By the end of Wednesday’s results show, NBC’s “The Voice” had revealed a Top 12 in general alignment with expectations.
The specific voting hierarchy did, however, possess some surprises.
Consider the Team Blake outcome, for instance. While many correctly predicted his final three of Barrett Baber, Zach Seabaugh and Emily Ann Roberts, few expected Roberts to be the one in need of Blake Shelton’s save. Roberts was the only Team Blake member to receive an iTunes vote multiplier bonus (which both added to her vote count and signaled a strong audience reaction to her performance), but Baber and Seabaugh received more overall votes from the viewing audience.
The same goes for Team Adam. A final three of Jordan Smith, Shelby Brown and Amy Vachal will doubtfully raise eyebrows. What may be surprising, however, is the fact that Vachal is the one who survived thanks to Adam Levine’s save. Vachal received stronger critical marks and claimed a considerably higher iTunes position, but Brown ended up with more total votes.
While eliminated Team Gwen contestant Ellie Lawrence and eliminated Team Pharrell contestant Celeste Betton fared comparatively well with critics and on iTunes (each had her team’s second-best-selling performance), neither was dominant enough to make elimination unfathomable. The fact that the two contestants had already received the “Coach Comeback,” moreover, may have — at least subconsciously — made them longshots to secure another save Wednesday night.
This year’s Top 12 is as follows:
Team Blake:
Barrett Baber
Zach Seabaugh
Emily Ann Roberts (coach’s save)
Team Pharrell:
Madi Davis
Evan McKeel
Mark Hood (coach’s save)
Team Gwen:
Jeffery Austin
Braiden Sunshine
Korin Bukowski (coach’s save)
Team Adam:
Jordan Smith
Shelby Brown
Amy Vachal (coach’s save)