‘The Voice’ Season 8 Goes Live: Who Are America’s Likely Favorites?


NBC’s The Voice has once again reached that pivotal portion of the season where America begins to have its say. Beyond the key additions by Voice judges, it will be entirely up to viewers at home to select their favorite hopefuls. The voting trends must not be ignored, as often it is a key indicator of the mood of the Voice audience.

During this stage of Season 7, the Voice audience made it clear they had no interest in many of the women who auditioned. Will there be a similar trend this year? Not likely. While there were some “unusual” women vocalists last year, there are some truly powerful women singers this season. In fact, one would argue that the better singers on The Voice this year are women. But with popularity outweighing singing chops, will it matter?

There are 13 singers left on The Voice, and a handful are destined to rise to the top as stand-out favorites. These three represent the most likely to be selected by the audience and of the remaining contestants, the ones with the best chance of winning the whole thing.

First and foremost is 16-year-old Voice hopeful Sawyer Fredericks. While not the strongest singer on The Voice, this unique young man has a sound and style all his own. No one else in the competition looks or sounds like him, allowing Sawyer to stand out rather easily. His sound appeals to older Voice viewers, while his long hair and boyish looks may get younger female voters on his side. Also, he’s got a bit of a country music flavor, which could win him votes from one of the more loyal voting blocks on The Voice.

A poll of surviving favorites by GoldDerby asked people to vote for who they thought could win this season. Fredericks is currently leading with more than 44 percent of the vote. It wasn’t a small sample, either; thousands of fans made their voices heard. Sawyer Fredericks may very well be the runaway winner of The Voice this season.

Hannah Kirby may not seem like an obvious choice for one of the top women vocalists remaining on The Voice, but she was actually the distant second to Sawyer in the GoldDerby poll. Additionally, her voice is something of a throwback in its own right. For anyone who remembers the alternative female vocalists of the ’90s, the 20-year-old vocalist provides a bit of nostalgic quality. Can she win? It honestly depends on whether the Voice audience will lean in the direction of the unconventional this season. After The Voice crowned yet another country artist, a mini-rebellion may ensue this season. Stay tuned.

For now, I’m considering Corey Kent White something of a dark horse. The reason is that his coach, Blake Shelton, just won Season 7 with a good-looking blond country artist named Craig Wayne Boyd. It may not be fair to Corey, but he’s awfully close to redundancy territory. If enough of the audience isn’t pleased with the result from last season, voters may be inspired to go in the complete opposite direction. That would probably be Hannah Kirby at this point. Stand out Voice hopeful Sawyer Fredericks winning would represent a compromise between country viewers and everyone else.

However, if Corey Kent White were to win, it would be because he managed to gain the loyalty of the teenage girl voters who watch The Voice. I saw quite a few of these young women declare that they were in love before he sang. That’s always a good sign.

Do you think any of these three will be the likely winner? Is there another standout contestant that I missed? Comment below!

[Image Credit: The Voice YouTube]

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