'The Voice' Season 8 Recap & Review: Team Blake Takes on Team Pharrell for Live Playoff

Team Blake Shelton was pitted against Team Pharrell Williams for tonight's, April 6, Live Playoff episode of The Voice. Fans of the show were able to vote for their favorite singers for the first time in the competition. Team Christina Aguilera and Team Adam Levine will square off tomorrow night.

Coach Levine was joined by the rest of Maroon 5 for "Sugar" off the band's 2014 release V to break the audience in for the contestants. The best part of the performance was when the camera cut to Shelton, who had his game face ready to go. Levine's falsetto was a close second, though.

Both Shelton and Williams have impressive teams. Here's how each one did, in our opinion:

Team Blake

5. Corey Kent White, "To Make You Feel My Love" by Garth Brooks: Billed as the last country artist in the competition, White put his whole heart into the performance (his grandfather recently died). The tune wasn't amazing, but it was solid. Levine spoke the first harsh words of the night, which weren't harsh at all, pertaining to some missed opportunities during the song. He wasn't wrong either.

4. Brooke Adee, "Love Me Like You Do" by Ellie Goulding: The pint-sized singer treated listeners to a lovely rendition of the Fifty Shades of Grey track. The coaches harped on Adee for not being loose on stage. It wasn't a bad performance, but there were too many other good ones tonight.

3. Sarah Potenza, "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd: Tough song to kick off the show considering it's one of the greatest closers of all time. Shelton pointed out that America digs Potenza's Janis Joplin scream, and her performance mirrored that sentiment. She surprisingly pulled it off as a show opener. With her big voice and willingness to take risks, Potenza is a definite contender.

2. Meghin Linsey, "Love Runs Out" by OneRepublic: Linsey looked a lot like Aquilera onstage, and she even sounded like the pop singer. She may have been denied before, but America will not make that mistake.

1. Hannah Kirby, "I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King: The singer seemed to let loose up on the stage and it worked to her advantage. Williams loved the entertainment factor. Levine praised the singer's fearlessness. But remember, this is a singing competition, and Kirby has some killer vocals.

Team Pharrell

5. Lowell Oakley, "Jealous" by Nick Jonas: Compared to the three singers before him, Oakley's performance was just OK. He went out of his comfort zone with the pop tune, showing off his falsetto (Shelton compared it to Levine's vocals). It wasn't a bad performance — the other singer's just did better. That's what happens when there's 10 performers all battling.

4. Caitlin Caporale, "Best Thing I Never Had" by Beyoncé: Queen Bey isn't the easy artist to cover on these singing competition shows because she currently rules the pop world. Pharrell nodded in approval during Caporale's performance, and she deserved that. The singer was captivating and, as Shelton said, she "looks like a star."

3. Sawyer Fredericks, "Trouble" by Ray LaMontagne: Pharrell picked a great song to match the young singer's raspy voice. He has an old soul and it shined during the whole performance.

2. Mia Z, "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers: Mia did Pennsylvania proud after a steamy performance of this 1971 classic. She worked the entire audience and her voice just took off during the climax. Shelton loved it so much that he said he wanted to steal her for his team. The 16-year-old will only get better.

1. Koryn Hawthorne, "How Great Thou Art" by Various Artists: The award for the most emotional performance of the night (and possibly just flat-out best) goes to Hawthorne. She held very little back for the song. It was a beautiful display of talent. We'll be seeing her for awhile.

Tonight's win went to Team Pharrell with three huge performances (Mia Z, Koryn Hawthorne and Sawyer Fredericks).

Tags

Pharrell Williams, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine