And then there were five. As the conclusion of Season 25 of The Voice drew ever nearer with Tuesday’s Top 9 results show, four contestants learned that they hadn’t made the cut but had… well, been cut.

Based on the poll that followed TVLine’s recap of Monday’s performances, Team John Legend’s Bryan Olesen and Team Chance the Rapper’s Serenity Arce were all but guaranteed to have to sing for the Instant Save (with Team Dan + Shay’s Madison Curbelo and Tae Lewis not much safer). But how the viewership at large votes isn’t always the same as the way our readers do.

The Voice: Every Winner of Every Season — and What They’ve Done Since

How did things actually shake out? Welp, we didn’t find out until after we were treated to a performance of Chance’s “Together” (with the lyrics on screen even though his enunciation was just fine, thanks) and a two-song medley by Brazilian pop star Anitta (that hit as hard as a wet noodle). Then…

SAVED BY VIEWERS’ VOTES

Karen Waldrup (Team Dan + Shay)
Nathan Chester (Team Legend)
Josh Sanders (Team Reba)
Asher HaVon (Team Reba) — so no big surprises among the safe artists, right?

WILDCARD INSTANT SAVE

Serenity Arce (Team Chance), “Because of You” — Grade: C+ | My first impression was that Serenity sleepwalked through her Kelly Clarkson cover… but then I remembered that that’s kinda what the song is like to begin with. Ultimately, Serenity’s effort wasn’t horrible, just a bit desperate and messy with too many moments where she went big and only achieved medium.

Tae Lewis (Team Dan + Shay), “Wanted” — Grade: B | You’ve gotta give Tae some major plaudits: When the pressure is on, he delivers. He had his [bleep] together during this performance. Not sure what else he could have done to exclaim, “Look, ya bozos, it’s me. I’m the one who oughta get the ticket to the finals.” Was it the kind of effort that could win him the show? Nah. But get him through to the Top 5? Maaaybe.

Bryan Olesen (Team Legend), “Viva La Vida” — Grade: C | Clearly, there is an audience for Bryan. Also clearly, I ain’t it. But his Coldplay cover was relatively restrained — at least until he beseeched the crowd to sing along with him. In the end, Bryan seemed to me like a good idea that was questionably executed. Long-gone Ryan Argast would have fared better. (And we already knew how John felt about his team.)

Madison Curbelo (Team Dan + Shay), “Man in the Mirror” — Grade: B+ | Confession time: I despise this MJ classic. Yet I didn’t hate Madison’s take on it. Yeah, maybe it was a little emphatic. But singing for her life, that was to be expected, no? I thought for sure that the Instant Save was Tae’s to lose until Madison came on and knocked it out of a park I didn’t even expect her to get into!

Maddi Jane (Team Chance), “I’ll Never Love Again” — Grade: B | Now we had a fight on our hands. Tae was good; Madison, arguably better. But then Maddi got up there with an imperfect Lady Gaga cover that was still so passionate that I couldn’t write her off as a contender. There was a strength to this, and nuance. At this point, I had no clue which way the voting would go, but my support stayed behind Madison.

SAVED | Bryan Olesen (Team Legend)

ELIMINATED | Serenity Arce (Team Chance), Madison Curbelo (Team Dan + Shay), Maddi Jane (Team Chance) and Tae Lewis (Team Dan + Shay)