Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Host Carson Daly with the coaches of The Voice, Niall Horan, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and Chance the Rapper. (NBC Photo)

By this point, fans of The Voice have come to the realization that they’ll only get to vote twice in Season 23.

Here’s the other twist. Voting in Monday’s semifinals will be live, with results announced at the end of the show.

Typically, The Voice has featured overnight voting on performance night, with the outcome announced on a results show the next night.

But fans who want to have a say in who will be part of the Season 21 finale will have to tune in live and cast their votes between 8 p.m. and whenever voting closes during the show.

The good news is that we won’t have to listen to host Carson Daly asking contestants insipid questions on results night.

And there won’t be a twitter save, redoing hours and hours of voting the night before.

Still, I think live voting for the Season 23 Top 8 is a bad idea for a couple of reasons.

Reason #1: We don’t know these singers well enough.

Think about it: Ryley Tate Wilson is in the semifinals after performing just two solos and one duet on the show. Ditto for D. Smooth.

When viewers got to see them perform Monday night, it was their first appearance on the show in more than a month.

Heck, the other contestants have only performed four times total, including one duet.

So, was Ryley Tate’s wonderful version of Billie Eilish’s “When the Party’s Over” something he can replicate? Same question for Gina Miles. Because if she’s as good as her version of “Wicked Game,” she’s a potential champ.

Voice viewers can’t wait to find out before voting. They’ll almost certainly have to start voting before they’ve heard all of Monday’s performances.

Reason #2: Live voting gives a huge edge to contestants from the East Coast time zone and puts those who aren’t at a huge disadvantage.

Gina’s from Sacramento, Calif. Ray Uriel is from Tempe, Ariz. Fans from their hometowns will be voting between 5 and 7 p.m. local time.

How big a disadvantage is that? Well, just check out West Coasters’ success when going for a live Twitter save on The Voice. I stopped counting with it was something like 0-11. In other words, 11 West Coast contestants had competed for a Twitter save, zero had won.

American Idol features live voting too. But that’s on a Sunday, not when viewers are just getting home from work or still on their commute home.

And there’s another big difference. American Idol contestants had already performed three solos and one duet on the show before voting began. That’s as often as Voice contestants have performed all season.

Since voting began, they’ve performed seven more solos and another duet (which I think makes it pretty clear which show is the better showcase for aspiring musicians). Bottom line: Idol fans have well-established favorites; Voice fans are still getting to know its contestants.

So chalk live voting as another stupid Season 23 development on The Voice. Because why not pile one on top of another.

I mean, you round up an incredibly talented group of singers, then hand them a ridiculous new gimmick (the playoff pass) in a ridiculously shortened season (just two lives shows) and you rob fans of the chance to have a say in who makes the semifinals for the first time ever.

Then, when you finally let fans vote, make it as inconvenient as possible for those not watching the show on East Coast time.

Makes lots of sense, right?

Here’s what makes more.

This is Blake Shelton’s last season on The Voice.

If this is the best NBC and Voice producers can do, it should be the show’s last season too.