Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Twenty singers — five per team — advance to next week’s live playoffs on The Voice.

We already know the identity of 12 of those singers. Tonight, we’ll learn the final eight as the knockout round concludes.

Several top performers haven’t taken the stage yet, including Chris Jamison and Matt McAndrew of Team Adam, Anita Antoinette of Team Gwen, and one of my person Season 7 favorites, young Reagan James of Team Blake.

Blake’s also the only coach who has a steal remaining in this round of the competition. Here’s a hunch.

The Voice has been promoting the knockout round match between Anita and Craig Wayne Boyd, a former member of Team Blake stolen by Gwen Stefani. They both perform wonderfully.

Here’s betting Blake winds up stealing back his former singer.

So who has advanced and who still has to perform in this round?

Glad you asked. Here’s the team-by-team rundown.

Team Adam:

Advanced: Mia Pfirrman, Damien Lawson, Taylor Phelan (stolen from Team Pharrell)

Performs tonight: Chris Jamison, Rebeka Samarin, Blessing Offor, Matt McAndrew

Team Blake:

Advanced: James David Carter, Jessie Pitts

Performs tonight: Allison Bray, Taylor Brashears, Grant Ganzer, Reagan James

Team Gwen:

Advanced: Taylor John Williams, Bryana Salaz, Ricky Manning (stolen from Team Pharrell)

Performs tonight: Anita Antoinette, Craig Wayne Boyd, Ryan Sill, Beth Spangler

Team Pharrell:

Advanced: Elyjuh Rene, Luke Wade, DaNica Shirey, Sugar Joans (stolen from Team Gwen)

Performs tonight: Jean Kelley, Menlik Zergabachew

OK, a temporary internet outage prevented live blogging, but here’s the recap of tonight’s knockout round matches.

Taylor Brashears

Allison Bray

Allison Bray vs. Taylor Brashears: Returning contestant Allison Bray, 18, of Louisville, Ky., auditioned with Kacey Musgraves’ “Merry Go Round” and turned a trio of chairs. In the battle round, she defeated Fernanda Bosch, who turned two chairs with her blind audition. They sang Taylor Swift’s “Sparks Fly.” Taylor Brashears, 21, of Nashville, Tenn., decided to audition with the Loretta Lynn classic “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man).” She turned three chairs. In the battle round, she defeated Bree Fondacaro. They performed “You’re No Good” by Linda Ronstadt.

Blake has paired up his two female country singers, saying he can’t take them both to the live rounds, though I’m not sure why. Allison is singing “Sin Wagon” by the Dixie Chicks. And Taylor Swift is challenging Allison to be more carefree and more of a “total mess” during the performance, in the spirit of the show. Sassy Taylor Brashears will sing “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac, something of a change of pace for her. She wants to show off her “soft, smoky voice.” Allison gets to go first. Honestly, I’m having trouble making out the lyrics during that first verse. And Allison certainly cut loose vocally, especially with that belted-out ending. But I’m not sure she cut loose as much as Taylor Swift wanted in terms of performance. Taylor Brashears – why are there so many Taylor’s on this show – is delivering a fine country-tinged version of a Stevie Nicks’ classic. And she put an exclamation mark on a solid performance with a very nice ending. My pick: Taylor. Pharrell calls the match even. Gwen gives a slight edge to Taylor. Adam gives a slight edge to Allison. Blake’s pick: Taylor.

Ryan Sill

Beth Spangler

Ryan Sill vs. Beth Spangler: Ryan Sill, 20, of Sterling, Va., auditioned with OneRepublic’s “Secrets” and enticed two judges to turn their chairs. In the battle round, he defeated Jessie Pitts, also a two-chair turn recipient. They performed “I Need Your Love” by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding. Beth Spangler, 30, of Aiken, S.C., auditioned with Beyonce’s “Best Thing I Never Had.” She was the last four-chair turn recipient we met in Season 7 and joined Team Adam. She lost her battle round match to another four-chair turn recipient — Mia Pfirrman — but was saved by Gwen. They sang “I Turn to You” by Christina Aguilera.

Gwen says they both have a sweetness to their voices and they’re pop singers, so she thought they’d make a good match. Ryan is going to sing “Miss Independent.” Taylor calls his rehearsal “masculine but emotional.” Gwen wants him to show a little more swag. Beth is singing “Too Little, Too Late,” saying she wants to show off her sassy side. Gwen is working with Beth on not over-singing. Ryan goes first. He’s donned a leather jacket for this performance. More importantly, he’s displaying a really nice voice. He delivers a solid performance, and showed none of the nerves Gwen said he needed to shake when on stage. Beth started off a little slow, but soared once she hit that catchy chorus. I really like the tone of her voice. And she spent the rest of her performance repeating that chorus, showing off both the power and the finesse in her vocals. My pick: Beth. Adam gives a slight edge to Ryan. Pharrell and Blake think the knockout match was dead even. Gwen’s pick: Ryan.

Menlik Zergabachew

Jean Kelley

Menlik Zergabachew vs. Jean Kelley: Menlik Zergabachew, 19, of Silver Spring, Md., performed Sublime’s “Santeria” as his audition song. He’s the reggae singer who turned a pair of chairs with that performance and joined Team Gwen. He lost his battle-round match to Troy Ritchie; they sang “Maneater” by Hall and Oates. But both Pharrell and Adam tried to steal Menlik. He went with Pharrell. Jean Kelley, 29, of Nashville, Tenn., auditioned with the Kelly Clarkson hit “Already Gone.” She turned a pair of chairs very late in that performance. She and Sugar Joans turned in one of the best Season 7 battles, singing “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child. Sugar won the battle, but Jean wound up being stolen by Pharrell.

Yep, Pharrell has matched his two stolen contestants against one another. Jean is going to sing “Chandelier” by Sia. Jean says she’s determined to deliver a sad, emotional performance of the song. During rehearsal, she blows away both Pharrell and Taylor. Menlik is going to sing “Could You Be Loved” by Bob Marley and says he picked the song because it will allow him to do complete reggae. Pharrell and Taylor are working with Menlik on opening up to the audience. Come performance time, he’s still closing his eyes as he sings, a point his coaches were trying to work with him on. But he’s showing off a unique tone, though that song was a bit shy on the vocal fireworks that often pay big dividends on this show. Jean was involved in one of the best battle round performances, and she’s turning in another stellar performance here. Wow, that was filled with power and emotional and vocal prowess. My pick: Jean, by a mile. Gwen called Jean’s performance “intense” and “haunting.” She compliments Menlik on his growth as a performer. Blake gives a slight edge to Menlik. Pharrell’s pick: Jean.

Chris Jamison

Blessing Offor

Blessing Offor vs. Chris Jamison: Chris Jamison, 20, of Pittsburgh, Pa., auditioned with John Mayer’s “Gravity.” He turned all four chairs, then won a battle round match with another four-chair turn recipient, Jonathan Wyndham. During the battle, they performed “Young Girls” by Bruno Mars.
Blessing Offor, 25, of New York, sat at his keyboard and auditioned with Bill Withers’ “Just the Two of Us.” He turned four chairs and joined Team Pharrell. He lost his battle round match to Katriz Trinidad; they performed “Do I Do” by Stevie Wonder. Adam and Gwen tried to steal Blessing; he joined Team Adam.

Adam says they’re both soulful singers and deserve the challenge they will represent to one another. Blessing is going to sing John Mayer’s “Your Body is a Wonderland,” saying he doesn’t want to be categorized just as the guy who sings R&B. Adam isn’t certain the song offers enough vocal moments for a show like The Voice. Chris will sing Otis Redding’s “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.”
Both Adam and Taylor are impressed with his rehearsal. I could do with fewer weird facial expressions from Chris, but he just delivered a very solid vocal. Oh, yeah, he showed off just a little vocal range in that performance, too. Blessing turned in a very nice performance too, one that was solid from the word go. And for a song that didn’t offer a ton of opportunities for vocal fireworks, he worked in plenty of wrinkles. My pick: Chris. Gwen compliments the way both singers put their own twist on the songs they sang. Only Pharrell offers an opinion on who won; he said he’d give the match to Chris. Adam’s pick: Chris.

In a knockout we don’t get to see …

Matt McAndrew advances on Team Adam over Rebekah Samarin, singing “Drops of Jupiter.” Oh, by the way, that’s the third time Rebekah sang on the show, and we haven’t gotten to hear her yet.

Grant Ganzer

Reagan James

Reagan James vs. Grant Ganzer: Reagan James, 15, of Burleson, Texas, auditioned with Ed Sheeran’s “Give Me Love,” turned a pair of chairs and deserved better. In the battle round, she defeated Kensington Moore, who turned one chair with her blind audition. They sang Lorde’s “Team.” Grant Ganzer, 16, of Johnston, Iowa, auditioned with “Unaware” by Allen Stone. Blake Shelton was the only coach to turn around for his performance. In the battle round, he went up against John Martin, a three-chair turn recipient, and scored an upset victory. They performed OneRepublic’s “Stop and Stare.”

Blake notes that these are the youngest remaining members of his team. He’s pitted them together so he can decide which one if more prepared to handle the pressure of the live rounds. Grant will sing “Apologize” by OneRepublic, and Blake likes the fact that he selected such a difficult song for the knockout round. Taylor is encouraging him to tap into the darkness of the lyrics. Reagan is going to sing “Hit Em Up Style.” Taylor calls her “freakish” in the way she knows exactly what to do on stage. Reagan goes first. I agree with Taylor; the maturity this young lady shows on stage is way beyond her 15 years. Everything she does on stage just seems so natural. Add a really great voice, and I think you’ve got one of the top threats on Team Blake. That said, there were just a couple moments when her vocal got away from her. But Grant isn’t going to go down without a fight. He just delivered an emotional performance of “Apologize.” My pick: Reagan. Pharrell says he’d give the battle to Reagan. Adam says he likes Reagan’s confidence. Blake says he thinks Reagan is special in that she can take any song and make it her own. Blake’s pick: Reagan.

Craig Wayne Boyd

Anita Antoinette

Anita Antoinette vs. Craig Wayne Boyd: Anita Antoinette, 24, of Boston, Mass., auditioned with Bob Marley’s “Turn Your Lights Down Low.” She turned four chairs. During the battle round, she defeated Mayra Alvarez, who turned two chairs in the blinds. They sang Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now.” Craig Wayne Boyd, 35, of Nashville, Tenn., auditioned with Travis Tritt’s “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin’.” He turned a pair of chairs. He lost his Team Blake battle round match to four-chair turn recipient James David Carter. But after a solid performance of Pat Green’s “Wave on Wave,” he was stolen by Gwen.

This pairing makes no sense, of course. I mean, a reggae singer against a country-southern rocker? Anita plans to sing “Rude.” Taylor likes the playful approach Anita takes to her performances. Gwen is encouraging her to be even a little more animated on stage. Craig Wayne is going to sing Marshall Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See,” saying he wants to show off his gospel roots. Gwen wants him to change his look; Taylor wants him to put more emotion in what he’s singing. Anita goes first. Love her outfit. Better yet, love her performance. She clearly followed the direction she got from Taylor and Gwen. And love her voice. That was a solid performance. Craig Wayne Boyd takes the stage next, and I just know he’s going to deliver. He wanted to show off his gospel roots, and he certainly is doing that during this performance. And he punctuated it with an excellent ending. My pick: Craig Wayne Boyd. Adam called Craig’s performance a “turbo masculine performance.” Blake calls his performance “unbelievable.” Pharrell liked the way Anita kept jabbing the audience with unexpected vocal skills. Gwen calls Anita’s improvement “shocking.” Gwen’s pick: Anita.

But hold on, Blake still has a steal and steals back Craig Wayne Boyd, who started the season on his team.