Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Voice hosted its semifinals Monday night.

That’s right: semifinals.

For the second straight season, the show is going from a Top 17 to a winner in just three weeks.

Host Carson Daly, Voice producers and the show’s superstar coaches can pretend that amounts to a legitimate singing competition.

But it doesn’t mean we need to agree or play along or not state the truth: That it’s a sham to think you can assemble this much talent and crown a legitimate winner based on so few performances.

Or follow with this truth: The Voice is a sad, sorry shadow of its former self. And not even a very good showcase for artists any more.

Then there’s this new stipulation — it started in the spring — that each coach MUST have a finalist.

So, let’s say, Ian Flanigan and Jim Ranger, both of Team Blake, wind up finishing first and second in the overnight voting.

Too bad. Only the top vote-getter automatically advances. In other words, a singer who finishes second in the overall voting COULD wind up needing an instant save to make the finals.

It’s one of the latest coach-centric moves on a show that cares way too much about its coaches and way too little about its singers.

But, hey, it comes from the same show that hosted a Christmas special last week and decided to air old clips rather than feature some of the excellent new holiday music its alumni have released in the past month.

Oh, well … song by song grades follow. And I’ll list them by team since this results format really means team members were going head to head Monday night.

TEAM BLAKE SHELTON

Ian Flanigan, “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan — So apparently this song choice was suggested by Kelly. And it’s almost certain to earn Ian a spot in the finale, since he pulled it off so well. Folks, Ian — not John Holiday — has the most pleasantly unique voice on Season 19. That’s a cover of “Angel” I’d gladly listen to over and over. The fact that Kelly suggested the song would be a bigger deal if it weren’t for this inane every-coach-gets-a-finalist format. Grade: A–

Jim Ranger, “Without You” by Nilsson — What the hell? The Voice has come up with some weird performance sets over the years — remember Melanie Martinez rowing a cardboard boat — but now producers have Jim standing on top of a big rock with stars racing by, lightning pulsing and flames raging. Somehow, he ignored it all and delivered an earnest performance capped by a soaring ending. It’s a performance worthy of a spot in the finals. Dang, but that’s right, there’s that inane every-coach-gets-a-finalist rule standing in the way. Grade: B+

TEAM GWEN STEFANI

Carter Rubin, “Rainbow Connection” from The Muppet Movie — Young Carter, just 15, wound up with Monday’s pimp spot. And he’s a cinch to make the finals for Team Gwen. Should he win the show? Not in my opinion. He’s got a great voice. Check out the ending to the performance below. He’s handled the pressure of The Voice very well for his age. But he also often sounds like what he is, a very young and still developing singer. Grade: B

Ben Allen, “All About Tonight” by Blake Shelton — Gwen thinks it would be funny if she won the show with a country singer singing one of Blake’s songs. Ain’t gonna happen. If she wanted it to, she should have picked “God’s Country.” Heck, “Ol’ Red” would have had a better chance of making an impact. Ben had a rowdy good time on stage and delivered an adequate vocal, but one look at tonight’s set list told you this would be one of the least memorable performances before Ben even stepped on stage. Grade: B–

TEAM JOHN LEGEND

Tamara Jade, “Let it Be” by The Beatles — I was thrilled to see Tamara get a chance to perform next to last after The Voice graced her teammate John Holiday with the pimp spot two straight weeks. She once again proved she’d be the best finalist from Team Legend. In fact, in my mind, she delivered the best vocal for the second straight week. She soared when she needed to, she changed the song just enough to keep it fresh and she delivered that wonderfully tender ending. Right now, she’d be my pick to win Season 19. Grade: A

John Holiday, “Fix You” by Coldplay — I’m torn by this performance. On one hand, John’s vocal talent is undeniable. Check out that glory note near the end of this performance. Impeccable. On the other hand, his performances are often so full of embellishments that they aren’t performances I’d want to hear over and over. Or even, necessarily, a second time. That was the case again tonight. Grade: B–

Bailey Rae, “Georgia on My Mind” by Ray Charles — Bailey Rae got last week’s instant save to earn a spot in the semifinals. This was the Ray Charles classic served up with way more twang than I care to hear. And I was left wondering if the singers had any impact at all into their semifinal song choices. If not, shame on The Voice. This was easily my least favorite of Monday’s solos. Grade: C

TEAM KELLY CLARKSON

Cami Clune, “The Joke” by Brandi Carlile — I love Cami’s tone and she sounded wonderful on the opening of this performance. But as the song went on, I got the feeling she was trying to do a bit too much with “The Joke” and might have benefitted from a slightly more subtle approach. Kelly called it the perfect song choice. Saying that doesn’t make it true. I was really loving Cami delivering upbeat dark pop like she had in the previous two rounds. Grade: B–

DeSz, “Don’t Let Go (Love)+ by En Vogue — DeSz announced her vocal presence with the opening line. And with an arrangement that allowed the background singers to carry the chorus while she ad libbed … well, she certainly got plenty of opportunities to show off her vocal firepower. And DeSz has vocal firepower to spare. It all added up to a powerful performance. Grade: B+

GROUP PERFORMANCES

John Holiday, Cami Clune and Bailey Rae, “Pompeii” by Bastille — Pretty sure this won’t be the performance any of the singers point to as their shining moment on The Voice. John never met a lyric that didn’t need a run. The song was all wrong for Bailey Rae’s voice. Even Cami sounded average — which she isn’t — on this song.

Tamara Jade, Ian Flanigan and Ben Allen, “Tulsa Time” by Don Williams — What’s Tamara Jade doing singing this song with a pair of country guys? Showing she came sing anything. Lighting up the stage in any situation. Stealing the spotlight. And demonstrating again why she should be the Season 19 favorite.

Desz, Carter Rubin and Jim Ranger, “Will It Go Round in Circles” by Billy Preston — A fun performance. Carter deserves credit for his stage presence. But it’s worth noting that Jim and DeSz did the heavy lifting vocally and were more impressive because of the character in their voices.

Who I want to see advance: Tamara, Ian, Jim and Cami.

Who should advance based on Monday’s performances: Tamara, Ian, Jim and DeSz.

Yep, I know that doesn’t follow the rules. But this every-coach-must-have-a-finalist rule is utter nonsense.

But, hey, this is The Voice.