As "The Voice" narrows down to its top 11 contestants its sad to say that after nine seasons the reality singing competition show has yet to find its American idol (pun intended). "American Idol" has been the birth mother to superstars such as Kelly Clarkson, Jenifer Hudson, and Carrie Underwood (just to name a few). "The Voice" however, has yet to find a similar success story.
As the live shows continue tonight at 8/7c on NBC, let's take a look at the remaining artists and the performances that have kept them in the show so far.
1.
Braiden Sunshine is the youngest contestant at just fifteen years old who has been in a band since he was nine years old and performed the Styx classic, "Renegade" on the Top 12 live show. While his age might score him a couple of votes, his performances need a bit more attention. Sunshine has a strong vocal that can switch through different genres, but his stage presence is quite the opposite. Coach Gwen has quite the work to do if she wants to get him to the finale (which is possible). A future after the show? With a couple of years of A&R help he should be able to pull it off.
2.
The Brooklyn native is the contestant with the most star potential. Amy Vachal, or the 'Pocahontas Princess" (as Gwen referred to her), is a mix between jazz and indie pop music. Her Drake cover gave her some attention but the reality is that there have been many other covers (and quite a few other ones). Rumor has it that she will be performing Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" on Monday nights episode. She'll receive some buzz - which in a game where its all about votes is great - but her star won't shine to its truest potential. My recommendation is to have her stray away from contemporary songs and let Vachal be an artists. You can't propel her into stardom. Her style will do it on its own.
3.
Emily Ann Roberts is a young Carrie Underwood! The young singer is country from head to toe, but in a space that is highly populated with up and coming female singers will she be able to stand out? Being that The Voice has been won by female country singers before (Cassadee Pope Season 3, Danielle Bradbury Season 4) so she has a good change of winning this season. And even if she doesn't win she is sure to receive some help from coach Blake Shelton after the show as he has done for many others. However, it will be up to her to create something that will make her standout after the end of the show.
4.
You want to root for Korin Bukowski but there are many things that are standing in her way. She is the wildcard this season (to say the least), but her performances thus far have not given us anything special. Bukowski needs to first, come into her own voice. She's a good singer, but what genre and style will make her a great singer? Bukowski needs to work on that first and then work on becoming a good performer. After she betters the two it would be great to see her audition for "The Voice" again.
5.
Barrett Baber is a great singer. The teacher and father of the group, Bieber has a story that will also get him some votes. But after the show? I don't see him becoming the breakout star. Next.
6.
Madi Davis is introducing classing songs to a new generation and this previous performance definitely made her stand out from the rest of her fellow contestants. For a future after the show however, Davis really needs to surround herself with a good team in order to have the potential to become a star with the likes of "American Idol" superstars. Being a young contestant on the show is an upside. But being that Davis is not an Ariana Grande, Selina Gomez, or even Demi Lovato is not. She can make out of the pop culture stereotype, however. All she needs, again, is a good team. Will she be able to succeed though? That's what uncertain.
7.
Jeffrey Austin is Sam Smith 2.0. But that is going to hurt him. Austin is an amazing singer with a decent stage presence but he does not hold a quality, charisma, or anything else that will make him stand out from the group. He'll be able to have a career after the show but not a great one.
8.
Shelby Brown is the best country singer on the show and in the past seasons. But because she is "so country" she will have a difficult time breaking out after "The Voice" is over. Now a days the thing that is "in" is a artist whose a mix of country and pop (Sam Hunt, for instance), and because that's not who she is, she won't be able to be the Carrie or even Kelly of "The Voice." Since she is not on Team Blake she might also not have as much exposure in the country world.
9.
Evan McKeel has the passion and is probably the most passionate performer since Mark Hood was eliminated from the season. But besides that there is nothing that makes him different? No. Voice? Good. Performance? Ok.
10.
Jordan Smith is the best singer on the show but he needs to work on creating something different. Performing ballads will only get him so far. He'll win this season of "The Voice", but I don't see him becoming the star that "The Voice" so desperately needs in order to stay relevant in television and the music business.
11.
Zach Seabaugh is the rebirth of Elvis! I don't seen Seabaugh winning "The Voice" but he sure has quite the potential to do so. Out of all the contestants on the voice Seabaugh is the best PERFORMER, but as far as singing though, he stands in the middle of the pack. He has time to get better though, and while he may not win, can get enough attention to become something better than "The Voice."
What are your predictions? Comment below.