The Top 8 contestants on The Voice competed on Monday night (May 15) for their chance to make the Top 5. It was the first week in this season's competition that fan votes were accepted and tabulated in real time, and despite the fact that the remaining contestants were fan voted, some fans are unhappy with the result and claim the show is "rigged."
The night featured standout performances from all Top 8 contestants, and the five who went through to the next round were Grace West (Team Blake), D.Smooth (Team Kelly), Gina Miles (Team Niall), Sorelle (Team Chance) and NOIVAS (Team Blake). Three contestants were eliminated: Ryley Tate Wilson (Team Niall), Ray Uriel (Team Chance) and Holly Brand (Team Kelly).
Fans on social media were especially outraged about the elimination of Ryley Tate Wilson from Niall's team and Holly Brand from Kelly's team. Wilson performed a cover of "Vienna" by Billy Joel while Brand stuck true to her country roots by singing Reba McEntire's "Rumor Has It." Fans of these two singers were convinced that the show is somehow skewed towards Shelton's contestants despite the fact that the results were based on fans' votes.
A Twitter user named Mel accused the show of being rigged, claiming that she much more support for Wilson than other contestants.
"I literally saw everyone tweeting they were voting for ryley tate and it was crickets for grace they rigged this for blake so badly actually," she wrote.
Another fan named Riley shared a similar remark: "Not saying it's rigged for Blake to win but I feel like I never see anyone talk about his team compared to like Ryley and Holly."
Many other fans shared their similar disappointment with the results, with one writing, "RYLEY NOT MAKING IT THROUGH HUHHHHHHH???????? nah that's gotta be rigged WTFFF." Another tweeted, "RYLEY TATE DIDNT GO THROUGH OH ITS SO RIGGED FOR BLAKE IM SICK."
The show will go on with the live finale part one on Monday, May 22. The winner will then be announced during part two of the live finale on Tuesday, May 23.
