Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The debut album from Melanie Martinez has held a spot on The Billboard 200 every week for more than two years. Isn’t it time The Voice celebrated that accomplishment by inviting her back?

To be more to the point, they rarely seem to remember the past contestants who help make the show a ratings success.

Instead of helping them promote new music, guest performance slots all to often go to well-off, well-established musicians who, quite frankly, don’t need The Voice to promote their music.

Case in point: Season 12. The Voice filled seven guest performances spots with someone other than the show’s coaches. Only one of those went to a former contestant.

Why does it matter?

That former contestant was Alisan Porter, who sang her then new single, “Deep Water,” a song that had failed to crack the Top 200 on the iTunes singles or the iTunes pop chart.

One performance on The Voice and it cracked the Top 20 on the iTunes pop chart and the Top 60 on the overall singles chart.

That’s the power of a performance in front the millions of viewers The Voice can deliver even with its sinking ratings.

So being the ever-helpful blogger I am — and since Voice producers have nothing to do for the next couple of months except feed us pre-recorded shows — I figure I’d serve up a prospective guest list for Season 13.

1. Melanie Martinez from Season 3: She absolutely must top the list. I mean, have you heard? Her debut album, “Cry Baby,” was on the Billboard 200 every week for two straight years. She celebrated that anniversary in mid-August. This week, it’s still on the chart.

In my mind, that makes Melanie — not cover singer Jordan Smith — the most successful artist ever to come off the show. And the timing would be good. Melanie will soon be releasing the final video for “Cry Baby” — one for the song “Mad Hatter” — and she’s working on album number two, which will be accompanied by a full-length feature film. Oh, and did I mention that Melanie serves as her own music video/film director.

2. Craig Wayne Boyd, Season 7: Like too many Voice winners, Craig’s post-show record deal failed to produce an album. That’s one of the reasons fans have had to wait until now for his first album since the show. But “Top Shelf” will be out Oct. 27. (Fans can pre-order now on iTunes.). Lead single “Stuck in My Head” is a promising start.

3. Danielle Bradbery, Season 4: She’s another past Voice winner with an album up for pre-order (due Dec 1). It’ll mark her first album since 2013 and the title (“I Don’t Believe We’ve Met”) is a nod to how much Danielle thinks she’s grown and matured as an artist since auditioning for The Voice at age 16. Lead single “Sway” is a catchy song more people need to hear.

4. Sawyer Fredericks, Season 8: A release date hasn’t been announced for Sawyer’s second album since the show, but this week he told his hometown newspaper he’s wrapping up the project. He’s also in the process of filming a music video for the title track (“Hide Your Ghosts”) and said a “dark heartache song” called “Gasoline” might be the first single. Sounds like a perfect time for a Sawyer sighting on The Voice.

5. Dia Frampton, Season 1: Has anyone at The Voice listened to “Bruises,” the album Dia released earlier this year? I’m assuming the answer is no. Because it’s one of the best post-Voice albums we’ve gotten — as in ever — and that should be the only explanation for the fact that she wasn’t invited to share a song from it during the spring’s Season 12. And this booking should be easy; Dia’s based in Califonia.

6. Jordan Smith, Season 9: I still have a sour taste in my mouth from the special treatment Jordan got from the show during Season 9. From the minute his audition aired, it was clear there was no way The Voice was going to allow anyone else to win that season. But the doesn’t change the fact that he’s a wonderful singer and just announced a Christmas tour with Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith. There’d be nothing wrong with inviting him back to spread some cheer as the holidays approach.

7. Plenty of options: If there are only seven performance spots, The Voice would have plenty of options for this one. Past finalists Jacquie Lee, Adam Wakefield, Jeffery Austin and Koryn Hawthorne have recently released new music. Joshua Davis has a new album coming out.

Heck, The Voice has so many options, there’s no excuse for anyone to show up at the Season 13 finale who doesn’t have a strong connection to the show.

After all, it’s about time the show did more to support its own.