Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The knockout round begins on The Voice tonight.

That’s good news for two reasons.

First, no more forced duets, which has always seemed to me an odd way to determine the fate of artists who are trying to forge solo careers.

Second, contestants will get to select their own songs. In talking to some of The Voice contestants last week, it was clear they weren’t familiar with — or in some cases — very fond of the battle round songs they were given.

Of course, there’s bad news, too. The arrival of the knockout round means the arrival of Miley Cyrus on our TV screens. That’s never a good thing in my opinion. Everything about Miley — including her voice — is annoying.

For more on my thoughts on Miley as an adviser and as a coach for Season 11 of The Voice, head here.

Now it’s time for the knockouts.

Team Blake

Paxton Ingram

Angie Keilhauer

The background: Paxton has decided to sing “Hometown Glory” by Adele. He’s the former dancer who’s background is in music. Blake warns that Adele can be dangerous for singers on the show, but thinks Paxton can pull it off. Angie is going to perform Sam Hunt’s “Take Your Time.” Blake warns that half the song is talking and covering it could be tough.

The knockout: I really like Angie’s original music, but Blake might have been right about the song choice — the opening, several precious seconds of screen time, were wasted with a spoken intro. Once Angie got to the chorus, she sounded very good. Because he’s a guy singing Adele, he’s likely to avoid such harsh comparisons. Dang, Paxton just turned in a really nice vocal, filled with emotion. Pharrell says Paxton should win.

My pick: Paxton. His vocal was just more impressive. Angie was hurt by her song choice.

Blake’s pick: Paxton advances to the live playoffs.

The steal: There isn’t one. Angie is eliminated.

Team Adam

Owen Danoff

Ryan Quinn

Background: Oh, my, Adam has paired up his two four-chair turn guys, Ryan Quinn and Owen Danoff. Owen will sing “She’s Always a Woman” by Billy Joel. As I’ve written before, he’s already released some excellent original music. Ryan will sing “Drops of Jupiter” by Train. Adam wants Ryan to sing less and feel more.

The knockout: Owen is doing a fine job. I just wish he’d changed up the song a bit. OK, he changed the song slightly in just a couple of places. A solid performance, but so close to the original it leaves an opening for Ryan. Not sure this song is well suited for Ryan. His voice soars on a couple of extended glory notes, but that wasn’t my favorite performance from him. Blake and Pharrell say they’d given the win to Owen.

My pick: Owen. He gets the edge on that performance and another because of his fine original music.

Adam’s pick: Adam awards the win to Owen.

The steal: Christina steals Ryan. I’m hoping that wasn’t a set-up, another attempt by The Voice to make sure a female coach wins for the first time. Why would Adam pair his two four-chair turns against one another.

Team Pharrell

Malik Heard

Hannah Huston

The background: Hannah won an impressive battle round match against roommate Maya Smith. Malik and Bryan Bautista were equally impressive in their battle round. Malik lost but was stolen by Pharrell. He’s decided to sing “Isn’t She Lovely.” Not in love with the song choice. Hannah will sing “House of the Rising Sun.” Too often done on these shows, but if Hannah does a decent job with it, she should win.

The knockout: Hannah goes first. I could do with a few fewer hand gestures, but it’s time for The Voice fans to take this pre-school teacher seriously. That was my favorite vocal so far tonight. Pitch perfect and peppered with growls and glory notes. Malik follows her to the stage and does a decent job with “Isn’t She Lovely,” but it just doesn’t have the same dynamics.

My pick: Hannah by a mile.

Pharrell’s pick: Pharrell awards the win to Hannah.

The steal: There isn’t one this time. Malik is eliminated.

Team Blake

Lacy Mandigo

Katie Basden

The background: Blake has paired his two steals against one another. Lacy says she likes rock and the blues, so she thinks “Zombie” by The Cranberries will show the kind of artist she wants to be. Remember, Lacy was paired against Alisan Porter in the battle round and survived. Katie is a country singer who auditioned when Blake’s team was already full, but she wound up on his team anyway when she was stolen in the battle. She’s singing Stevie NIck’s “Gypsy.”

The knockout: Katie goes first. The first verse — vocally and the arrangement — was a bit bland. But once Katie hits the chorus, there was nothing bland. Just a really great vocal. Then Lacy takes the stage and does nearly the same. The opening wasn’t great, but once Lacy hit the chorus and started wailing like a rocker chick, the performance came alive. Something tells me that young lady has a lot of potential.

My pick: Based purely on the vocal, Katie.

The steal: Adam and Pharrell want to steal Lacy. Lacy joins Team Pharrell. Pharrell calls her a rock star.

Team Christina

Alisan Porter versus Daniel Passino

The background: Alisan is going to sing “River” by Joni Mitchell, saying that when she struggled with addiction, she often wished she had a river to float away on. Daniel is the student of classical music who dreams of being a pop star. He’s going to sing “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” He’s drawn a tough matchup here. No way Christina is going to cut Alisan loose unless she falters badly.

The knockout: My, my, great opening by Alisan. Great performance in fact. The only problem with that was it was too short. Here’s betting it’s another strong showing on iTunes for Alisan. Daniel had better be hoping for a steal. And he hasn’t selected a song that’s going to convey nearly as much emotion as Alisan just did. Solid vocal from Daniel, even if I wasn’t into some of those dance moves that accompanied it. All three coaches compliment the two of them on their vocals. But Blake said it best: the heartache song, when it connects, wins every time.

My pick: Alisan. Right now, she’s the Season 10 favorite.

Christina’s pick: Alisan. No surprise.

The steal: There isn’t one. Daniel is eliminated.

Team Pharrell

Emily Keener

Shalyah Fearing

The background: Pharrell decided to pair up two of his youngest contestants. Shalyah battled the much more experienced Tamar Davis and did well enough she earned a steal singing “Lady Marmalade.” Now she’s decided to sing “A Broken Wing,” though she’s not a country singer. Emily has a wonderful, pure voice and great music already released. She’ll sing “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell. She says she picked the song because she wants Pharrell to see her with her guitar.

The knockout: Emily goes first, shows off that amazing tone of her at the start of the song and shows not a hint of the nerves that were bothering her during her rehearsal with Pharrell and MIley. In fact, she ends the song rather playfully. A nice touch on a show where glory note endings are the norm. One concern for her: Like Alisan in the knockout we just saw, Shalyah has picked a song that could make a bigger emotional connections. Dang, young Shalyah can really sing. She just turned in one of the best vocals of the night. That, folks, was impressive. And she’s one of the youngest singers on the show.

My pick: Shalyah. As much as I love Emily’s original music.

Pharrell’s pick: He awards the win to Emily. Wow, rather surprised. But I think this might be the second time Pharrell left someone dangling because he knew they would be stolen.

The steal: Adam Levine steals Shaylah.