Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Fans get to vote for their favorites for the first time tonight as the live playoffs begin on The Voice.

The Top 5 from Team Blake and Team Christina will perform, plus one mystery contestant each coach has decided to bring back.

Of course, if you’ve checked iTunes for the songs that will be available from tonight’s show, that’s hardly a mystery.

I’ll be providing song by song grades for Team Christina here and song by song grades for Team Blake in a separate blog here.

Team Adam and Team Pharrell will perform tomorrow night.

If this works the way it has in past years, the top two vote-getters from each team will advance to the finals next week. Then each coach will select a third singer to round out the Top 12. Results will be revealed during a special one-hour show on Wednesday.

Ryan Quinn: I still have no idea why Adam Levine pitted his four-chair turns against one another in the knockout round, but the end result is that Ryan landed on Team Christina, where advancing beyond tonight might be a struggle. Tonight, the music teacher will be singing “I’m Not the Only One” by Sam Smith. During rehearsals, Christina is pushing Ryan to make sure he connects with the lyrics. And urging him to ditch his glasses. Ryan seemed a bit nervous early in the performance. But he certainly found his stride when he hit the chorus. And he shows off very nice range, which should surprise no one. I would have still like to see just a tad more emotion. Pharrell compliments him on showing “amazing control.” Performing first is seldom good news on these two-hour performance shows. We’ll have to see if fans rally behind Ryan. Grade: B

Kata Hay: I was really hoping this fiery performer from Nashville would land on Team Blake via a steal for some expert guidance on song choice. No one on The Voice is more charismatic on stage, but tonight she’s saddled with “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman.” Not sure that’s the best match for Kata’s strengths, but we’ll see. Christina says this will let Kata show off a more raw side. And Kata says she loves to mix country and soul. Hey, that was easily Kata’s best vocal so far on the show. It was filled with sass, it was filled with growls and as much as she performed with reckless abandon, she also showed more vocal control than in her prior performances. Christina says she “loved it.” And I’ll take everything back that I just wrote about the song choice. It turned out to be a perfect fit for Kata. Grade: B+

Nick Hagelin: Sorta suspected Christina might bring back Nick. He has solid pre-show music and a touching back-story. Remember how he helped teach his son Bash to walk about the child was born with a muscle disorder? You might also remember that he had a record contract at one point. Nick was singing for Team Pharrell when he lost to Moushumi in the knockout round; in fact, up until now, he was never a member of Team Christina, though she turned for him in the blind auditions. Tonight, he’ll perform “Stay” by Rihanna. The iTunes version of this is really well done. Excellent opening by Nick. Dang, Nick is making a convincing argument that his previous elimination was a mistake. This is my favorite vocal so far tonight. Very, very nice. Pharrell, who previously cut Nick, says he deserves to be on the show. Adam calls it an “excellent” job. Christina says he deserves to move forward. Grade: A–

Tamar Davis: She hasn’t gotten as much attention as Alisan, but she certainly has an interesting background. Let’s see, she performed in Prince’s house band. And sang in a girls’ group with Beyonce when she was young. More importantly, she’s impressed every time she’s taken the stage on The Voice. And she’s got an excellent song tonight: “Rise Up” by Audra Day. Christina says the song is appropriate as Tamar aims to rise from the background to take center stage. Not thrilled with the arrangement of this. Seemed like the song peaked too soon. And Tamar hit a bum note in there. A solid performance, just not quite what I hoped for with that song selection. Blake, however, calls it her best performance so far. Christina calls her performance “joyous.” I have to remind folks that Voice voters have not been kind to even the most impressive female R&B/soul singers in the past. Grade: B

Bryan Bautista: The former national anthem singing usher from Brooklyn was portrayed as something of a lady’s man during the knockout round. I wonder if that played into tonight’s song choice, “Pillowtalk” by ZAYN. Remember, along with Joe Maye and Caroline Burns, Bryan is one of three returning contestants who failed to turn a chair in Season 9 and has now made it all the way to the Top 20 this season. Christina says this song will give Bryan a chance to be a little sexy and smooth. Not sure Bryan ever did get comfortable with that song choice, though the audience reaction is pretty amazing. And the coaches loved it too. Adam says he was completely “blown away.” Okay, Bryan delivered a couple of very impressive falsetto notes. But I wasn’t nearly as impressed as the judges. Christina says he “nailed it.” Grade: B–

Alisan Porter: The former child actress still has to be considered the Season 10 favorite, though she failed to lead the way on iTunes for the first time in the knockout round (that distinction went to Hannah Huston of Team Pharrell). Still, Alisan has cracked the Top 200 on the iTunes singles chart every time she’s performed. Tonight, she’ll sing “Cry Baby” by Janis Joplin, a song she’s likely to slay. Alisan says Janis has always been her hero for the soul she sang with. Christina says the song will give Alisan a chance to show off her rock side. I’d remind Christina that a female rocker has never won The Voice though Juliet Simms should have in Season 2. Well, I think we just found out why Alisan got to close the show. That was pretty incredible. And might wind up with more YouTube views than “Blue Bayou.” Wow. Christina calls the performance “insane,” saying she “murdered the song.” Yep, she went crazy on stage and still delivered a fabulous vocal. Grade: A.

Summary: Alisan Porter and Nick Hagelin deserve to be voted into the finals. They delivered my favorite performances of the night. If I was picking a third singer, I’d go with Kata based on tonight’s performance. If she winds up in that position, I’m pretty sure Christina will go with Bryan.