Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Adam Levine is on fire on The Voice.

At this point, you have to wonder whether his team will run away from the competition.

Or whether it’s already met its quota of front-runners.

During the first two nights of Season 4, we’ve met some superb singers.

But the best two vocalists are probably the two who closed out the shows, Judith Hill and Sarah Simmons.

And on Tuesday we met the most entertaining act to audition so far, a duo called Midas Whale, which includes former American Idol contestant Jon Peter Lewis, who finished eighth way back in Season 3 and has released a solo EP and two solo albums since then.

Guess what? All three landed on Team Adam.

Of course, Midas Whale is going to have to overcome The Voice’s duet curse. A duo has never made it past the second round of the competition.

Here’s a look at the Night 2 auditioners, in the order I’d rank them.

And if you haven’t seen it, here are some originals from the artists we met Monday on The Voice. I plan to post a similar blog on the night two contestants tomorrow afternnnon.

Jon Peter Lewis, 32, and Ryan Hayes, 26, Rexburg, Idaho: They call the duo Midas Whale. Why? Because JPL, formerly of American Idol, asked him if he’d like to be in a duo. Ryan’s response: “Might as well” with an accent, translated as “Midas Whale.” They’ll going to sing “Folsom Prison Blues.” With JPL on the guitar and Ryan on an accordian. Hey, they’re original. They’re clearly out to have a good time. And they sound good together. Apparently the judges think so, too, because they all spin around, Usher, Blake, Adam and Shakira in that order. Shakira talks Spanish with JPL. Usher isn’t up to that challenge, but does call himself “numero uno.” And Midas Whale goes with Adam. They’ll be his first duo ever. By the way, JPL hasn’t lost the sense of humor he demonstrated on Idol. He notes that he and Ryan are both afraid of actual whales. Their reason for auditioning for The Voice — they heard Kate Middleton watches and hope to someday co-marry her. Grade: A–

Sarah Simmons, 22, Memphis, Tenn.: She’s studying music at Visible Music College in Memphis, and the president of the school let her leave college to audition for The Voice. Sarah says both of her parents performed music. She auditions with “One of Us.” And she sounds special from the word go. Adam and Shakira think so, too. Then her voice soars with the chorus and Usher and Blake join them, giving Sarah the night’s second four-chair turn-around. Very, very nice, from start to finish. Adam calls her incredible and says she can win the show. If she joins his team, of course. Blake says she might be in the top three singers he’s heard audition for the show. Shakira makes a good point about the versatility of Sarah’s vocals. And Sarah joins Team Adam, though she admits to being initially inclined to go with Blake. Grade: A–

Cathia, 19, Bronx, N.Y.: She says she’s proud of her Latin culture and hopes to share that on the show. Her mother moved to the U.S. from El Salvador at age 19 so her daughters could have a better life. “She made her own dreams come true, and that’s just a great example for me,” says Cathia. She interns at a recording studio in New York. She plans to audition with a Spanish song, “No Me Doy Por Vencido,” which means never give up. Regardless of the language, she’s got a really pretty tone to her voice. Usher and Shakira turn around before Cathia even hits the portion of the song where her voice soars. Blake’s reaction: “What’s she saying?” But he eventually decides to push his button anyway. And Cathia goes crazy at seeing Usher and Shakira facing her. And Cathia makes the sensible choice and joins Team Shakira. Nice pickup, because I’m with Blake. I didn’t understand a word she sang, but nearly every note sounded perfect. Grade: B+

Tawyna Reynolds, 32, Nashville: This New Mexico native describes herself as “country to the core” and says she wanted to head to Nashville at a very young age. So her parents did just that. And for the last 12 years, she’s been playing four to five times a week for “very little money.” She auditioned with “Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.” Really like the tone of her voice. Apparently, so do Adam and Shakira, because they spin around very early in Tawyna’s performances. They’re later joined by Usher. So the only judge not to turn around is the country judge Blake Shelton. And look at Shakira. She claims to be the most country of the other judges. After all, she plays the harmonica. She says she likes country music. And she pulls out a English to country dictionary and says, “I reckon that you’ll wanna join Team Shakira.” It works. After all, Tawyna, who’s been toiling in Nashville trying to land a record deal for years, says she might as well try something different. Audition grade: B

Josiah Hawley, 27, Fort Smith, Ark.: He says he started singing at his church at age 14. Sorry, ladies, this good looking young guy is married. He met his wife at church at 18 and they were married two years later. He attended the Belmont University School of Music to study voice, but has made his living modeling. He’s taking a risk, auditioning with Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning.” That amuses Blake, who spins around quickly, followed by Usher. By the end, Adam is also facing Joshiah. Not exactly my cup of tea, but he showed nice range and control on that song. Adam says there were moments that didn’t work for him, but he complimented Josiah on having “a great voice.” Josiah follows the crowd’s advice and joins Team Usher. Audition grade: B–

Abraham McDonald, 35, Los Angeles, Calif.: This big guy says he grew up very shy and wasn’t sure he could ever perform in front of an audience. That’s until his sister convinced him to try karaoke. He loved it. Later she encouraged him to join a karaoke competition. It turned out to be a competition on the Oprah Winfrey show. He won. Now he’s on The Voice, auditioned with “Best Thing I Never Had.” Wow, this guy has a high voice. Unfortunately, he can’t encourage any of the judges to turn around. Honestly, four singers in, that was the weakest audition of the night. Grade: C+

I’ll be posting meet the artist blogs for all of the advancing singers on The Voice, so watch for those in the future.