Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Top 8 on The Voice includes (from left) Dexter Roberts, Gyth Rigdon, Andrew Sevener, Maelyn Jarmon, Kim Cherry, Shawn Sounds, Carter Lloyd Horne and Andrew Sevener. (NBC Photo)

I’m a bit curious about tonight’s song picks.

Because some of the selections seemed well chosen if the goal is to nail down a spot in the finals.

Others … well, quite frankly they don’t.

Rod Stokes is singing “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” which is completely in keeping with his church background. If he pulls it off, it’s also sure to be a fan favorite.

Gyth Rigdon is singing “God Bless the U.S.A.,” which is in keeping with his habit of singing with a U.S. flag draped over his mic stand. That’s a little much to me, but it’s a song choice sure to strike a chord with his audience.

Meanwhile, Dexter Roberts is covering a song by 3 Doors Down. And Andrew Sevener is singing “Long-Haired Country Boy,” which wasn’t exactly a huge hit for the Charlie Daniels Band.

So who picked these songs?

The contestants? I hope. Producers? I hope not.

I don’t think there’s any doubt The Voice would like to have as many coaches involved in next week’s finale as possible.

Heck, let’s cut right to the chase: Producers are likely to try to manipulate tonight’s show to prevent an all-Team Blake finale.

So be on the watch for that. I will too as I serve up song by song grades during tonight’s show.

Oh, and as for why tonight’s show was pre-taped? Voice publicity hasn’t answered my question, but I have the answer. The judges were off in New York today singing for advertisers.

Andrew Sevener (Team Blake) — “Long Haired Country Boy” by the Charlie Daniels Band — Blake Shelton likes this song choice for Andrew because it’s a classic country song. Andrew reminds us he’s the only one-chair turn left on the show. And, yep, this is a nice fit for Andrew because it gives him a chance to rock out, country style, which is what he excels at. Andrew is doing a very solid job with this. I was skeptical of that song choice, but it wound up working very, very well for Andrew. Very nice job. Grade: B+

Kim Cherry (Team Blake) and Shawn Sounds (Team Legend) — “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles — If there was any doubt Kim Cherry can sing as well, if not better, than she raps, she just erased it. That was a very nice, gritty vocal for her. Shawn sounded good too, but slipped out of character for a moment and flashed a big smile at the audience. The only problem was those harmonies at the end. Shawn’s voice disappeared for a while; I’m pretty sure they didn’t come out as planned. Grade: B–

Gyth Rigdon (Team Blake) — “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood — Gyth explains his tribute to the troops during his shows in the lead-up to this patriotic performance. Oh, look, he has the flag draped over his mic stand, just like during his own shows. Strong opening by Gyth. Not crazy about his voice on the chorus though. It sounds like the song might be just a bit too high for him. Oh, look, Gyth gets a choir to help out. The crowd loved it more than I did, but I expect to see Gyth in the finals. Way to go, Kelly, it wasn’t my favorite Gyth vocal either. Grade: C+

Kim Cherry (Team Blake) — “Together Again” by Janet Jackson — Kelly Clarkson wanted Kim to sing a ballad. If The Beatles duet wasn’t enough, she can check out this. And this confirms tonight’s show isn’t live. No way they’d trot Kim out there so soon after her duet if it was. And what’s up with that, getting all of her performances out of way already. Love Kim’s energy on this, but this vocal isn’t as solid as the one she delivered on “Eleanor Rigby.” Kim’s event band, Legends of Summer, is probably loads of fun to watch. Grade: C

Maelyn Jarmon (Team Legend) and Rod Stokes (Team Kelly) — “Yesterday” by The Beatles — One of my followers predicted this pairing as a ploy by producers to give Rod an extra boost toward making the finals by pairing him with last week’s streaming champ. Speaking of which, Maelyn sounded splendid on that opening. Rod shows lots of grit in his vocals, and they’re working well during his solo parts of the song. The harmonies did not comes off that well, however. Oops, Rod just hit a clunker of a note. He was wise to allow Maelyn to end the song. I would have given her an indivdual “A” for that vocal. Grade: B–

Carter Lloyd Horne (Team Blake) — Take Me To Church by Hozier — Carter said he’s seen at least 200 comments asking him to cover this song. Uh-oh, Carter’s in trouble as this is opening. That was shaky. I thought he might regain his footing on that big chorus, because on paper, his deep, aged voice should be a good match for this song. But it’s not really clicking in. This song choice was not a good idea. So, who’s the blonde playing guitar? Grade: C–

Rod Stokes (Team Kelly) -– “Go Rest High on That Mountain” by Vince Gill — Turns out this is a song Rod sang at both of his mother’s parents’ funerals. Wonderful opening by Rod. This might indeed be Rod’s ticket into the finals, as opposed to the duet we heard earlier. This is a fine vocal, delivered with emotion. Excellent job, Rod Stokes. Grade: A–

Gyth Rigdon and Dexter Roberts (Team Blake) — “Hey, Jude” by The Beatles — These Team Blake contestants promise they’re taking “Hey, Jude” down south. Odd staging here, with our sigers in a pretend studio, way in the background. Hey, cameramen, how about focusing on them and the emotion in the song. Now the singers, finally, come out front for a big ending. Wow, Dexer’s voice is really cutting through on this. More so than Gyth’s. But nice finish by the perceived front-runners. Grade: B

Maelyn Jarmon (Team Legend) –- “Stay” by Rihanna — John picked this song for Maelyn. She says she’s relating the song to her music career; you’ll recall she was thinking about walking away from music before The Voice came along. Damn, Maelyn. She is delivering a Voice moment. A superb vocal plus an emotional connection. Please, just give that young woman an automatic pass to the finals. That, folks, was a Voice moment. Grade: A+

Carter Lloyd Horne and Andrew Sevener (Team Blake) — “Help” by The Beatles — Remember, voters, Andrew Sevener was very good on his first song of the night. Pretty sure this isn’t the song he’d sing with his Voice life hanging in the balance. Carter’s sounding a little better on this than his solo, but has not made a very good case for belonging in the finals tonight. Grade: C

Dexter Roberts (Team Blake) — “Here Without You” by 3 Doors Down — Two lines in, this is already Dexter’s best performance on The Voice. And it sounds like he picked this song. Nice. And if thinking about missing his niece and nephew produces a vocal like this, he should think about them every week. This wound up being the best country vocal we heard tonight and is going to make tomorrow’s results show very interesting. Grade: B+

Shawn Sounds (Team Legend) — “A Song For You” by Donny Hathaway/Leon Russell — Shawn is dedicating this performance to the middle school where he teaches. Shawn’s looking stylish and sounding fine. And on an emotional song, The voice is pulling way back with the cameras, which, of course, makes no sense at all. Overall, solid vocal by Shawn, but he couldn’t resist run, after run after run near the end before delivering that song closing glory note. Grade: B

Clearly, The Voice would like a finals that includes Shawn, Maelyn, Rod Stokes and one Team Blake singer.