Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Does Blake Shelton have the strongest team entering the knockouts. Chair turns would seem to indicate he does. (NBC Photo)

In this round, the singers are paired off into twos again. But they sing solos this time. In Season 14, that meant songs of their choice.

Each coach has one steal. Each coach also has one save, allowing them to keep a singer who lost his or her knockout round match.

That really makes this the show’s much-ado-about-little round. Thirty-two singers enter the knockouts. Sixteen matches later, only eight of them will have been eliminated.

Some other notes about the upcoming knockouts and the show’s Season 15 cast …

* In terms of chair turns, Blake Shelton would appear to have the strongest team entering the knockouts. His eight remaining artists turned a total of 19 chairs during the blind auditions, three more than each of the other teams.

* That said, Jennifer Hudson is the only coach with two singers who turned four chairs in the blinds (Sandy Redd and Kennedy Holmes). Blake and Adam have one each, Kirk Jay and DeAndre Nico, respectively.

* That said, chair turns might not mean as much as they once did on The Voice. The coaches seem increasingly reluctant to turn for singers they don’t think they can land. Ten of the 32 artists in the knockouts turned just one chair in the blind auditions; four of the eight stolen artists were one-chair turns.

* How stingy were the coaches with their chair turns in Season 15? The 97 total for the 48 singers who made the show matched Season 14 for the second lowest ever, behind 93 in Season 2. And the four four-chair turns were the fewest the show has seen since going to a 48-artist format in Season 2. (Season 4 had a whopping 64 singers, 16 per team.)

* Thirteen of the singers who landed spots on the show were 30 or older when they auditioned. That trails Season 14 as the second most ever. Here’s betting that’s the effect of increased competition for aspiring artists in their late teens and early 20s thanks to the revival of American Idol and the arrival of The Four on FOX.

* At the same time, the season after Brynn Cartelli became the show’s youngest winner ever, seven singers who were minors when they auditioned have made the knockouts. That includes both 13-year olds on the show (Reagan Strange and Kennedy). Half of Kelly Clarkson’s team is young women — Abby Cates (17), Claire Dejean (17), Sarah Grace (15) and Chevel Shepherd (16).

* The return of montages during the battle round is one reason I was disappointed The Voice decided to no longer make iTunes versions of early-round performances available. Even if a performance was montaged, you could check out those songs online. No more. If money was the issue, I would have suggested The Voice forgo Mariah — a flop during her one season on Idol — and give us iTunes songs instead. Of course, the whole problem could be avoided if the show could simply manage to put montaged performances online.

Here’s a look at the teams heading into the knockouts. Following the links will take you to an updated profile on each singer.

Members of Team Adam heading into the knockout round include (from left) Keith Paluso, Jake Wells, Delaney Silvernell, Deandre Nico, Adam Levine, Radha, Reagan Strange, Tyke James, Steve Memmolo. (NBC Photo)

Team Adam Levine (16)

DeAndre Nico (4)
Jake Wells (1)
Radha (3)
Reagan Strange (2)
Steve Memmolo (2)
Tyke James (1)
Delaney Silvernell (1) *
Keith Paluso (2) *

Members of Team Blake heading in the knockout round include (from left) Kameron Marlowe, Dave Fenley, Michael Lee, Colton Smith, Blake Shelton, Katrina Cain, Funsho,Kirk Jay, Chris Kroeze. (NBC Photo)

Team Blake Shelton (19)

Chris Kroeze (2)
Dave Fenley (2)
Kirk Jay (4)
Katrina Cain (2) **
Kameron Marlowe (2)
Michael Lee (3)
Colton Smith (1) *
Funsho (3) *

Members of Team Jennifer heading into the knockout round on The Voice include (from left) Mike Parker, Anthony Arya, Kennedy Holmes, SandyRedd, Jennifer Hudson, Makenzie Thomas,Franc West, Tyshawn Colquitt, Patrique Fortson. (NBC Photo)

Team Jennifer Hudson (16)

Franc West (1)
Kennedy Holmes (4)
MaKenzie Thomas (1)
Mike Parker (1)
Patrique Fortson (2)
Tyshawn Colquitt (2)
Anthony Arya (1) *
Sandy Redd (4) *

Members of Team Kelly heading into the knockout round on The Voice include (from left) Claire Dejean, Kymberli Joye, Abby Cates, Sarah Grace, Kelly Clarkson, Chevel Shepherd, Natasia Greycloud, Zaxai. (NBC Photo)

Team Kelly Clarkson (16)

Abby Cates (1)
Chevel Shepherd (3)
Claire Dejean (2)
Cody Ray Raymond (2) ***
Kymberli Joye (3)
Sarah Grace (2)
Natasia Greycloud (2) *
Zaxai (1) *

* Stolen during battle round
** Only two spots remained on the Season 15 cast when she auditioned
*** Left show after the battle round

Eliminated in battle round

Audri Bartholomew (1)
Caeland Garner (2)
Emily Hough (3)
Erika Zade (1)
Foushee (2)
Jarred Matthew (2)
Joey Green (2)
Josh Davis (2)
Kayley Hill (1)
Lela (2)
Matt Johnson (1)
Mercedes Ferreira-Dias (2)
Mikele Buck (2)
Natalie Brady (2)
OneUp (Adam Bastien and Jerome Bell) (3)
Rachel Messer (2)