Quick Thoughts: THE VOICE, "Live Playoff Results"

The first round of live show eliminations is done, and it was far from shocking in spite of all of the hemming, hawing, stalling, and ego stroking displayed by the coaches.

Before we get to the results, let's recap my predictions from earlier. I had Judith Hill, Amber Carrington, and Sarah Simmons coming out of Team Adam; Holly Tucker, Danielle Bradbery, and Justin Rivers representing Team Blake; Sasha Allen, Garrett Gardner, and Kris Thomas surviving from Team Shakira; and Michelle Chamuel, Josiah Hawley, and VEDO from Team Usher.

Team Blake kicked off the night and it was the only source of any real surprise. America ended up saving Holly Tucker and Danielle Bradbery (of course), which meant Blake had to pick between Justin Rivers and the Swon Brothers. I was sure he would save Justin since he was a solo act, but the Okie threw a curve ball and saved the Swons because they mixed things up. While I didn't necessarily agree with Blake's choice, at least he had a good reason.

Team Shakira was up next, and Sasha Allen easily made it to the next round, but I was a little shocked when Kris Allen was saved by the audience. It was down to Garrett Garland and Karina Iglesias, and it was clear who Shakira was going to pick even though she spun her wheels for as long as humanly possible. Garrett moved on.

Team Usher was far less exciting as Michelle Chamuel won the popular vote along with VEDO. OK, I'll admit I thought VEDO was going to have to be saved by Usher because Josiah had a better performance. That said, it must have been easy for Usher to pick the male model of Cáthia since she clearly struggled on Monday.

Team Adam batted clean-up, and the biggest no-brainers of the night occurred when both Judith Hill and Amber Carrington won America's votes. It took Adam so long to make up his mind that Caroline Galser was robbed of her tearful goodbye after he picked Sarah Simmons. Talk about a double whammy.

So, no real surprises especially since I only missed one of the final twelve, which makes me wonder if the rest of the season's going to be this predictable as it chugs along. I hope not, but we'll have to wait and see. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to cover the rest of Season 4, but stay tuned to find out.