Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Austyns Stancil, Katie O. and Shye from The Voice Season 26

The Voice Season 26 playoffs kick off Monday night and conclude next Monday and Tuesday night.

One team will perform this evening at 9 p.m., two next Monday at 8 p.m. and the final team next Tuesday at 9 p.m. First up: Team Gwen.

The coaches can advance just two singers.

Guess what that means, Voice fans?

The coaches are hand-picking the show’s semifinalists for just the second time in the show’s 26-season history.

Fans will get to vote just twice this season, beginning on Monday, Dec. 2 when eight singers perform for a spot in the finale.

Much more on the asinine stupidity of that format in a future blog. For now, let’s just say it’s almost enough to make me tune out for the rest of Season 26.

See also …
As rating tumble, The Voice slaps fans with biggest snub in show’s history

Anyway, here’s a look at where the teams stand and my predictions on who has the best shot of making those semifinals.

Team Gwen
Jan Dan (save)
Sydney Sterlace
Gabriel Zabosky
Jake Tankersley (steal)
Jose Luis

Gwen is notoriously fond of young contestants, and Sydney Sterlace, who auditioned at age 15, would appear the favorite among this group. She’s delivered the performances to back that up. I’d give the edge for the other spot to Gabrielle Zabosky, who had a big on-stage personality to go with a bigger voice. That said, Gwen might be tempted to gamble on Jake Tankersley, given Voice voters’ preference for guitar-wielding male country singers. She is, after all, married to one.

Update: The team performed last Tuesday. Gabrielle and Jose turned in the best performances. Gwen advanced Sydney and Jan Dan. Perhaps that’s why Gwen has one win in seven seasons of coaching The Voice. Song by song grades for Team Gwen here.

Team Michael
Sonofrio Vasquez
Shye
Cameron Wright
Sloane Simon (save)
Jaukeem Fortson (steal)

Sloane Simon and Jaukeem Fortson are intriguing young talents I’d love to see get a chance to perform for fans’ votes. But I think the edge here goes to Sofronio Vasquez, one of the show’s best male singers and performers, and to Shye, another of those very talented young female singers The Voice cast in Season 26.

Team Reba
Lauren-Michael Sellers
Danny Joseph (save)
Katie O.
Edward Preble (steal)
Adam Bohanan

It’s hard to imagine Reba going into the finals without a country singer. And Katie O. has turned in performances worthy of a spot in the semis. She also lights up the stage with her vibrant personality. Lauren-Michael, meanwhile, served up one of the best knockout performances we saw and will be deserving of the other spot if she can duplicate that combination of vocal prowess and emotion.

Team Snoop
Jeremy Beloate (steal)
Mikaela Ayira
Aliyah Khaylyn
Christina Eagle (save)
Austyns Stancil

Austyns Stancil has been exceptional every time he’s taken the stage. My guess is the other spot goes to whichever young lady comes through with a dynamic performance. All are capable. Don’t rule out Christina Eagle. She might have turned just one chair in the blinds, but every coach wanted her when her knockout round match ended.

Update: Simon Biles of Olympic gymnastics fame will be Snoop’s playoff mentor. Does she know anything about music? Does The Voice care? I mean, why would contestants deserve advice from someone who knows music? The Voice has leaked Jeremy’s performance. His covers are too frill-filled and theatrical for my taste, but it’s an impressive, impassioned vocal. So he just might nab that second spot, in spite of being the steal on a team filled with Team Snoop originals.