Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Here’s what happened and what should have happened when the members of Team Adam squared off in the live playoffs Monday night.

The lineup: Taking the stage Tuesday for Adam Levine were four of his original team members, Hanna Eyre, Jesse Larsen, Josh West and Mark Isaiah. Lilli Passero, stolen by Adam during the knockouts, rounded out the Top 5. Then Adam opted to bring back Johnny Hayes, which only seemed fair since he delivered the best performance in his knockout round match with Josh West, but didn’t advance.

What happened: Voters saved Lilli Passero and Jesse Larson, who turned just one chair in the blind auditions. Adam then saved young pop singer Mark Isaiah, advancing him to the finals. That meant the elimination of both Team Adam rockers — Josh West and Johnny Hayes — and young Hanna, just 15 when she auditioned.

What should have happened: This should have been the easiest verdict of the live playoffs. Three singers delivered excellent vocals and turned in self-assured performances. Three singers struggled mightily with their vocals. The voters got it right, advancing Jesse Larson (won’t be surprised if he’s the last Team Adam singer standing) and Lilli (pleased to see voters support her old-school sound). But then, inexplicably, Adam passed over comeback artist Johnny Hayes, who delivered one of the night’s most blistering performances, in favor of Mark Isaiah, who, frankly, struggled to stay on pitch. Both singers would have had open roads in the finals, as the lone male rocker and lone male pop artist, respectively. Guess Adam figures Mark has the best chance to go deeper in the competition. Given Voice history, and how good Johnny was Tuesday, I think he made the wrong call.

Here are the Team Adam performances in my order of preference.