Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Update: Wow. Jermaine Paul? Really?

I’m not even sure what to write. I mean, if I were ordering the contestants in order of worthiness, I would have had him fourth.

Instead, he wins Season 2 of The Voice, followed by Juliet Simms, Tony Lucca and Chris Mann, in that order.

Congrats to Jermaine. He overcame what I thought was a pretty big obstacle, being forced to sing first on Monday’s two-hour performance show.

And it’s not as though we should be shocked by his popularity. He won his semifinal matchup by the widest public vote margin of the four finalists.

But I chalked that up the fact that he faced one of the least popular opponents. I honestly don’t recall a Jermaine performance I considered special.

My favorite of his Monday night performances was the “Soul Man” duet with mentor Blake Shelton, partly because of their camaraderie.

Well, Blake was right about one thing. His days as a backup singer are officially over.

Along with the Season 2 title, Jermaine gets a prize of $100,000 and a recording contract. Which means we’ll get a Jermaine album a few months from now, probably before Christmas.

Truth be told, we’ll probably get albums from all four of the finalists. At least that’s something Juliet Simms and Tony Lucca fans can look forward too.

As long as their sounds aren’t spoiled in an effort to be more commercial.

In the meantime, I think I’ll listen to a little Automatic Loveletter.

I need to after that outcome.

Live blog …

Wouldn’t it be ironic if Christina Aguilar’s peevishness helped Tony Lucca win Season 2 on The Voice?

I mean, Tony was pretty impressive all on his own Monday night. Borrowed or not, his take on “99 Problems” was the most unusual arrangement of a song by a finalist, the most buzz-worthy performance of the night.

And his fans loved it. When I checked at 2 p.m., it was number three on iTunes singles chart. When I checked at 8 p.m., it was still number four. Juliet Simms was Tony’s closest competitor earier in the day, checking in at number nine.

But Christina, of course, drew more attention to the performance by questioning Tony’s song choice, by calling it derogatory toward women.

Then she delivered another obvious slap after her team’s Chris Mann performed, calling him “a real man,” one who “respects women.”

I imagine Tony’s fans voted a little more vigorously after that.

Heck, I imagine some fans might vote for Tony just to spite Christina.

I might have, but I’m still hoping Juliet Simms wins this thing. I don’t believe you determine the winner of a show like this on one performance.

And, to my ears, she was the most impressive of the final four throughout the competition.

That said, if Tony won … well, I couldn’t be too upset. It would be fun watching Christina’s reaction.

Now, let’s segue into my pet peeve about last night’s show. And it wasn’t the duets, which turned out to be more enjoyable than I thought the would.

I was baffled by the show’s format. I mean, if you can call that a format.

First, Jermaine Paul sings his solo song, and he’s critiqued.

Then Juliet Simms sings a tribute to her coach. But we’re not supposed to consider that when voting.

Then Chris Mann and Christina Aguilera perform a duet. Oops, don’t count that either.

About an hour and a half later, Juliet shows up again to sing “Freebird,” her song that counts.

She goes last, but she’s contestant number two.

Huh? Who in the world drew up this set list?

Look, if only one performance was going to “count,” if voters were supposed to pay the closest attention to that song, then those should have been performed consecutively at the end of the show.

I’d argue that they should have ditched the tributes altogether and allowed each contestant to sing two songs for critiques, plus a duet with their mentor.

I mean, haven’t we heard enough of mentors praising contestants and vice versa over the course of The Voice Season 2? Sometimes it seems we hear more of that than of singing.

And the show begins …

*  We’ll hear from all of the finalists one last time tonight, as Jermaine sings “I Want You Back” with Jamar Rogers, Pip and James Massone.  Interesting.  Shame Jamar wound up one the same team as Juliet Simms.  I really preferred his performances to Jermaine’s over the course of the season.   But, hey, pretty nice  way to start off the show.

* Flo Rida performs next. And he’ll be joined by Juliet. They perform “Wild One.” Except it was mostly Flo Rida rapping, which means Juliet really didn’t get to go wild. Shame.

* Chris Mann will sing his final performance with Lindsey Pavao and Katrina Parker. They’ll sing “Bittersweet Symphony.” Well, I thought this had train wreck potential. Actually, it’s my favorite performance so far tonight. Strangely, it worked.

* Along with the current stars performing on The Voice tonight, someone decided it would be a good idea to invite Hall and Oates. They’re singing “Rich Girl,” accompanied by Chirs Mann, Tony Lucca and Jermaine Paul, who don’t get to do much. But apparently, you can sing the “b” word on national TV in this time slot.

* Now, “Superstition” by Nia Kete, Kim Yarbrough, Cheesa and Sera Hill.  Still a little surprised Kim didn’t do better.  Poor Nia doesn’t get to do reggae this time around, either.   Sera Hill sounded very good, though.  Cheesa?  I’m surprised she made it as far as she did on the show.

* Juliet is going to sing “With a Little Help From My Friends” with Erin Willett, RaeLynn and Jamar.  Loved that performance. Everyone got an opportunity to shine. And Juliet got a chance to go a little wild, at least vocally. Wow, what a note there near the end.

* Lady Antebellum takes the stage to perform “I Guess I Wanted You More.”  Not thrilled with this song.  Figure I’ll probably be less thrilled when Justin takes the stage though.

* Tony Lucca is going to sing “Go Your Own Way” with Jordis Unga.  I would love to see Tony perform this song with Juliet. They could absolutely slay it together.  Tony sounds great;  Jordis … just OK.  But I still prefer this to the Lady A. or Hall and Oates performance.

* Justin Bieber performs “Boyfriend.”  OK, this is worse than I imagined.  Bad news for Chris Mann, if this is what sells.

Whew, at long last, the performances are over.  Time for results.

In fourth place, Chris Mann.

In third place, Tony Lucca.

In second place, Juliet Simms.

And The Voice winner is Jermaine Paul.

Wow.