Best (and Worst) Strategic Moves on The Voice?

[Bouli]

What are some of the best (and worst) strategic moves you've ever seen on this show, from either singers, or coaches? I'll start with just a couple.

 

BEST:

• Jershika Maple's "Break Every Chain" (S21 semis Instant Save). Powerful, show-stopping religious song with a ton of range and power. Honestly a brilliant move to pull that out in the Instant Save.
• Chris Blue's "Take Me to the King" (S12 semis). I think he was assured a spot in the finale already, but I feel that pulling out a gospel song ensured that he'd win it all. And along those exact same lines...
• Craig Wayne Boyd's "The Old Rugged Cross" (S7 semis).

 

WORST:

• Joshua Vacanti's "My Heart Will Go On" (S21 semis Instant Save). Seriously don't know what he was thinking. All things considered, he sang it well, but I think he could have won if he had chosen almost anything else.
• Austin Giorgio's "Love Yourself" (S14 Playoffs). Your whole schtick is being like Sinatra/Dean Martin, and then you pull out a Justin Bieber song when it really matters?
• DeAndre Nico and Shawn Sounds, "That's What I Like" (S15 and S16 Instant Saves). It was like they were trying to go 'modern' even though the song didn't fit either of their styles.

[ikwonic]

16 minutes ago, Bouli said:

WORST:

• Joshua Vacanti's "My Heart Will Go On" (S21 semis Instant Save). Seriously don't know what he was thinking. All things considered, he sang it well, but I think he could have won if he had chosen almost anything else.
• Austin Giorgio's "Love Yourself" (S14 Playoffs). Your whole schtick is being like Sinatra/Dean Martin, and then you pull out a Justin Bieber song when it really matters?
• DeAndre Nico and Shawn Sounds, "That's What I Like" (S15 and S16 Instant Saves). It was like they were trying to go 'modern' even though the song didn't fit either of their styles.

Austin and DeAndre definitely got bussed despite me loving Deandre's performance of That's What I Like. I think TPTB hated both of them. Moushumi was also another victim of getting bussed with Love Yourself, she deserved so much better  

[Cookie73]

Jake Hoot “Desperado”- He was a frontrunner before this but this performance probably locked in the win. It’s a well known song and it also has appeal from people that aren’t country fans. Not to mention it was his best vocal performance in the Live Shows.

 

Gyth Rigdon “God Bless the USA”- Possibly the most infamous strategic move. He knew that this song was going to get him a PV, regardless of the performance quality. Probably the biggest pander to the audience. It may have ended up slightly backfiring at the very end because his vocal could have cost him the win

 

Todd Tilghman “Love Me”- This performance benefit from a remote setting, since Todd was able to feature his kids on the screen during the whole performance. He took advantage of Minivan’s obsession with children and the COVID setting in this performance. 

 

[Bouli]

2 minutes ago, Cookie73 said:

Gyth Rigdon “God Bless the USA”- Possibly the most infamous strategic move. He knew that this song was going to get him a PV, regardless of the performance quality. Probably the biggest pander to the audience. It may have ended up slightly backfiring at the very end because his vocal could have cost him the win

 

I can't BELIEVE I forgot about this one!! It was such a brilliant strategic move; I was laughing during the entire performance because it was so obvious what he was going for. Especially with the giant golden cross on his neck and the American flag draped around the mic stand. A classic in every way.

[Cookie73]

Jordan Smith doing Christian songs throughout the Lives was also very strategic because it really helped sell him to the audience and caused him to dominate as much as he did.

 

On top of that, Somebody to Love was the performance that sealed the deal. It’s a song by Queen, which is one of the most difficult artists to cover, and their most gospel song. The producers also gave him a whole gospel choir in the background. Jordan also nailed that vocal, and it caused Adam to drop the mic on stage and it made him speechless. You could tell that he knew Jordan was going to win.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Cookie73

[AngelaKD]

31 minutes ago, Bouli said:

 

WORST:

• Joshua Vacanti's "My Heart Will Go On" (S21 semis Instant Save). Seriously don't know what he was thinking. All things considered, he sang it well, but I think he could have won if he had chosen almost anything else.

Joshua’s IS song was chosen for him from his list of preferred songs way back before the first IS opportunity, so at least 5 weeks ago, maybe even earlier.

 

He had no way to know that he would have just sung another Celine song the previous day.

 

[AngelaKD]

3 minutes ago, Cookie73 said:

Jordan Smith doing Christian songs throughout the Lives was also very strategic because it really helped sell him to the audience and caused him to dominate as much as he did.

 

On top of that, Somebody to Love was the performance that sealed the deal. It’s a song by Queen, which is one of the most difficult artists to cover, and their most gospel song. The producers also gave him a whole gospel choir in the background. Jordan also nailed that vocal, and it caused Adam to drop the mic on stage and it made him speechless. You could tell that he knew Jordan was going to win.

Everybody knew Jordan was going to win after his Blind Audition. It didn’t matter what he sang.

[Dai]

I don’t know if this classifies as strategic, but Chloe singing iconic 80s hits starting from TEOTH. 

[TeamAudra]

38 minutes ago, Bouli said:

 

I can't BELIEVE I forgot about this one!! It was such a brilliant strategic move; I was laughing during the entire performance because it was so obvious what he was going for. Especially with the giant golden cross on his neck and the American flag draped around the mic stand. A classic in every way.

The thing is, I don’t believe the flag on the mic stand or any of that was considered “strategic” to him, becuse that’s what he does for his own gigs. It’s like saying a Gospel singer is being “strategic” for singing a Gospel song, and wearing a cross. I think it’s just something he wanted to do, and didn’t care what people thought about it. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by TeamAudra

[Weirdoo]

. 

 

 

[Bouli]

5 hours ago, AngelaKD said:

Joshua’s IS song was chosen for him from his list of preferred songs way back before the first IS opportunity, so at least 5 weeks ago, maybe even earlier.

 

He had no way to know that he would have just sung another Celine song the previous day.

 

 

5 hours ago, TeamAudra said:

The thing is, I don’t believe the flag on the mic stand or any of that was considered “strategic” to him, becuse that’s what he does for his own gigs. It’s like saying a Gospel singer is being “strategic” for singing a Gospel song, and wearing a cross. I think it’s just something he wanted to do, and didn’t care what people thought about it. 

 

Wow, I had no idea about either of these; I stand corrected!

 

Now that you mention it, it makes sense that Joshua wouldn't have chosen to sing Celine Dion two nights in a row. I still don't really get why he would have put that down on a list of preferred songs, though. It just doesn't seem like an effective song choice for a moment like the Instant Save (although I really do think he sang it well).

 

And I didn't know that Gyth does that for his own performances. I've never seen anything he's done outside of the show, so I just (wrongly) assumed that it was a one-off thing that he did to ensure votes during bloodbath week. I don't recall that he did anything like that for any of his other performances on the show.

[Gustavo527]

So, the logic of some people here is: 

Singing Christian songs = "great strategy"  

[Wim]

9 hours ago, TeamAudra said:

The thing is, I don’t believe the flag on the mic stand or any of that was considered “strategic” to him, becuse that’s what he does for his own gigs. It’s like saying a Gospel singer is being “strategic” for singing a Gospel song, and wearing a cross. I think it’s just something he wanted to do, and didn’t care what people thought about it. 

That's fair. I'd just note that this wasn't his show (context matters) and he didn't do it for his other performances.

[Discovolcano]

I’ll just say from this season 

 

top 3 best 

1 Kelly steeling Hailey: (Kelly new that she’ll get a s*** tone of votes and she new exactly how to promote her. “ShEs OnlY 14”

2 Jershika’s semis instant save song : it is one of the only dare I say the only song that would get her more votes than Joshua) 

3 Blake steeling Paris: (Paris gained a lot of momentum and a front runner status)

 

top 3 worst

1. Ari dropping Hailey: (even though the song first Raquel more, Hailey is pure voting material)

2 John picking Shadale over Samuel: (I don’t know what John was thinking voting wise but Samuel would have been top 10-semis 

3 Holly singing last dance: (As Ari’s only change for the final, bussing her was stupid)

[TeamAudra]

8 minutes ago, WastedinMemphis said:

That's fair. I'd just note that this wasn't his show (context matters) and he didn't do it for his other performances.

It’s what he wanted to do. It’s up to each individual viewer to decide what they think of it, and whether to vote for him. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by TeamAudra

[Wim]

15 minutes ago, TeamAudra said:

It’s what he wanted to do. It’s up to each individual viewer to decide what they think of it, and whether to vote for him. 

I agree with that.

[Gustavo527]

26 minutes ago, Discovolcano said:

John picking Shadale over Samuel: (I don’t know what John was thinking voting wise but Samuel would have been top 10-semis 

Nah, Shadale had better stats that night, i'm pretty sure she got more votes. If Samuel didn't get the votes for the Playoffs, i doubt he would have get them on the next rounds. 

 

[Misirlou]

Most bad "strategies" are usually busses in disguise.

[Cookie73]

2 hours ago, Discovolcano said:

I’ll just say from this season 

 

top 3 best 

1 Kelly steeling Hailey: (Kelly new that she’ll get a s*** tone of votes and she new exactly how to promote her. “ShEs OnlY 14”

2 Jershika’s semis instant save song : it is one of the only dare I say the only song that would get her more votes than Joshua) 

3 Blake steeling Paris: (Paris gained a lot of momentum and a front runner status)

 

top 3 worst

1. Ari dropping Hailey: (even though the song first Raquel more, Hailey is pure voting material)

2 John picking Shadale over Samuel: (I don’t know what John was thinking voting wise but Samuel would have been top 10-semis 

3 Holly singing last dance: (As Ari’s only change for the final, bussing her was stupid)

For once, Blake didn’t treat his Knockout steal like fodder. Though Paris probably had more momentum going into the Lives than most of them (a lot of the ones I liked lost both their battle and knockout). It helped that Blake didn’t have a male country singer in the Lives like in many seasons (including some where he had multiple)

[Teraginn]

12 hours ago, Cookie73 said:

Todd Tilghman “Love Me”- This performance benefit from a remote setting, since Todd was able to feature his kids on the screen during the whole performance. He took advantage of Minivan’s obsession with children and the COVID setting in this performance. 

 

 

I'm sorry, but this is very inaccurate. TPTB was the one who came up with the idea of featuring his kids in his Semis performance. Todd didn't even know his family provided production with family photos to use for the video. 

[Cookie73]

1 minute ago, Teraginn said:

 

I'm sorry, but this is very inaccurate. TPTB was the one who came up with the idea of featuring his kids in his Semis performance. Todd didn't even know his family provided production with family photos to use for the video. 

Thanks for the info, but I was really thinking more along the lines of Todd singing in front of his children in the video. 

[Teraginn]

1 minute ago, Cookie73 said:

Thanks for the info, but I was really thinking more along the lines of Todd singing in front of his children in the video. 

Yep, but my point still stands. TPTB brought up the idea first. He said this in a couple of interviews, and he wasn't expecting the impact it had on the viewers watching at home.

[Hamza Tufail]

13 hours ago, Cookie73 said:

Jordan Smith doing Christian songs throughout the Lives was also very strategic because it really helped sell him to the audience and caused him to dominate as much as he did.

 

On top of that, Somebody to Love was the performance that sealed the deal. It’s a song by Queen, which is one of the most difficult artists to cover, and their most gospel song. The producers also gave him a whole gospel choir in the background. Jordan also nailed that vocal, and it caused Adam to drop the mic on stage and it made him speechless. You could tell that he knew Jordan was going to win.

Jordan won after his BA. But I agree that singing Christian songs during the lives(and nailing them) made his win even more obvious. 

[season1]

12 hours ago, Weirdoo said:

. 

 

 

 

I will always like Aliyah Moulden videos.

 

I think "Jealous" was more strategic than "I Can Only Imagine" because that catapulted her to contender status. IDF didn't like her much but she's my #1 favorite in S12.  And she was only 14!!! /s

[season1]

2 hours ago, Cookie73 said:

For once, Blake didn’t treat his Knockout steal like fodder. Though Paris probably had more momentum going into the Lives than most of them (a lot of the ones I liked lost both their battle and knockout). It helped that Blake didn’t have a male country singer in the Lives like in many seasons (including some where he had multiple)

 

Blake didn't fodderize a couple of his KO steals before (S7 Craig and S8 Hannah). He even won with one KO steal in S7 (though CWB  was a "steal back").