Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Michael Williams was announced as the winner of the four-way knockout on The Voice at the start of Monday’s show.

That means he will compete tonight with 16 other contestants for a spot in next week’s Season 18 semifinals.

The four-way knockout was a first-ever on The Voice, featuring contestants each coach saved during the knockout round.

Michael of Team Nick was going up against Michael Williams of Team Nick, Samantha Howell of Team Kelly, Todd Michael Hall of Team Blake and Nelson Cade III of Team Legend.

Samantha sang Willie Nelson’s “Always On My Mind.”“Always On My Mind.” Todd performed “Somebody to Love”“Somebody to Love” by One Republic. Michael sang “You Are the Reason”“You Are the Reason” by Calum Scott. And Nelson performed “Best Part”“Best Part” by Daniel Ceasar.

Michael was just a one-chair turn in the blinds. Everyone else in the four-way knockout turned more.

The links will take you to those performance videos.

Disclaimer:
Producers, coaches, judges and hosts on American Idol and The Voice will pretend they are hosting a legitimate singing competition over the next few weeks. Having blogged about singing shows for more than a decade, I can assure you they are not.

You cannot go from a Top 20 to a winner in four weeks (American Idol) or a Top 17 to a winner in three weeks (The Voice) and call it a fair and legitimate singing competition.

So have fun watching. Vote if you want. Put very little stock in the results because they will mean virtually nothing.

Most of all, support the singers when their time on the show ends. They deserved a better showcase for their talent.