‘The Voice’ recap: Meet your Season 10 top 12

“The Voice” delivered the deep cuts it promised on Wednesday night, as the 24 singers who competed in Monday and Tuesday’s live playoffs were reduced to a mere 12. In many cases, the vocalists selected to stick around -- saved by either America or their coaches -- may not have been who you had predicted.

Or I don’t know, maybe you did foresee that Hannah Huston and Daniel Passino would be voted through on Team Pharrell, even though Passino had already gone home and had returned just this week to complete in the live playoffs as Pharrell Williams’ “comeback artist.” That Williams would save 17-year-old Emily Keener, whom he clearly adores, was no surprise at all. (Sorry, Caity Peters, Lacy Mandigo and Moushumi.)

And right, OK, it made complete sense that America threw its support behind Adam Wakefield and Mary Sarah on Team Blake. But Blake Shelton’s decision to save former backup dancer Paxton Ingram and send home Katie Basden, Justin Whisnant and Joe Maye, who Shelton said Monday had a shot at the win? That was at least a little unexpected, right?

As for Christina Aguilera’s team, the announcement that Alisan Porter, the season’s clear front-runner, had been voted through seemed almost preordained. But Nick Hagelin? Really? Not only was the former ballet dancer the last singer added to Aguilera’s team, welcomed this week as the “comeback artist,” but it seemed clear from Wednesday’s group number, though perhaps not from his fine performance on Monday, that he was not the strongest singer on Team Christina. Deciding whether the final spot on her team would go to Bryan Bautista, Tamar Rice, Kata Hay or Ryan Quinn, all super talented, had to have been difficult for Aguilera. And while it was not a shocker that she picked smooth dude Bautista, whom guest mentor Miley Cyrus really dug and whom Aguilera said America was “really responding to,” an argument could have been made for any of them.

Still, the Team Adam results were, to me and, it appeared, to Adam Levine, at least, truly startling. Shalyah Fearing, sure. Her performance made a big splash Tuesday night. Laith Al-Saadi, though? The hirsute veteran musician may have been the last Team Adam member I expected to be voted through.

Levine, too, seemed initially at a loss, after Carson Daly revealed that the audience had offered two precious Top 12 slots to Fearing and Al-Saadi. “I was not expecting. I didn’t know what to expect, but I -- uh --” he said, sputtering at the prospect of being compelled to choose between Caroline Burns, Owen Danoff, Brian Nhira and his “comeback artist” Nate Butler for the final spot. I’m glad Levine ultimately picked Danoff, but I am especially sad to see Burns go. She was just so darn cute.

Plus, she hadn’t yet gotten a chance to tell us how Levine smells. Oh well.