Idol Chatter & Voice Views

What happened: Fans voted Christian Cuevas and We McDonald in the finals. That put Josh Halverson, Sa’Rayah and Kylie Rothfield in danger of elimination. Alicia Keys saved Sa’Rayah.

What should have happened: Well, considering Sa’Rayah turned in the night’s best performance on Team Alicia, it’s fair she was saved. Show favorite We McDonald, on the other hand, is fortunate to have been voted through, because she turned in one of the weakest. With a better song choice for Josh Halverson, these results could have been much different.

Song by song grades —

Christian Cuevas: “Yesterday” by The Beatles — Interesting song choice on a night when vocal fireworks where a surer way of making the finals. Christian pulled in together in the final 30 seconds. Until then, The Voice cameras did him no favors conveying emotion by focusing on the underneath of his chin. When the camera finally panned to his face, he had his eyes closed for most of the performance. Grade: C+

Josh Halveron: “Cupid” by Sam Cooke — Nice to see Josh exchange the death stare from the battle round for a smile. It would have been better yet if he had performed a song that was a better match for his talent. Josh has been a favorite among fans who download from iTunes, but that was my least favorite Josh performance to date. Grade: C–

Kylie Rothfield: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” — After her brilliant knockout round performance of “Hound Dog,” this was a bit of a letdown and I’m not sure the song was a good match for Kylie’s voice. But she sure brought plenty of energy to the stage, didn’t she. Grade: C+

Sa’Rayah: “I’d Rather Go Blind” by Etta James — We McDonald is supposed to be the star on Team Alicia, but Sa’Rayah stole that thunder during Monday’s show. You can’t help but appreciate the intensity she brought to the stage. And if the performance included a few too many vocal frills — well, that’s almost required with this format. Grade: B+

We McDonald: “Home” by Stephanie Mills — Yikes. The young singer with the big voice didn’t exactly slay this like we’re used to her doing, through she delivered two big glory notes at the end as a reminder of her vocal power. With Ali and Courtney and Sa’Rayah in the finals, she’ll need to do better to stand out. Grade: C.