Idol Chatter & Voice Views

 

The Voice has unveiled a new twist for the Season 9 live playoffs.

And this one is a wonderful idea, unlike the instant save and the Season 7 wild card experiment, both of which just seem downright gimmicky.

When those live playoffs open Monday night, each coach will be allowed to bring back one team member previously eliminated from the competition.

That potentially corrects a major flaw in the battle round and knockout round process. Those performances are filmed weeks before they are aired.

That means coaches don’t have the ability to factor in how well a contestant is doing on iTunes when they decide who to keep and who to send home.

The problem has never been more glaring than in Season 9. As I reported in a blog I posted this morning, 12 contestants cracked the iTunes Top 200 during the blind auditions. Seven of the 12 have already been eliminated.

Who should be brought back?

Here are my opinions, based on the presumption the singer will have to have performed for the coach who brings them back.

Please feel free to post your opinions below.

Team Adam: If we’re to take this new twist seriously, if we’re supposed to regard it as more than a gimmick, there’s only one choice here: Andi & Alex. The twins from Green Bay were absolutely tearing up iTunes compared to everyone else on the show through the first two rounds, and I’m pretty sure it’s not because their pre-Voice band — She the Monster — was widely known. Given the lack of success duos have enjoyed on The Voice, you can sorta understand Adam’s decision to advance Blaine Mitchell instead in the knockout round. But with this opportunity at hand, Adam has absolutely no excuse if he doesn’t bring them back.

Team Blake: Blake started the battle round with five four-chair-turn singers on his team. Along the way, four were eliminated: Blind Joe, Krista Hughes, Dustin Christensen and Chris Crump. Now, if you’re Blake, don’t you want to give your team at least a little diversity? I mean, four of his five singers in the live playoffs are country artists. For that reason, I’d lean toward Dustin Christensen, who delivered three very solid performances before his elimination as a member of Team Adam. It’s tough to judge Chris Crump, since The Voice opted not to air his knockout round performance.

Team Gwen: She should definitely bring back the blue-haired one, meaning Ellie Lawrence. Before she was eliminated due in part to an ill-suited song choice, Ellie struck a chord with her unique look, her unique sound and, most of all, her performance of “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off,” one of the most successful Season 9 covers on iTunes to date. If Gwen bypasses Ellie for some insane reason, Lyndsey Elm would be my second choice. She, without a shadow of a doubt, was the better performer in her battle round with Braiden Sunshine, yet didn’t win.

Team Pharrell: What I’d like to see happen won’t. That’s the return of Sydney Rhame. Her blind audition performance was one of my favorites. Her battle round cover of “Riptide” with Madi Davis is outstanding. But Pharrell probably considers her too similar to Madi to have both on his team. If that’s the case, how about Siahna Im? She had a bit of an off night in the knockouts, but that followed two very strong performances. And Pharrell has had lots of success with singers who are young and different in the past.

Keep checking back. I’ll have more on the upcoming live playoffs between now and Monday.