Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Liv Ciara receives a hug from Kelly Clarkson after winning her knockout on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Six singers advanced to the semifinals on The Voice as the show began the knockout round Monday night.

That’s right, The Voice is already picking semifinalists, based on a grand total of three performances.

The good news is that the show has found three brilliant female performers in Alexia Jayy, Syd Millevoi and Liv Ciara, all of whom won their matches.

They’ll be joined in the semifinals by J.W. Griffin, Lucas West and Jeremy Keith.

Those eliminated Monday included Natasha Blaine, Moses G., Mike Steele, Bay Simpson, Houston Kelly and Abigayle Oakley.

Here’s a recap.

Team Adam

The match: Alexia Jayy vs. Bay Simpson
The background: Alexia, 31, of Mobile, Ala., sang “A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin, turning all three chairs.She then won her battle with Moses G. Bay, 26, of Muscle Shoals, Ala., performed “The Waiting” by Tom Petty and got a last-second turn from Adam. He then won a battle round match over Hunter Jordan, who turned three chairs in the blinds.
The songs: Whitney Houston’s “You Give Good Love” for Alexia; The Wallflowers’ “One Headlight” for Bay
The outcome: Adam named Alexia the winner, saying she has one of the best voice he’s heard. Bay was eliminated.
My take: Alexia has a really rich voice and showed it off on the Whitney Houston classic. She’s got such a big voice and so much range, there’s just no way she could be eliminated. Bay did a decent job with the Wallflowers’ song, but as soon as a saw this matchup, I knew he’d be leaving the show.

The match: Jeremy Keith vs. Mike Steele
The background: Jeremy, 40, of Washington, D.C., turned all three chairs in the blinds when he performed Freddie Jackson’s “You Are My Lady.” He won his battle with Aziz Guerra. Mike, 28, of Mississippi, turned all three coaches’s chairs singing “For Tonight” by Giveon. He was stolen by Adam following a battle round match with KJ Willis.
The songs: “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real thing” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell for Jeremy; “How You Gonna Act Like That” by Tyrese for Mike
The outcome: Adam named Jeremy the winner. Mike was eliminated.
My take: Jeremy performed like he owned the stage. But I’m not sure this was the best song to show off his marvelous voice. And some of the changes he made to the song didn’t work for me. Mike delivered a couple of impressive high notes in his song, but he also poured way too many vocal frills into a two-minute performance. I would have given a slight edge to Jeremy.

Team Kelly

The match: Abigayle Oakley vs. Liv Ciara
The background: Abigayle, 25 of Las Vegas, Nev., turned all three chairs in a heartbeat when she performed “Call Your Girlfriend” by Robyn in the blinds. She then won her battle over Julia Golden. Liv, 16, of St. Peters, Missouri, performed “We Can’t Be Friends” by Ariana Grande, turning two chairs in the blinds. She has auditioned the season before and failed to turn a chair. She was then the receipient of Kelly’s super steal following a battle round match with Mikenley Brown.
The songs: Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway” for Liv; Sabrina Carpenter’s “Feather” for Abigayle.
The outcome: Kelly awarded the win to Liv. Abigayle was eliminated.
My take: Hard to believe Liv is only 16. Hard to believe she didn’t turn a chair the first time she was on The Voice. It would have been very easy to get shouty on this song. She didn’t. I’d vote for Liv. Oh, that’s right. The Voice isn’t letting anyone vote this season. Abigayle turned in a solid singer-songwriter performance, and showed nice stage presence even while playing guitar. But I would give the edge to Liv and her teenage stardust.

The match: Houston Kelly vs. J.W. Griffin
The background: J.W., 25, OF Moultrie, Ga., performed “Long Haired Country Boy” by Charlies Daniels in the blinds, turning all three chairs. He then won his battle with Blaire Elbert. Houston, 20, of Memphis, Tenn., turned all three chairs in the blinds, singing “Walking in Memphis.” He then won his battle with Tia Durant.
The songs: “Love You Anyway” by Luke Combs for Houston; “If It Hadn’t Been for Love” by The SteelDrivers” for J.W.
The outcome: Kelly named J.W. the winner; Houston was eliminated.
My take: Houston has a great, solid country voice and cranked up the vocals and the emotion near the end of this performance. Coach Kelly clearly loved it. J.W. picked a perfect song for his voice. His voice is just a tad more unique. And he did a heck of a job with this song. I would have given him a slight edge in one of the closest knockouts of the night.

Team Legend

The match: Lucas West vs. Moses G.
The background: Lucas, 20, of Fairport, N.Y., performed “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John in the blinds, turning 2 chairs. He then won a battle round match with A.J. Robinson. Moses, 31, of Harlem, N.Y., performed “Forever Young” by Rod Stewart to entice his chair turn from Adam. He was then stolen by John following a battle round match with Alexia Jayy.
The songs: Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” for Lucas; Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” for Moses.
The outcome: John declared Lucas the winner. Moses was eliminated.
My take: At first blush, I wondered about Lucas’s song choice. Specifically how he was going to make it stand out. He did it thanks to some smart choices with the arrangement. Really impressive. Moses certainly poured some passion and energy into his performance, dropping to his knees for a big ending. But I was more impressed with what Lucas did with a far less often heard singing show song choice.

The match: Natasha Blaine vs. Syd Millevoi
The background: Natasha, 27, of Seattle, Wash., turned John’s chair, signing “Kiss of Life” by Sade in the blinds. She won her battle with Kendra Remedios. Syd, 23, Secaucus, N.J., turned 2 chairs with a rousing performance of “Mamma Knows Best” by Jessie J. And it was clear a third chair would have turned if Kelly Clarkson hadn’t already filled her team. She then won her battle with Ashley Marina.
The songs: Toni Braxton’s “Another Sad Love Song” for Natasha; Demi Lovato’s “Tell Me You Love Me” for Syd.
The outcome: John named Syd the winner, calling her skill “a marvel.” Natasha was eliminated.
My take: Natasha has a really nice soulful voice and showed off impressive range in this performance. I’ll never understand why The Voice montaged her blind when it found time to air so many artists who didn’t make the show. Shame on producers. Again. Here, she had the misfortune of being paired with Syd, who has established her as one of the show’s frontrunners. She certainly didn’t stumble in the knockouts. Range, power, a bit of growl. She’s just a vocal powerhouse. And this was the best performance on Monday’s show.