Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Voice coaches, Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani and John Legend, will likely get to chose half the singers who advance this week. (NBC Photo)

The Voice is certainly a strange beast.

In Season 18, so few country singers were featured in the blind auditions, I would have sworn a memo went out to the casting department that read: “Book as few country singers as possible. They’ve become too dominant on this show.”

It didn’t work, of course. The most country of the finalists, Todd Tilghman, wound up winning.

For Team Blake, of course.

Flash forward to Season 19, and it doesn’t seem like the coaches can get enough country.

John Legend has his first country singer ever in Bailey Rae.

Gwen Stefani saved Ben Allen so she could add a country artist to her team.

Kelly Clarkson made a pair of questionable battle round decisions, advancing country singers Tanner Gomes and Madeline Consoer, a move that meant the elimination of impressive female pop singers Kelsie Watts and Marisa Corvo.

And three of the four remaining contestants from Team Blake have performed country music on the show.

Did The Voice merely throw up its hands and decide to give the fans what they want?

Or did producers decide the show would be more entertaining if every coach had a country singer to go head to head with Blake?

This week will determine how many of those country singers advance to the semifinals.

Oh, and that’s right, folks. This season’s voting round — just like the spring — will last just three weeks.

So much for thinking The Voice might stage a legitimate singing competition this fall. You can go from a Top 17 to a winner in three weeks if you want. In my mind, you can’t go from a Top 17 to a winner based on three performances and call it a legitimate singing competition.

How will this round work? If The Voice uses the same format as Season 18, the top vote-getter from each team will advance. Then each coach will have a chance to save one singer.

After that, the remaining high vote-getter from each team will sing for the first save of Season 19.

Here’s how the teams stack up entering Monday’s playoffs.

Team Blake

Jim Ranger
Ian Flanigan
Sid Kingsley
Worth the Wait

My hunch: The winner of the fan vote here will tell us a lot. Blake has been very high on the mother-daughter trio Worth the Wait, and they certainly were especially impressive in the knockout round. But Jim Ranger and Ian Flanigan are the type of male artists Voice fans love, and I won’t be surprised if either of them gets that automatic spot in the finals. The good news for Worth the Wait — my guess is that Blake will save them if they don’t advance automatically to add diversity to his semifinalists.

Team Kelly Clarkson

Cami Clune
Desz
Madeline Consoer
Tanner Gomes

My hunch: Cami Clune and Desz have been the most impressive from this quartet to date. Cami might need to win the fan vote to advance. She’s a new steal on Team Kelly. And Kelly will likely be tempted to save someone she’s worked with longer, every other member of her team has been there since the blinds. That’s especially if Desz is at risk.

Team Gwen

Carter Rubin
Joseph Soul
Payge Turner
Ben Allen

My hunch: Among this group, my guess is that Carter Rubin is the best bet to advance. The youngest singer on the show, he won me over with his knockout round performance. And Gwen is likely to save him if he doesn’t advance in the fan voting. The rest of the group is tough to judge since Ben was montaged in the battles and Joseph in the knockouts. Ben turned three chairs in the blinds, more than anyone else remaining on Team Gwen.

Team Legend

John Holiday
Bailey Rae
Tamara Jade
Chloe Hogan

My hunch: As I’ve written previously, John Holiday seems to be a show favorite. He will advance, by fan vote or coach’s save. And the semifinals would seem lacking if they didn’t include Tamara Jade, considering the way she’s performed to date. But what happens if neither she or John win the fan vote? Voice viewers have never shown enough appreciation for stellar female R&B voices.

Other candidates

Julia Cooper
Larriah Jackson
Ryan Gallagher
Taryn Papa

My hunch: I liked Julia’s performance the best in the four-way knockout, but will be surprised if she wins that fan vote. The more likely candidates are country powerhouse Taryn Papa or Ryan Gallagher, who got the pimp spot on Tuesday’s show. Only one will get to sing in Monday’s playoffs.