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"America may have been surprised when Blake Shelton voted to save Xenia from elimination on The Voice, but the country crooner says there was no doubt in his mind she&amp;apos;d stick around to sing again.\r\n&amp;quot;It blows me away&amp;quot; that fans were shocked he saved her over male contestants Jared Blake and Patrick Thomas, Shelton told Jay Leno in a Wednesday night interview. One day earlier, during The Voice&amp;apos;s results show, Shelton defended his decision, telling The Voice&amp;apos;s audience that he couldn&amp;apos;t &amp;quot;affect change with Jared or Patrick like I can with Xenia.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nConvinced Dia Frampton would be saved by the public vote, Shelton tells Leno he thought long and hard about who to save as he assessed his remaining team members.\r\n&amp;quot;I looked at Patrick, Jared and Xenia up there, and I don&amp;apos;t know about ya&amp;apos;ll, if you&amp;apos;re watching, but I love Xenia,&amp;quot; says Shelton, who wed fellow country crooner Miranda Lambert in May. &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;m protective of her.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nIn the last moments before revealing his choice, Shelton says he went with his gut -- and let his kind, Southern roots be his guide.\r\n&amp;quot;All three of them are talented, but here&amp;apos;s where the Oklahoma guy [in me comes out],&amp;quot; Shelton says. &amp;quot;Like, there&amp;apos;s two grown men, and then there&amp;apos;s Xenia. And I&amp;apos;ll be damned if I&amp;apos;m going to be the guy to send that little girl home. I&amp;apos;m a fan of hers, and I&amp;apos;m not going to tell her no.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nLetting the two country guys go, Shelton will now guide Xenia and Frampton into next week&amp;apos;s semi-final round, with the winner of The Voice pocketing a $100,000 prize and a record contract at the conclusion of June 29&amp;apos;s finale.\r\nTell Us: Should Blake have saved Xenia?\r\nBy Allison Corneau for Us Weekly. For more Channel Surfing, click here."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/the-voices-blake-shelton-why-i-saved-xenia-from-elimination-2011166>