Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The battle rounds begin tonight on The Voice. Meet the members of Team Blake Shelton who will be competing to advance.

Patrick Thomas (defeated Tyler Robinson in Battle Round)

This 20-year-old from Nashville was the first country singer to audition on The Voice and, of course, landed with coach/judge Blake Shelton after singing “Live Like You Were Dying.” He grew up in Colleyville, Texas. His parents worked on and off Broadway for 10 years. And he’s double majoring in voice and economics at Vanderbuilt University, where he’s on a full scholarship. Oh, and his first name is Albert, according to his blog on “The Voice.” He has a YouTube channel where you find an original song, “Like Grandma and Grandpa Do.”

Videos

“I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes”

“Stay with Me”

Elenowen (lost to Jared Blake in Battle Round)

Josh and Nicole Johnson are the couple living in her parents’ basement and hoping The Voice is their way out. They released an 11-track CD, “Pulling Back the Veil,” last January. You can hear full-length versions of most of those songs on their MySpace page. By the way, Elenowen is taken from their parents’ middle names, according to The Voice website. Elenowen’s website.

Videos

“Cripple Me”

“This is Just So Beautiful”

Xenia

At 16, Xenia Martinez is one of the youngest performers on The Voice. She’s also one of the least experienced, admitting during her pre-performance interview that most of her high school classmates probably don’t know she sings. She also plays guitar, harmonica and piano, according to The Voice website. She auditioned with “Breakeven” by The Script.

Video

“Breakeven” during the blind auditions

Jared Blake (defeated Elenowen in Battle Round)

He’s the 32-year-old father of six who needed two blind auditions before landing a spot on Blake’s team. On MySpace, he classifies his music as country/southern rock and rock. He’s a veteran of the music business who has worked with Gretchen Wilson, Big and Rich and The Goo Goo Dolls, according to The Voice. He has six singles on iTunes, five released just last month.

Videos

“Some Things a Man Can’t Walk Off” (original)

“Don’t Mind” (original)

Tyler Robinson (lost to Patrick Thomas in Battle Round)

This 20-year-old is the guy who said his father isn’t very supportive of his music and didn’t know he was gay. “I guess he knows now,” Tyler said, at the end of his intro interview on “The Voice.” He earned his spot on Blake’s team by singing “Hey, Soul Sister.” According to The Voice, he’s also passionate about tap dancing and musical theater.

Videos

“Bluebird”

“Bad Romance”

Dia Frampton (defeated Serabee in Battle Round)

This 23-year-old from St. George, Utah, was introduced to us as a writer of children’s books. But she’s also been the lead singer for a group called Meg & Dia, and you can head to the band’s MySpace page to find seven of their songs. Meg is Dia’s sister, and the group has a ton of music available on iTunes, including “Here, Here and Here,” released through Warner Brothers in 2009, and “Cocoon,” an 11-track CD released in March.

Videos

“Mean”

“Jar of Hearts”

Serabee (lost to Dia Frampton in Battle Round)

This gal from Kiln, Miss., auditioned with “Son of a Preacher Man,” appropriate since she got her start as a child singer performing at her father’s tent revivals. Her specialty now is blues and pop music, according to her MySpace. Head there and you can listen to all six songs she released on a self-titled 2009 CD. She also plays the drums, guitar and keyboard. Her website.

Videos

“I Believe”

“Bare Bone and Soul”

Sara Oromchi

One of the teens to make it past the blind audition round of The Voice, Sara won the adult division of a Burlingame Idol competition when she was just 16 with a version of Etta James’ “At Last.” At the time, she said she’d been talking voice lessons since sixth grade. She plays piano and guitar, according to The Voice website.

Videos

“The Lazy Song”

“Blackbid”