Idol Chatter & Voice Views

After Tuesday’s episode of The Voice ended, I headed to YouTube, hoping to find full performances of the abbreviated battles we saw on the show.

No luck. The videos there were the same clips we saw on the show.

Which means, for instance, that we saw less than 40 seconds of a battle between Tyke James and Jarred Matthew that had to last at least a minute and a half.

Look, I’m not going to complain too loudly about this.

The Voice didn’t montage a single singer in the blind auditions. The show seems intent to show us a bit of each battle, which is more than it’s done in the past.

But it still boggles the mind that a machine as large as The Voice can’t find the time and resources to edit each battle round performance in its entirety and at least post it online.

Frankly, it seems like a lost opportunity. How many fans of The Voice. If those full performances were available, I suspect some fans of the show and the singers involved would rush to The Voice app, YouTube and wherever else they were posted to watch.

More abbreviated performances are surely on the way. The Voice will wrap up the battles next week, meaning 15 more matches in three hours of airtime.

Here’s a recap from Tuesday’s show.

THE COACHES GOT IT WRONG

TEAM KELLY CLARKSON

The matchup: Kymberli Joye vs. OneUp (Adam Bastien and Jerome Bell)
The song: “Mercy” by Shawn Mendes
The background: Adam Bastien of OneUp says we’re two voices, but we’re up against one who can do it all. Kymberli calls going up against two voices “intimidating.” As for Kelly, she said she wanted to select a song that was filled with passion.
The outcome: Kelly awarded the win to Kymberli. As a result, OneUp was eliminated from the show.
Voice Views take: Battles are really tough for duos, but Adam and Jerome did really well. And the highlight of the performance might have been a high note Jerome nailed. My only complaint about Kymberli’s performance was that I couldn’t understand some of her lyrics. But she did come on very strong at the end. But of the two, OneUp seemed to have the better chance of standing out among a talented cast, which is why I would have advanced Adam and Jerome.

TEAM JENNIFER HUDSON

The matchup: Mike Parker vs. Natasia Greycloud
The song: “Gravity” by John Mayer
The background: Jennifer says her goal in this pairing was to bring out the soul in their voices. She wants to see more range from Natasia, more commitment from Michael.
The outcome: Jennifer awarded the win to Mike, saying she likes his potential. Kelly stepped in and stole Natasia, saying her voice is insane.
Voice Views’ take: For a one-chair turn who barely made the show, Michael did very, very well. And showed impressive stage presence. But it was Nastasia’s voice that drew me in. What a nice combination of range and soul. As an overall performance, it was still a bit too over-embellished for my taste. But I blame that less on the singers than the battle round format, which provides very limited time within a duet to make a lasting vocal impression.

A WELL-DESERVED SAVE

TEAM ADAM LEVINE

The matchup: Anthony Arya vs. Steve Memmolo
The song: “Amy” by Pure Prairie League
The background: Steve says he’s never performed the song. Anthony says he sang the song for a talent show. Adam calls Steve more polished, but says Anthony benefits from having a really interesting voice.
The outcome: Adam awarded the win to Steve, saying he’s more ready. At the very last second, Jennifer jumped in and stole Anthony, saying he’s so seasoned for someone so young.
Voice Views’ take: This is virtually impossible to judge, seeing as how there were about six solo lines in the one-minute clip The Voice aired. Steve showed the confidence and stage presence you’d expect from someone who has been fronting his own band in the Boston area for years. But Anthony held his own against a singer twice his age and didn’t look at all uncomfortable on stage either. It was nice to see that rewarded with a save.

THE COACHES GOT IT RIGHT

TEAM ADAM LEVINE

The matchup: Jarred Matthew vs. Tyke James
The song: “She’s Always a Woman” by Billy Joel
The background: We got no insight into this battle, but both guys have Hawaii connections. Jarred is the guy with the PhD in astrophysics who’s experiments for NASA. Tyke is a surfing singer-songwriter who said he found himself musically after moving to the island. He had turned one chair during the blinds; Jarred had turned two.
The outcome: Tyke was announced as the winner; Jarred was eliminated.
Voice Views’ take: In the 40 seconds we saw, Tyke was more on-point vocally than Jarred. Besides, Tyke looks like Tarzan, according to Kelly. Or, as Blake said, like a guy who will cut down a coconut, make you a drink, then sing you a Billy Joel song.

TEAM BLAKE SHELTON

The matchup: Chris Kroeze vs. Mercedes
The song: “Back in the High Life Again” by Steve Winwood
The background: Mercedes said she’s a bit intimidated by going up against the more experienced Chris. Chris said he found a video of Keith Urban covering the song while preparing for his battle. Blake says the winner will be the singer who did the best job of executing the coaches’ advice.
The outcome: Blake awarded the win to Chris, saying he sounds like Martina McBride but looks like Chris Stapleton. Mercedes was eliminated.
Voice Views’ take: Viewers only got to hear about 49 seconds of their performance. Mercedes sounded fine. But Chris has more experience and falls into that country / soul / rock lane that’s so quite popular with fans of the show. He probably has the better chance to go deep into the show.

TEAM BLAKE SHELTON

The matchup: Katrina Cain vs. Rachel Messer
The song: “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan
The background: Blake notes that Katrina is electro pop, Rachel straight-up country, which makes them a natural pairing right. He says he picked a song he thinks will suit them both and that the winner will be the one who makes him feel the most.
The outcome: Blake awarded the win to Katrina; Rachel was eliminated from the show.
Voice Views’ take: We only heard about 40 seconds of the performance and both singers sounded very good. Katrina is probably a more versatile performer and her blind audition performance of “Rhiannon” was superb, so it’s tough to argue with Blake’s decision.