The Voice Top 13 5th Judge: New Frontrunner Emerges After Incredible Beyonce Cover

Hopefully, this week will be a cleaner cut, as there are some artists that definitely are not rising to the standards of this show or their competition. But there are also half a dozen or so artists who would infuriate us if they wound up in danger or eliminated.

This week’s vote marks a big shift for “The Voice” as teams don’t matter anymore when it comes to the result. Three artists are going home and they could theoretically wipe out an entire team in one show if that’s how the votes play out.

Only Blake has more than three people left on his team, but how many will survive the week? We’ve already been surprised by just one week of results, so we can’t even begin to imagine what will happen this week. Of course, we’re still gonna try with our predictions at the bottom after seeing how the night went.

We did appreciate the show taking a note from almost every other competition show out there and coming up with a theme this week designed to create more impactful performances. The contestants chose a song that had a deep meaning for them to perform and shared with us why they picked it.

Some of those moments created performances that left us stunned and in tears. There was definitely a shuffle at the top of our personal leaderboard this week, but it’s more about who’s rising even higher to this special occasion. We were kind of excited to see that our Top 4 featured one artist from each team this week. So who were they?

Fair warning, since I'm safe at home, I'm probably going to be a little harsher than my colleagues Blake Shelton, Camila Cabello, Gwen Stefani, and John Legend. But I might be nicer, too. Maybe.

And just for fun, I'm going to rank the performances from worst to first to see who my favorites are, and then see how close you were to getting it right with your votes (i.e., agreeing with me).

(“Dreaming of You,” Selena - 19, Fresno, CA) A tribute to her late grandfather, Alyssa was advised to inject some storytelling elements into her performance, both vocal and physical. She took those notes and brought that dreamlike quality Gwen was looking for in the verses, even if the quality of that vocal was a bit shaky. She definitely felt stronger and sounded more confident on the chorus elements. She fell flat on a big note toward the end, cementing this as a very mixed performance with some very sweet moments and others that faltered.

(“The Winner Takes It All,” ABBA - 17, Rapid City, SD) Rowan has been connected to this song since she was three years old as it’s one of the first she ever performed when her audience was her parents in their living room. As this performance kicked off, though, she still seemed to be singing as if her audience was two people in a small room. She was underneath the band and barely projecting at all. It was a little sleepy and never really managed to grab us, even when she finally started pushing herself a bit. We’re not sure if it was a song choice mismatch or just an underwhelming performance, but it definitely didn’t do her any favors.

(“Can’t Help Falling in Love,” Elvis Presley - 22, Orangeburg, SC) Eric didn’t think he’d ever know the love that’s being sung about in this song, until it happened. Suddenly, the song took on a whole new meaning. We loved Camila’s advice (which Eric was also thinking) of pulling back all the theatrics and just sitting down to sing the song. Make it all about the heartfelt message and his voice. He even dyed his hair black to minimize his visual flair. Elvis had such a thick, full voice, Eric sounded a bit thin on this, almost shrill at times trying to compete with his background singers. The arrangement and concept were great, but he had a hard time cutting through the noise and standing out. It was sweet, but it wasn’t particularly dynamic. Without the noise of his look and stage presence, this may turn out to be too quiet.

(“Superstition,” Stevie Wonder - 19, Miami, FL) Kique credits this song with helping to pull him out of his shell, and it was definitely the most opened up and alive we’ve seen him on this show. That said, it’s still a far cry from the more consummate performers out there. Vocally, while we didn’t love the breakdown portion, there’s no denying that he’s got a lot of power and control of his instrument. If you don’t, you don’t go anywhere near a Stevie Wonder song! He needs to work still on cutting loose more and more until he looks as confident up there as he sounds, because he sounds great.

(“Amarillo by Morning,” Terry Stafford [as performed by George Strait] - 22, Woodstock, GA) Bryce is connected to this song as it’s been part of his gigging career for as long as he’s had one. George is one of those foundational voices of country music, so it’s a song that has to be performed just right to do it justice. Bryce quickly made it clear just how connected he is to this one as he attacked it with a confident ease that was a huge step up from what he delivered last week. This is the voice of a confident country crooner who’s as ready for his big shot as his incredible last name (which looked great on a guitar strap).

(“R U Mine?,” Arctic Monkeys - 28, Queens, NY) This song came from Devix wanting to push himself vocally after thinking for years he was going to focus on being a multi-instrumental. The challenge he put on himself was to break loose from his perfectionism, cut loose a little bit and show that he’s actually having fun up there. This was indeed a complicated song and melody for him to tackle and he mostly handled it deftly. He actually came on a little too strong in the opening lines, losing the subtleties of the original’s vocals. As the piece progressed, he grew in confidence and really got to display not only the incredible flavor of his voice, but his unique vibe as an artist.

(“Come Over,” Kenny Chesney [as performed by Sam Hunt] - 16, Grass Lake, MI) For Brayden, it’s as simple as this is the artist he first sang in front of people, cementing his love for performing and singing. We’re not sure if it was because he was sans instrument, but his lower register and softer voice wasn’t hitting as hard as he usually does. His chorus was still total magic with that sweet innocence and heartache that naturally sits in the pocket of his voice. The whole piece wasn’t as polished as we expected or as consistent as he usually is. But he still has that magic sauce that makes him special and someone you want to root for.

(“All I Ask,” Adele - 17, Severna Park, MD) A hybrid Nepali-English version of the song partially translated by Parijita herself got her a first-place finish, so this is definitely a song that has meaning for her musical journey. Vocally, this was a slight step back for Parijita, as she had a missed moment about midway through and took a little too long to ramp up to the part where she had us hooked. She got there, but not as instantaneously as she usually does. Parijita is one of the most gifted vocalists of the season, but this was not her strongest moment. Honestly, we were kind of hoping she’d bust out that hybrid version and give us some Nepali lines here to represent her culture on this national stage.

(“In the Name of Love,” Martin Garrix f. Bebe Rexha - 34, Orlando, FL) The lyrics of this song helped Omar pull himself back from the brink of getting lost in partying and reckless behavior. This song’s message was his journey back to finding himself and refocusing on his passions. John again coached Omar to get out of his perfectionism and have a more emotional connection. Even on a song he does have that emotional resonance with, he still disconnects as a performer. That’s been the missing piece in his artistry. We’d love to see him actually break down a little bit through what he’s feeling because vocally he’s mesmerizing. This was another soaring performance that left us breathless and the closest he’s come yet. This is the most impressive he’s ever sounded, but he still needs to cut loose a bit more inside.

(“Always on My Mind,” Brenda Lee [as performed by Willie Nelson] - 30, Woodville, TX) The loss of Kim’s grandmother recontextualized this song in a different and more meaningful way. John advised her to keep it simple and close to the melody as we’ve already seen her belt it out. Now, we want her to break our hearts. She gave us a little of that soft stuff in the beginning and end, but couldn’t help but soar through the bulk of the middle. Nevertheless, she didn’t try to do too much with runs and tricks, rather letting the natural power of her voice carry the message. It wasn’t as emotionally resonant as we were hoping, but it was still a powerhouse performance with absolutely zero vocal flaws. Kim is in another world with her gift.

(“I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles),” The Proclaimers - 29, Los Angeles, CA) Stripped back to its core and with an emphasis on the lyrical message, this was bodie and his wife’s wedding song. He even took control of the band in helping conceive this arrangement. It was every bit as beautiful on stage as it was when he was pulling it together. bodie just has this quality about him that is so humble and authentic, you find yourself believing him. We felt the meaning of this song in his life. On top of that, his voice is so tender and intimate at one point and then powerful and engaging on the other end. He’s a master of his own instrument and artistry and we’re enjoying him sharing that vision of himself with us.

(“Break Every Chain,” Tasha Cobbs Leonard - 34, Junction City, KS) This song helped pull Justin out of the depths of depression when he first heard it. Believe it or not, as stellar as this was, we were hoping he’d break out even more in his performance. Vocally, we know he could have done more than what he gave us, even as it may have looked like he was giving us everything. That said, this was an incredible performance from about the halfway mark to the end, with so much passion and conviction on display. You could feel how much he resonated with the message. He just welcomed us to the church of Justin with open arms.

(“If I Were a Boy,” Jean [as performed by Beyoncé] - 35, Nashville, TN) Morgan knows the message of this song trying to make it in the male-dominated country music industry. She knows who she is so much as an artist, we believed her from the first word. She had us tearing up by the second and it only got better from there. By the time she was belting her way through the middle we can’t believe she hasn’t gotten a record deal yet. Taking an iconic song like this and injecting her own flavor into it, Morgan was again speaking nothing but truth up there in the most beautifully authentic way. We felt that performance and were moved by it.

With this week’s performances, we’re starting to see a more clear divide between the real contenders for this season’s crown and those who are just along for the ride, and it’s just about half and half right now.

That’s going to change in a big way Tuesday night, though, as three singers are going to get the boot -- and this time, it doesn’t matter which team they’re on. On top of that, the Coach’s Save is also gone, meaning it’s entirely up to America.

What’s going to happen is the Top 9 will get through based solely on America’s votes Monday night. Then, the remaining four will sing live for an instant-save vote with the winner rounding out the Top 10. Could Bryce Leatherwood repeat that feat? We’ve got him barely hanging in our Top 10.

Honestly, we do think he could fall down into the Bottom 4 again because there seems to be this rallying of support for Kique (our number ten this week) that surprised us last week. We do feel confident that Eric Who, Rowan Grace and Alyssa Witrado will all find themselves in the bottom.

Eric took a chance by reining in all of his excesses and we were left with a thinly-voiced performance that lacked any punch at all. Rowan was completely forgettable and vocally buried as well, while Alyssa gave the most technically uneven performance of the night.

If it does come down to those four, Bryce may well be in a position to repeat. We weren’t impressed with what he did last week in the Instant-Save, but clearly the voters were. This week, the competition would be much weaker if it is those three and we expect Bryce Leatherwood would get dubbed the comeback kid for two weeks of fighting and staying alive.

“The Voice” continues Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.