‘The Voice’ Semifinals Results: Girls Just Wanna Get Votes

How ironic it was that on this week's "The Voice" results show--the episode that determined the four contestants heading to next week's finale--three of last season's dynamite female "Voice" finalists, Dia Frampton, Vicci Martinez, and Beverly McClellan, performed. (Along with "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" pioneer Cyndi Lauper, yet.) Why ironic, you ask? Because it soon became obvious that a LOT has changed on "The Voice" since Season 1. On Tuesday night, only one female contestant, Juliet Simms, made it through.

What made this result even more depressing was the fact that if Adam Levine had divided his points differently (all of the coaches had 100 points to divvy up between their contestants, to affect the outcome), there may have been two ladies in next week's finale. Juliet apparently knew what she was singing about when she covered James Brown's "It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World" this week.

But all is not lost. Juliet, the most interesting and just plain awesome contestant in the top four, still could (and should) win this thing. Who will she be up against in next week's testosterone-fest? Here's a rundown of the final four on the floor...

[PHOTO GALLERY: "The Voice" cast]

TEAM CEE LO: Juliet Simms


Juliet is the one "Voice" girl still in it to win it, so to speak--ironically scoring a spot in the otherwise all-boy finale right after wowing viewers with her Monday night performance of "Man's World." Sadly, I still fear that the late JB's musical prophecy will come true, considering that male contestants have dominated the public vote all season. (Not too long ago, I was actually worried that there'd be no women in the finale at all.) But Juliet is a full-on rock GODDESS, and the fact that she was able to beat her formidable opponent/teammate Jamar Rogers--one of this season's biggest frontrunners and biggest talents--by a surprisingly wide margin indicates that she stands a strong chance of trouncing the rest of the men next week. Girl power!
CEE LO'S SCORE - Juliet 60, Jamar 40
OVERALL SCORE - Juliet 121, Jamar 79

[Jamar Rogers discusses HIV battle]

TEAM ADAM: Tony Lucca
Tony was the one "Voice" contestant I was really worried about going into this week's results show, since his path to the winner's circle almost seemed pre-ordained--not because he is the best singer in the competition (he is NOT), but because he already has a built-in fanbase due to his tenure in "The Mickey Mouse Club." I'd always assumed that my preferred Team Adam contestant, Katrina Parker, had absolutely no chance of beating out Tony. But guess what? It turned out she DID have a chance. Humble office worker Katrina, the contestant who'd demonstrated the most growth this season, had quietly become a fan favorite, and if Adam hadn't split up his points 60/40 in favor of Tony, Katrina actually could have made it to the top four instead. (Do the math.) But Adam lamely went with his "bro" and ruined Katrina's chances--and possibly ruined the entire season. I don't think Tony's victory next week is a done deal anymore, in light of this week's close vote, but he still might win--and frankly, he doesn't deserve to. Katrina deserved that shot. She'd earned it.
ADAM'S SCORE - Tony 60, Katrina 40
OVERALL SCORE - Tony 108, Katrina 92

TEAM XTINA: Chris Mann
Chris's teammate, quirky songstress Lindsey Pavao, was tied with Juliet for my personal favorite of "The Voice" Season 2, ever since she charmed me at her Blind Audition with her asymmetrical Skrillex hair and brilliantly bizarre Trey Songz cover. But I was always worried that her winsome, wide-eyed weirdness would be off-putting to some viewers (despite my still-steadfast belief that "The Voice" is way edgier and cooler than its more conservative counterpart, "American Idol"). And it turned out that my worries were justified, as Lindsey, who took a risk with a Bon Iver cover this week, lost out to the show's most old-fashioned contestant, Chris, a classically trained opera singer who went totally olde-school with "Ave Maria." I am bummed beyond belief to see Lindsey go, but she should be proud that she was only a few points away from beating Chris, an undeniably worthy contender. Chris arguably has THE technically strongest voice among the remaining top four...and when you look at the robust record sales for opera-belting reality vets like "Got Talent's" Susan Boyle and Jackie Evancho (not to mention popera stars like Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, and Il Divo), he may actually be the contestant with the best chance of selling records after "The Voice" ends. (But then again...Lindsey was totally outselling Chris on iTunes, so who knows? If Lindsey puts out a post-"Voice" album, I know I'll buy it.)
CHRISTINA'S SCORE - Chris 50, Lindsey 50
OVERALL SCORE - Chris 104, Lindsey 96

[Dia Frampton performs at Yahoo! Music]

TEAM BLAKE: Jermaine Paul
Erin Willett, one of this season's token big-lung'd divas, had a decent chance of making it to the finale, and I was rooting for her--but she blew it this week with a shaky, almost unrecognizable David Guetta cover that sounded about three keys below her comfortable range. Jermaine had been much less consistent than Erin all season, but he delivered when it mattered most, stepping it up with a triumphant "Open Arms" performance this week and "leaving his heart on that stage." As a result, he beat Erin by a massive landslide. It's still nearly impossible for me to imagine Jermaine winning this season (certainly not by any sort of landslide), but his placement in the top four is no shock. I just wonder what might have happened if Erin--whose birthday was this Tuesday--had picked a different song this week. She might have had a much happier birthday.
BLAKE'SSCORE - Jermaine 50, Erin 50
OVERALL SCORE - Jermaine 123, Erin 77

[Beverly McClellan performs at Yahoo! Music]

So there you go. Will the last girl standing be this season's champ? Or is Tony Lucca still the man to beat? We will find out next week if "The Voice" has become just another boys' club.

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