and Kimberly was able to do both Formation and Don’t Hurt Yourself.

[*Diana]

My number one and my number three being the top two. We love to see it  

[*Lily]

1 hour ago, Solaris said:

Lily- 2/15

 

I know it wasn’t all serious but I would never tank this queen.

[1234567890]

2 hours ago, Solaris said:

25

[QueenKalie]

5 minutes ago, 1234567890 said:

[Solaris]

29 minutes ago, 1234567890 said:

 

math is hard

[*Chris]

2 hours ago, *Wallace said:

All of my Top 3 gone now.   

 

But VERY happy for Kimberly coming in at #3 which I knew she would. She is amazing and really something else. And iconic write-ups from Andrew & Elliott there!  

Very rude to acknowledged their write-ups but not mine when I wrote essays for my Top 3  

[Solaris]

Who is ready to finish this thing off?  The runner-ups post is ready for page 117

[QueenKalie]

Just now, Solaris said:

Who is ready to finish this thing off?  The runner-ups post is ready for page 117

Time to coronate one of these Queens the winner 

[*Diana]

Here's my ranking btw which didn't match at all with the rest of the pubic

 

1. Cassadee Pope
2. Lauren Duski
3. Chloe Kohanski
4. Jacquie Lee
5. Meghan Linsey
6. Caroline Glaser
7. Sarah Simmons
8. Amanda Brown
9. Kat Perkins
10. India Carney
11. Barrett Baber
12. Billy Gilman
13. Corey Ward
14. Kimberly Nichole
15. Todd Tilghman

[Solaris]

both Runner up and Winner are ready for next page to post at once!

[QueenKalie]

2 minutes ago, *Diana said:

Here's my ranking btw which didn't match at all with the rest of the pubic

 

1. Cassadee Pope
2. Lauren Duski
3. Chloe Kohanski
4. Jacquie Lee
5. Meghan Linsey
6. Caroline Glaser
7. Sarah Simmons
8. Amanda Brown
9. Kat Perkins
10. India Carney
11. Barrett Baber
12. Billy Gilman
13. Corey Ward
14. Kimberly Nichole
15. Todd Tilghman

Great set of rankings!

[Solaris]

21

[Solaris]

22

[Solaris]

23

[Solaris]

24

[Solaris]

25 no one post!