Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Here’s hoping that you like The Voice with a strong touch of twang.

Because we’re likely to hear an awful lot of country music tonight.

Four of the six acts remaining on the show are country artists, and Blake Shelton hasn’t felt the need for his singers to stray far from their chosen genre.

And Adam Levine would be wise to follow his example with Amber Carrington.

After all, he lost two of his three artists last week and the only one remaining is … that’s right, a country singer.

We already have a twist. Only one artist is going home this week on The Voice, allowing five to advance to next week, allowing three to make the finals.

Holly Tucker

1. Holly Tucker: How often are they going to make Holly sing early in the show? At least once more apparently. Blake has given her Martina McBride’s “When God Fearing Women Get the Blues,” since she did so well showing attitude on “Done” last week. Holly assures Blake she has attitude to spare. If she wants to summon up more, she might want to reflect on having to open a two-hour show again. But Holly’s ripping into this song, delivering the solid vocal we’ve come to expect and starting the show on an upbeat note. Seems like her confidence has grown since Season 4 began. That was a heck of a note she unleashed there at the end, too. Blake calls it his favorite Holly performance of the season. Grade: B

Michelle Chamuel

2. Michelle Chamuel: Usher, who shows up wearing Michelle glasses again, has Michelle singing “Somewhere Only We Know.” It’s an emotional ballad. Given recent performances, I have no doubt Michelle will sell it well. Michelle should benefit from the fact that she’s a change of pace on a show filled with country singers, not to mention the fact that she seems to be growing on viewers. I was about to question the song choice, because it didn’t seem to be going anywhere. But then Michelle drove home an emotional ending. Usher says he wanted a song that would show off Michelle’s vulnerability and thinks she succeeded in doing just that. I’m just wondering if it’s a performance folks will remember by the end of a two-hour show. Grade: B

Colton and Zach Swon

3. The Swon Brothers: OK, now we switch to an artist’s pick. Zach and Colton have decided to sing “Wagon Wheel,” a current song because they say they want to be current. Then they reflect on their days working at the Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame, dreaming that they’d be doing more than working there one day. They’re joined on stage by a half-dozen saloon gals. Their antics on the bar in the background are just a wee bit distracting. But back to the issue at hand, The Swon Brothers. The performance brings Blake to his feet, but I’m not sure that was their finest performance. Hmm, no more than I type that, Adam calls that his favorite Swon Brothers performance. Oh, well, I still think they were slightly out of sync a couple of times. But Blake likes how unique his duo is. Grade: B–

Sasha Allen

4. Sasha Allen: Another artist’s pick. She’s decided to sing Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way.” She calls it her mother’s favorite song. And she confesses that no one else in her family sings. In fact, her mother is the principal at her daughter’s school. Again, I was going to criticize the song choice as too boring for Top 6 night, until Sasha started taking us to church midway through the song with all sorts of vocal gymnastics. Thing is, she’s turned on the vocal gymnastics before to what has amounted to a shrug of the shoulders by viewers at home. Usher calls it one of her best performances. Adam calls it her best. Shakira compliments Sasha on her cinematic voice and poses a question: Who else in the competition could pull off that song? Nobody, someone from the audience shouts. Which is probably true. My prediction: Viewers are going to shrug their shoulders again. That was my least favorite performance tonight. Grade: C+

Danielle Bradbery

5. Danielle Bradbery: A coach’s choice — Blake will have Danielle sing another Pam Tillis song, “Shake the Sugar Tree.” Hmm, never heard of this song. He picked it because she did so well with Pam’s “Maybe it Was Memphis.” Not sure this is going to come off quite as well. Danielle sounds fine, though there were a couple of instances where she seemed to have trouble squeezing all the lyrics in. Not a big fan of that song selection. And that was probably my least favorite Danielle performance. But she’s getting the usual round of compliments from the coaches. Blake tells us we’re seeing the birth of a star. Grade: B–

Amber Carrington

6. Amber Carrington: In my rank the Top 6 blog, I suggested Shakira might want to have Sasha sing rock. Not surprising that Adam knows his Voice history a bit better. If you have a powerhouse female singer in need of a moment, serving up a classic rock song might do the trick. He has Amber singing “I’ll Remember You” from Skid Row. Ah, not quite what I had in mind. She’s taking a power ballad and spinning it country. Hey, the Swon Brothers got saloon girls; Amber gets fire. I wish I could say her vocals were setting the stage on fire, but it seemed like she was shouting through much of the song. Not my favorite Amber Carrington vocal, for sure. Adam compliments her on her willingness to take risks. Not sure that was a risk that will pay off. Grade: C+

The Swon Brothers

7. The Swon Brothers: Blake has come up with a smart song choice — “Okie from Muskogee,” the Merle Haggard classic. With folks rallying around Oklahoma, why not? Hmm, they’ve changed up the performance order for round two. Only fair, frankly. Amber’s gotten to close far too often; Holly’s been forced to open far too often. Back to The Swon Brothers: That was a fun performance that I predict will do well on iTunes tomorrow. Not sure that was the best vocal we’ve seen tonight, but Blake predicts 10 percent of viewers will hate that song performance and it will “smack” 90 percent right in the heart. Well, I don’t feel smacked in the heart. But it did make me smile, so I guess that’s considered a success. Grade: B

Holly Tucker

8. Holly Tucker: Her song choice is a Rascal Flatts’ tune, “My Wish.” She says the song reminds her of her dad, whom she started performing with as a young girl. Holly gets a big lighthouse to perform in front of. And she’s turning in an impassioned performance, delivers another of those big glory notes she likes to end with but … nope, didn’t like that song choice either. In fact, that’s probably my new least favorite of the night. And might put Holly in a bit of trouble because she’s the singer who most needed a moment tonight, at least in my mind, to boost herself above at least one of the other country acts still on the show. Grade: C

Michelle Chamuel

9. Michelle Chamuel: Her pick is Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.” And Taylor visits rehearsal and gives Michelle’s version of the song her seal of approval. Love this song choice. Current. Borderline country. And after a solid opening, Michelle goes crazy on the ending from “trouble” on. I mean, really crazy and exuberant and over the top and all sorts of great things. That was the performance of the night. Remember, she picked the song. And then she pulled it off. Sorry, I have trouble believing this young woman is shy and socially awkward. Wow, and listen to the response from the crowd. Someone woke them up. And that someone was Michelle. Grade: A

Amber Carrington

10. Amber Carrington: She’s looking for her big country moment. And she’s decided to try for it by singing Patsy Cline’s “Crazy.” They joke that it’d be funny to have a camera on Blake’s face throughout the song to see his reaction. She starts off spot on, and she remained spot on throughout the performance. A very, very nice vocal from a gal who’s been asked to sing a wide diversity of music over the course of Season 4. And that should earn Amber another week on the show. Not flashy. Just a very fine vocal on a classic song. Blake’s reaction: He considers the song sacred territory, but compliments Amber on pulling it off. Grade: B+

Danielle Bradbery

11. Danielle Bradbery: She’s selected “A Little Bit Stronger” and says the song reminds her of her sister, who went through a breakup and came out stronger. This seems to be more in Danielle’s sweet spot than her song from earlier tonight. She has such a really pure country voice. Usher said he thought he spotted nerves in round one. There were no nerves on that performance. And, wow, what a big ending for the 16-year-old. Perhaps the biggest finish we’ve heard tonight. I think it’s safe to say Danielle doesn’t have a thing to worry about tomorrow night. Or probably next week either. She’s finals bound. Grade: B+

Sasha Allen

12. Sasha Allen: So, the singer probably most in need of a boost gets to close the show. And Shakira serves up Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats.” Love this song choice. Shakira tells Sasha to bring New York ticked-off to the song. Wonder if throwing off the red cloak to reveal a sexy black outfit was Shakira’s idea? Wonder if Sasha ever thought she’d be singing this song? Whatever, it worked. Sasha stalked the stage. Sasha showed lots of sass. Sasha probably delivered her most crowd-pleasing performance to date. Blake’s reaction: What guy wouldn’t like it when a girl tears her dress off on stage? Shakira compliments Sasha for working the stage like a star. Grade: A–