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‘The Voice’ recap: Caroline Pennell and Ray Boudreaux head home

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It was not a total shocker that Ray Boudreaux, the classically handsome Louisiana swamp-pop singer from Blake Shelton’s team, and the wonderfully quirky-voiced Caroline Pennell, Cee Lo Green’s final contestant, were the two contenders sent home Tuesday on “The Voice” as the Top 8 shrank to the Top 6.

Boudreaux seemed to have worn out his welcome Monday night, when he turned in a smarmy take on the Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin’.” And while Pennell’s charming vocals and beatific smile never got old, she had, after all, been in the bottom three last week, rescued by her tweeting fans at the last minute. Pennell had shown new fire this week, when she took on Florence and the Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over,” but everything surrounding that rousing performance -- from the rehearsal run-up to the coach comments -- had seemed valedictory.

Still, take heart, Pennell fans. Even though her days on “The Voice” are over, the 17-year-old New Jersey high school senior’s musical journey probably isn’t. What’s more, Carson Daly let us know Tuesday, she’s just gotten her first college acceptance letter. It “doesn’t end here for me,” Pennell sunnily reassured us before she was eliminated. “I have so many things to look forward to.”

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PHOTOS: Concert photos by The Times

All that is not to say that Tuesday’s elimination show -- which featured performances by Ellie Goulding and Cee Lo Green, as well as group performances of varying quality by the Top 8 -- didn’t have its surprises. Chief among them? The presence of Matthew Schuler, who has been a front-runner since way back in the blind auditions, when his take on “Cough Syrup” earned the fastest-ever four-chair turn, in the bottom three.

“I don’t really understand why,” Aguilera said of the voters’ forsaking the singer she has repeatedly called “magical.” “You have proven yourself time and time again.”

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But while Schuler has had lots of standout moments in the competition – his emotional renditions of “Hallelujah,” “Wrecking Ball” and “Beneath Your Beautiful,” to name just three – his sometimes breathless, overly choreographed performance of “It’s Time” this week was something of a stumble. And pandering to patriotic sentiments by projecting American flags onto the stage behind him as he sang apparently didn’t pay off with voters.

Nevertheless, thanks to this week’s Instant Save, Schuler will take his rightful place among next week’s Top 6, along with his fellow Team Christina member Jacquie Lee; Cole Vosbury, now Shelton’s only remaining chance at a four-peat; and all three members of Team Adam: James Wolpert, Tessanne Chin and Will Champlin. (With Pennell’s departure, Team Cee Lo is now out of the running.) We’ll see if he is able to break this season’s established pattern, in which one week’s saved singer gets eliminated the following week.

Did you think Schuler’s presence in the bottom three was warranted? And will you miss Pennell and Boudreaux?

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