Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Bryce Leatherwood performs for the save Tuesday night on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

When Blake Shelton saved Rowan Grace instead of Bryce Leatherwood Tuesday night, two thoughts popped into my mind.

Option 1: The Voice, with a cast featuring a couple of ultra-talented male alternative artists, had decided to sabotage its only male country singer before he could gain traction with the show’s sizeable country blocking block.

If you think that’s an outlandish notion, check out the dearth of country singers on The Voice some seasons. Aspiring country artists aren’t THAT hard to find, folks.

Option 2: Blake just made a strategically shrewd move designed to advance every member of his team.

Because as the show’s only male country artist, Bryce had a hell of a lot better chance of nabbing the instant save than Rowan, whose hometown fans in South Dakota wouldn’t even be watching the show when she needed the save.

Whatever the motive, the decision wound up working for Blake, Rowan and Bryce.

Forced to sing first once the instant save round began, Bryce performed “Let Me Down Easy” by Billy Currington and advanced to the Top 13.

That meant the elimination of Sasha Hurtado of Team Legend, Kevin Hawkins of Team Gwen and Kate Kalvach of Team Camila.

Blake wound up being the only coach to save a stolen artist over an original member of his team.

Forced to decide which artist to put at risk, Gwen Stefani and Camila Cabello saved Alyssa Witrado and Eric Who, respectively, in highly questionable decisions considering their Monday night performances.

Meanwhile, Kim Cruse needed John Legend’s save in spite of an outstanding performance Monday.

Here’s a team by team look at what went down.

Team Blake: Bodie and Braden Lape were voted through. Blake then pulled a shocker and chose to save Rowan.

Team Legend: Parijita Bastola and Omar Cardona were voted through. John saved Kim, who deserved to be voted through.

Team Gwen: Kique and Justin were voted through. Gwen decided to save Alyssa. That’s was bit of a surprise given her subpar performance Monday.

Team Camila: Morgan Myles and Devix were voted through. Camila then saved Eric.

The save performances

Bryce Leatherwood (Team Blake), “Let Me Down Easy” — Grade: C+

Sasha Hurtado (Team Legend), “Elastic Heart” — Grade: B–

Kevin Hawkins (Team Gwen), “Redbone” — Grade: C+

Kate Kalvach (Team Camila), “When I Look at You” — Grade: B+

tags: Morgan Myles, Devis, Kate Kalvach, Eric Who, Bryce Leatherwood, Bodie, Braden Lape, Rowan Grace, Alyssa Witrado, Justin Aaron, Kique, Kevin Hawkins, Kim Cruse, Parijita Bastola, Omar Cardona, Sasha Hurtado, The Voice