Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Dylan Hartigan celebrates being stolen on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

The Voice aired the final seven knockout rounds. But three steals and one save meant just three singers went home. Everyone else advanced.

And so the teams for the live playoffs are as follows.

Team Adam Levine — Drew Cole, Mia Boostrom, Sharane Calister, Rayshun LaMarr, Reid Umstattd and Jackie Verna.

Team Alicia Keys — Johnny Bliss, Britton Buchanan, Terrence Cunningham, Christiana Danielle, Jackie Foster, Kelsea Johnson

Team Blake Shelton — Wilkes, Kyla Jade, Austin Giorgio, Gary Edwards, Spensha Baker, Pryor Baird

Team Kelly Clarkson — Alexa Cappelli, Brynn Cartelli, Dylan Hartigan, Tish Haynes Keys, D.R. King, Kaleb Lee

Now, here’s my recap of Monday’s show.

BEST OF THE NIGHT

Team Alicia Keys

The matchup: Kelsea Johnson versus Sharane Callster
The songs: Kelsea — “Rise Up” by Andra Day; Sharane — “All I Could Do Was Cry” by Etta James
The background: Kelsea turned three chairs in her blind audition, then won a battle round match with Jordyn Simone. Sharane turned two chairs in the blinds, then advanced from her battle round match with Jamai.
The performance: Wow! That pretty much sums up how I felt after hearing these two performances. Kelsea scales that triumphant chorus on “Rise Up” with each and a beautiful tone. Sharane unleashed an equally impressive growl as she tackled and slayed “All I Could Do Was Cry.” All I could do is wonder why this wasn’t the knockout match The Voice leaked. And be glad for the fact that Adam Levine was still holding his steal when they performed.
The outcome: Alicia declared Kelsea the winner; Adam used the final steal of the knockouts to snag Sharane.

WORTHY STEALS

Team Adam Levine

The matchup: Gary Edwards versus Rayshun LaMarr
The songs: Rayshun — “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys; Gary — “Many Rivers to Cross” by Jimmy Cliff
The background: Gary turned two chairs in the blinds, then won a battle round match with Angel Bonilla that was montaged. Rayshun also turned two chairs in the blinds. He then won his battle with Tish Haynes Keys. Tish was stolen by Kelly Clarkson.
The performance: We didn’t get to see Gary’s battle round match with Angel Bonilla. After seeing the passion he poured into his knockout performance, I’m sorry we didn’t. That was a flat-out excellent job. Rayshun was every bit as impassioned as he sang an Alicia hit. And he packed a season’s worth of big endings into one ending as the performance wound down. I would have given Rayshun the tiniest edge.
The outcome: Alicia awarded the win to Rayshun, but Gary advanced to the live playoff too courtesy of a Blake Shelton steal.

Team Blake Shelton

The matchup: Dylan Hartigan versus Wilkes
The songs: Wilkes — “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus; “You Are the Best Thing” by Ray LaMontagne
The background: Wilkes got a pair of chair turns in the blinds, then won his battle over Jordan Kirkdorffer; they sang “Nobody to Blame.” Kelly Clarkson was the only coach to turn for Dylan in the blinds, but Blake stole him followed a widely-praised battle round performance with Brynn Cartelli. They sang “Ready for It?”
The performance: First, a confession. I HATE “The Climb,” especially as done by Miley Cyrus. Kudos to Wilkes for delivering a version I hated a bit less. And for delivering one heck of a powerful ending, regardless of the song. Meanwhile, Dylan won me over with his vocal even before he hit that big high note near the end of the song. Love his stage presence and I’m pretty sure that’s the best he sounded on the show.
The outcome: Blake declared Wilkes the winner. I would have given it to Dylan by a narrow margin. But that’s okay, because Kelly stole Dylan and the Wilkes-Blake, contestant-coach combo probably makes more sense anyway.

AND A FINAL SAVE

Team Kelly Clarkson

The matchup: D.R. King versus Tish Haynes Keys
The songs: D.R. will sing “I’m Losing You” by The Temptations; Tish will sing “Lady Marmalade” by Patti LaBelle
The background: D.R. turned two chairs in the blind auditions; then won a battle round match with Jackie Foster. They sang “Sign of the Times” and it wound up being the round’s biggest hit on iTunes. Tish also turned two chairs in her audition. She lost a battle round match with Rayshun LaMarr (“Sweet Thing”), but was stolen by Kelly.
The performance: Dang, Tish. Why don’t you just blow the roof off whatever building these knockouts were held in. I mean, that was one heck of a powerful vocal. In fact, one of the best we’ve seen in Season 14. D.R. was no slouch either. These were two committed, energy-filled performances. But I would have given the win to Tish.
The outcome: Kelly, however, declared D.R. the winner. Then came the bit of drama. Kelly pushed her save button. Blake pushed his steal button. That left Tish with a decision to make: Kelly or Blake. She decided to stay on Team Kelly.

THE COACH GOT IT RIGHT

Team Alicia Keys

The matchup: Britton Buchanan versus Dallas Caroline
The songs: Britton — “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel; Dallas — “Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts
The background: Britton turned three chairs with his blind audition, then won a highly-acclaimed battle round match with Jaclyn Lovey. They performed “Thinking Out Loud.” One of the last contestants to earn a spot on the show, Dallas turned all three chairs possible with her blind audition. She lost her Team Blake Shelton battle with Spensha Baker, but was stolen by Alicia.
The performance: Hold it, was Britton the young man who said he’d never been to a party in his intro package a month ago. He’s going to get invited to lots of parties in the future. That opening at the keyboard was fabulous. He wavered just a bit when he got up from it, but quickly found his groove again, nailing an impressive glory note in the process. This guy’s gotta make the Top 12. Dallas knew her nerves had been an issue in the past. Afraid to say, they were an issue again.
The outcome: Alicia advanced Britton; Dallas was eliminated.

Team Kelly Clarkson

The matchup: Alexa Cappelli versus Jorge Eduardo
The songs: Alexa — “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John; Jorge — “Adorn” by Miguel
The background: Alexa turned two chairs in her blind audition, then automatically advanced during the battles when partner Hannah Goebel left the show. Kelly was the only coach to turn for Jorge’s blind audition performance of “Despacito.” He then defeated Amber Sauer in the battle round.
The performance: Smart song choice by Alexa, who did a very nice job of making the song her own without totally reworking it. She showed off nice power in her vocals too. Jorge delivered a nice falsetto note, but I did not like the match of his vocals and that song choice.
The outcome: Kelly declared Alexa the winner; Jorge was eliminated.

wHO KNOWS?

Team Adam Levine

The matchup: Reid Umstattd versus Jordyn Simone
The songs: Reid — “Let Him Fly” by Patty Griffin; Jordyn — “Tell Me You Love Me” by Demi Lovato
The background: Reid turned two chairs in the blind audition, then sang “Love on the Brain” in a battle round match with Davison and advanced. Alicia Keys was the only coach to turn for Jordyn, but she got a second chance on the show when Adam stole her following a battle round match with Kelsea Johnson.
The performance: The knockout was montaged, but Adam complimented Reid for making the song his own. We didn’t get to hear even a second of Jordyn’s performance. That marked the second time in three performances she’d been montaged.
The outcome: Adam advanced Reid; Jordyn was eliminated.