Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blake Shelton landed a singer who turned four chairs and 10 singers nabbed spots on Season 15 of The Voice Monday night.

The four-chair turn went to Kirk Jay, a 22-year-old country singer from Alabama.

His decision to join Team Blake leaves each coach with one four-chair turn – Sandy Redd for Kelly Clarkson, Kennedy Holmes for Jennifer Hudson and DeAndre Nico for Adam Levine.

As for where the teams stand, Blake and Jennifer have each landed 10 artists; Adam and Kelly each have nine.

Unless team sizes have been reduced, that leaves a lot of work for The Voice to accomplish in Tuesday’s one-hour blind audition episode.

If each coach gets 12 artists, that means 10 more spots have to be filled and Tuesday’s show could be filled with montages.

And that would be a shame since The Voice has managed to make it through Season 15 without montaging anyone so far.

A recap from Monday. Oh, and the links lead to bios of the artists.

One Up: This is a duo, made up of Adam Bastien, 36, and Jerome Bell, 35, both reside in New York. They met on a video shoot where Jerome played the role of Adam’s love interest. They’re also a couple now, and their first date was at Central Park. Adam says his parents are supportive of his relationship with Jerome. Jerome says the audition will be the first time their families have come together. Jerome also says The Voice audition will mark their first time performing on stage together. They’re going to sing “Could It Be We’re Falling in Love.” The opening is actually a bit shaky. And it might be good that the coaches can’t see the choreography. But both guys are showing off fine voices and nice range. At about the one minute mark, Blake, Jennifer and Kelly turn simultaneously. Jerome says Motown is music that’s timeless and that’s the music they’d like to do. Kelly says On Up is proof love can happen anywhere. Blake points out that he has proven success with duos on The Voice, having guided The Swon brothers to the Season 4 finals. On Up opts to go with Team Kelly.

Natalie Brady, 33, Nashville, Tenn.: She’s the mother to two children, an 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son. She makes her living playing music in Nashville and says it’s a bit grueling raising two children and singing long shifts for tips at night. But she wants her children to see their mother doing what she loves and shining on stage. Natalie launches into an energetic version of “Barracuda.” Her big voice and vocals prompts a quick chair turn from Adam Levine. Jennifer Hudson joins him near the end of the song. Adam says Natalie should have been a four-chair turn. He says the rock and roll community needs Natalie. Jennifer says her voice is like on oncoming train and she could sing “the clouds out of heaven.” Natalie joins Team Adam.

Hannah Blaylock, 31, Arkansas: At age 19, she started a band that signed a major record deal and had her songs on the radio. She had to give the band up for some reason she doesn’t explain. But the band did tour with Rascal Flatts at one point. And Blake Shelton. She’s eager to show the voice she’s created on her own. She’s auditioning with “Baby Now That I’ve Found You.” Interesting tone, but I’m not sure this is a very good audition song. Nope, the song ends without a chair turn, which makes Hannah a candidate for the Comeback Stage. NEED TO CHECK THIS!!!!! Oh, if you’re wondering, Hannah’s former band was Edens Edge, which was signed to Big Machine Records. They scored a Top 20 hit with a song called “Amen,” but the group split up in 2013.

Mike Parker, 23, Gainesville, Va.: He says football was his life in high school, and he had 13 scholarships in front of him. But his grades were crap and he lost them all because he didn’t want to pay attention in class. He now operates heavy machinery. But he says he still felt a void and filled it with music. He gigs and does open mics, working for a chance like this. He auditions with “So Sick.” This is a spotty audition, but Mike sings with a lot of passion. At the very last second, Jennifer turns around, giving Mike a spot on the show. She says she loved that Mike didn’t give up during his audition and kept pushing for a chair turn.

Joey Green, 35, Crowley, Texas: He runs a t-shirt screen printing business out of his kitchen. He considers his genre post-Americana. His sister died at age 41 of a heart attack. That’s been tough, because she was always a big supporter of his. And he says in homage to her, he feels he should take every opportunity that comes across the table. He’ll audition with “Baba O’Riley,” and says his sister would have loved his song choice because she loved when he would sing rock and roll. Joey is turning in an impressive performance, but the coaches aren’t turning. Then Jennifer Hudson and Blake Shelton do, at the last minute. Jennifer says Joey’s voice deserves to be “on this stage” even though he’s not in her lane. Joey says he’s more of a country songwriter and Americana singer. Blake compliments the range and raspy-ness in his voice. Joey decides to join Team Blake.

Zaxai, 29, Brooklyn: He’s first generation American-Jamaican. His family moved from Haiti to give him a better life. His father is a chef and manager. His mom is a nurse. He works at Radio City Music Hall in addition to being in a wedding band, singing at a Russian restaurant and singing in a Jamaican band. He was working as an usher at a Kelly Clarkson concert when she kicked him in the back of the head. He’ll sing “Come and Get Your Love” and his range immediately prompts a chair turn from Jennifer. Dang, this guy’s got a good voice. Kelly turns too, only to find she’s been blocked by Jennifer. No one else turns, so Zaxai will be Team JHUD. Jennifer says he has a beautiful voice. Zaxai also shows off his dance moves.

Erika Zade, 20, Miami: Her dad is a classical guitarist, and whenever visitors came over his dad would pull out his guitar and the family would sing. She says growing up in a Cuban family, she was surrounded by music. She calls her music dark soul pop. And she says Cuban’s are naturally sassy, so she has no trouble with delivering the sass in her auditions song, “New Rules.” Hey, I immediately love this young woman’s voice. She earns a mid-performance chair turn from Kelly Clarkson. But she winds up being the only coach to do so. Kelly loves the attitude in her voice. The best part about that post-audition chat –Erika shares a story of meeting Blake and passing him her demo CD after one of his shows. He signed it and passed it to someone else. Blake’s explanation: There’s a good chance I was drinking that day.

Jarred Matthew, 31, San Diego: He works on NASA telescopes. We also meet his wife Cristina; they met in middle school band. But their work, kept them apart for seven years. Music helped him get through that period when they were forced to be apart. In spite of his science career, he says he’s trying The Voice because “when you talk about things that make you happy, music has always been that for me.” He sings “Tired of Being Alone.” And he coaxes an almost immediate chair turn from Adam Levine. Blake turns as well. Blake says the excitement in his voice was contagious. Adam says Jarred needs help with his falsetto, and says he can help him with that. Jarred has a PhD in astrophysics. Jarred opts for Team Adam.

Sam Robbins, 21, Portsmouth, N.H.: When he was 12, he started a punk band with his friends. That’s what he wanted to do with his life. But eventually he learned he could sing and now has a love of 1970s singer-songwriter music. He now does about 200 shows a year, but is looking for something to sort of “elevate me.” He’ll sing “Time in a Bottle” for his audition. He about to graduate college and says he doesn’t want to waste this moment “because I’m not good at anything else.” There’s something wrong with the sound mix here. Sam also sounds very nervous. He’s not going to get a chair, but he’ll be a candidate for the Comeback Stage. Yep, he’s been selected for the Comeback Stage, which means Hannah Blaylock is out.

Colton Smith, 21, Albertville, Ala.: He grew up in Alabama and says growing up gay was tough there. Still, he says he has a slew of friends and family who still support him. He says music was like therapy for him when he was growing up. He’s singing “Alive” by Sia for his blind audition because it’s about perseverance. And he gets Jennifer to turn, and she’s who he was hoping for. She’s the only one to turn, so he becomes Team Jennifer. Adam says Colton looks “trippy” and predicts he’ll do “great things.” Jennifer says he sang “Alive” but she gave him “life.” She also says she loves Colton’s showmanship.

Kayley Hill, 28, Nashville, Tenn.: She says she can be Suzy homemaker on steroids and loves building things, but she’s also been performing around Nashville with her original music. She auditions with “Gold Dust Woman,” sounds great and gets a chair turn form Blake Shelton, but no one else. Very surprising. But she and Blake could make a very good match.

Kirk Jay, 22, Bay Minette, Ala.: He grew up in a two-bedroom trailer where he left on a couch. He says there were lots of days where there wasn’t enough food or no electricity. He now sings in a country band, which is the music he was raised on. He says he’s not the type to put on a cowboy hat and boots, but loves the sound. He’s auditioning with “Bless the Broken Road.” Blake Shelton turns midway through the performance. He’s followed by Adam. At the very end, Jennifer and Kelly turn too. Kirk just became the fourth four-chair turn of Season 15. Kelly liked his soulful vocal. Asked what type of record he wants to make, Kirk responds: “Country til the day I die.” Adam says he’d like to see Kirk on Blake’s team. Kirk says his audition song was the first country song he ever heard as he was riding to school. Kirk decides to join Team Blake.