‘The Voice’ Season 14 final four revealed on shocking results show

Before this week, I’d totally assumed that Team Blake’s seemingly unstoppable Pryor Baird and Team Alicia heartthrob Britton Buchanan were locks for The Voice Season 14 finale. And both fared very well on iTunes this week — reaching No. 7 and No. 3, respectively — so their momentum showed no signs of slowing down. But on Tuesday’s bloodbath results show — on which four of the top eight were cut, all at once — Pryor, one of this season’s most consistent iTunes charters, went home. And Britton almost went home, only scraping through to the finale via the Instant Save.

“I’m actually a little bit taken aback, shocked, to see you even in this position,” Blake Shelton told Pryor, shaking his head. However, Blake didn’t need to worry about not being represented in next week’s finale.

Yes, in a very pleasant surprise, the first contestant called to safety by host Carson Daly was Team Blake’s exquisite country songbird Spensha Baker (my favorite this season!), despite the fact that five other contestants had peaked higher than her on iTunes. (Spensha charted at a more-than-respectable No. 10, but this was a really good iTunes week for The Voice.) Team Blake’s Kyla Jade (this week’s highest charter, at No. 2) also sailed through, along with Team Kelly’s Brynn Cartelli (No. 4).

Yep, three female contestants — two of color — were voted through by America! That left three everymen (Pryor, Britton, and Kelly Clarkson’s other contestant, country crooner Kaleb Lee) fighting for the one remaining slot in next week’s Season 14 finale, singing for the Instant Save.

Going home immediately were this week’s lowest two vote-getters (and lowest charters, at No. 31 and 47), Team Adam underdog Rayshun LaMarr and Team Alicia wannabe rocker Jackie Foster. The odds-bucking Rayshun, having been up for elimination twice during the Live Playoffs, was lucky to make it this far. Jackie, a fan favorite, may have had a shot under different circumstances, but her puzzling decision on Monday to cover Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” in a rhinestone catsuit — on an “inspirational” theme night when almost everyone else did choir-backed evangelical songs — probably alienated more conservative viewers.

So Pryor maniacally shouted his way through the Allmans’ “Soulshine” and Kaleb sleepwalked through Skynyrd’s “Simple Man.” But then Britton completely sealed the deal with a gruff yet passionate take on the Calum Scott version of Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own,” winning the real-time Twitter vote by a whopping 47 percent.

Ultimately, I got the top four I wanted — just not the top four I’d expected. I ain’t mad.

While I feel this has been the weakest season in Voice history, it may not have the weakest finale: Spensha, Kyla, Brynn, and Britton indeed comprise a strong top four. Who will win? We will find out in one week’s time.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Amazon, Tumblr, and Spotify.

Advertisement