Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Maelyn Jarmon with Taylor Swift, one of tonight’s guest stars on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Blake has eight artists in the Top 13, five in the Top 8 and three singers in Monday’s performance finale.

But that might backfire in the end.

Because following Monday’s show, while fans were rallying around Maelyn Jarmon and pushing three of her songs into the Top 10 on iTunes, The Voice country fan base was clearly split.

Some were supporting Gyth Rigdon. Some were supporting Dexter Roberts. And lots were supporting Andrew Sevener, who turned just one chair in the blind auditions and seemingly came out of nowhere to challenge for the Season 16 title.

And, in the end, those split allegiances may have helped Maelyn waltz to victory and give John Legend his first win in his first season as a coach on the show.

Of course, we’ll have to wait through nearly two hours of performances — many by contestants with no connection to the show — to find out who prevails.

But, hey, the Voice opens with a duet between Travis Tritt and Andrew Sevener, who had himself a very good night Monday. They’re singing “Trouble,” and it’s a rowdy, up-tempo country song that fits right in with what Andrew does best. Very nice.

Okay, let’s keep track of how many performances there are with no link to The Voice. And having a cameo as a mentor DOES NOT count as a connection.

Hooray, Kim Cherry and Mari return to the stage for a performance. They perform Lizzo’s “Good as Hell,” which will give Mari a chance to go soulful and Kim a chance to show off her rap skills. That was fun.

Oh, look, and that segues into a performance of “My Preogative” by Jej Vinson, Shawn Sounds, L.B. Crew, Kalvin Jarvis and Domenic Haynes. Woo-hoo! That’s seven non-finalists already performing on tonight’s show. Nice job!

Maelyn gets to sing with Sarah McLachlan. They’ll duet on “The Arms of an Angel.” A nice song choice for Maelyn. That was very pretty, and another reminder of why Maelyn would be a fitting winner of a show called The Voice.

Dexter Roberts gets to perform with Toby Keith. They’ll sing “That’s Country, Bro.” Nice performance. And nice of Toby to squeeze Dexter in the lyrics.

Woo-hoo, another performance featuring non-finalists — Betsy Ade, Celia Babini, Presley Tennant and Lisa Ramey singing “The Edge of Seventeen.”

And Hootie and the Blowfish return to the stage for a second time tonight, this time to perform “Hold My Hand,” another of their bi hits, with Gyth Rigdon. Nice performance.

But wouldn’t it be nice if each of the finalists got to perform more than once tonight.

1. The Jonas Brothers
2. Khalid
3. One Republic
4. Hootie and The Blowfish
5. BTS
6. Halsey
7. Taylor Swift

So, by my count that’s seven performances with no connection to the show and seven that included Season 16 contestants.

But The Voice did invite back 11 non-finalists to perform, which is more than in some recent seasons.

I just wish the entire show had a connection to Season 16.

AND IT’S TIME FOR RESULTS

In fourth place: Andrew Sevener
In third place: Dexter Roberts
In second place: Gyth Rigdon
Winning Season 16: Maelyn Jarmon! Congrats!

And, thanks, Carson Daly, for allowing a minute for Maelyn to talk about her victory. Very nice.