The surplus of fan enthusiasm makes it easy to forget that “The Voice”‘s preliminary rounds, including the Blind Auditions, Battles and Knockouts, are all pre-taped.
A key elimination during Monday’s episode of “The Voice” served as a startling reminder.
Since season five of “The Voice” began airing, Holly Henry, a quirky, understated performer, had been solidifying herself as the contestant to watch. Her version of “The Scientist” was one of a select few audition recordings to ascend deeply into the iTunes Top 100. Despite only receiving a brief montage, her Battle Round rendition of “Torn” also proved itself a hot seller on iTunes. Her Twitter account exploded with new followers.
If sales and fan support were any indication, Holly Henry was the clear frontrunner going into the Knockout Round broadcasts.
Unfortunately, her story was playing out differently with television viewers than it did during the preliminary “Voice” tapings. While fans saw her as the real deal, “The Voice”‘s coaches and producers saw her as a promising, talented girl who was not quite ready for the big time.
It was revealed during Monday’s broadcast that she lost to fellow Team Blake Shelton member Nic Hawk in the Knockout Rounds and was thus eliminated from the competition.
Objectively, it was hard to argue with Shelton’s decision. While Hawk delivered an odd, yet confident and compelling rendition of Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle,” Henry struggled with Radiohead’s “Creep.” Her vocals, inconsistent throughout, bordered on painful at times. Her facial expressions and mannerisms were often awkward and never comfortable. If one were watching “The Voice” for the first time, he would have no idea why Henry had been generating so much buzz.
Had “The Voice”–and her coach–known how warmly America would have received Holly Henry, it likely would have structured her journey definitely. Whether she had the vocal chops to outperform any fellow Team Blake member remains to be seen, but one has to assume “The Voice” would have been far more hesitant to ax its most commercially attractive season five contestant.
The show did not, however, have the benefit of hindsight, and Holly Henry was forced to wave goodbye.
Other Knockout Results (and videos) from Monday:
Team Christina
Josh Logan def. Amber Nicole
**Cee Lo steals Amber
Olivia Henken def. Destinee Quinn
Team Cee Lo
Kat Robichaud def. Monika Leigh
Jonny Gray def. Cole Vosbury
**Blake steals Cole
Team Blake
Nic Hawk def. Holly Henry
Shelbie Z def. Briana Cuoco
Team Adam
Tessanne Chin def. Ashley DuBose
Grey def. James Irwin
