Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Twenty-four contestants remain on The Voice. And since tonight’s only a two-hour show, I’m pretty sure we won’t hear from all 24.

Either way, you get to vote for your favorite. But this isn’t American Idol, folks. There’s no need to text or call a toll-free number for two straight hours in hopes of making a difference.

On The Voice, votes are limited — 10 per method via phone, text, Facebook, The Voice website and by downloading contestants’ performances. You can vote up until 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Looks like we’ll hear from the contestants from Team Christina and Team Blake tonight.

Jermaine Paul:  This is the guy who has been a background singer for Alicia Keys and hopes to take into the spotlight.  He’ll be singing Bon Jovi’s “Living On a Prayer.”  This guy works the stage like he’s ready to be a solo artist.  He was pretty much spot on from beginning to end of that performance.  He didn’t really do anything original with the song.  He just sang it very well.  And nailed that final big note.  Like me, Christina is wondering about the song choice.   Grade: B.

Chris Mann:  The guy with an operatic background will sing “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”  Christina encourages him to throw in a couple frills to make a well-known song contemporary.  Well, if we’re looking for a voice, here’s one.  Not sure how mainstream it is, but this guy sings incredibly.  My only criticism is that it’s so technically flawless, I don’t get a sense of the emotion inherent in the song. But, folks, I think we’re in for some very strong performances tonight.  Grade: B+

RaeLynn:  This country gal is one of the youngest in the competition at age 17.  She has a unique tone, but I remember being a little surprised when she prevailed in the battle round over Adley Stump.  She’ll sing “Wake Up Call” from Maroon 5.  This started out rough, but RaeLynn found her stride when she hit the chorus.  From a performance standpoint, the girl kicked butt with sass and attitude.  Vocally, I’m not sure that was the best match for RaeLynn’s voice.  Grade: C-

Moses Stone:  The guy from Laurel, Md., raps more than he sings.  He prevailed over The Line in last week’s battle round. Personally, I thought the song choice (“Satisfaction”) was a disservice to both acts. Tonight, he’ll be performing Kanye West’s “Power” and “Stronger.”  The more rapping Moses does the better because his singing voice can’t match the Chris Manns and Jermaine Pauls in this competition.  Another solid performer who looks like he’s a veteran entertainer.  Grade:  C

Naia Kete:   She’s the street performer with the unique sound who got a huge break because of song choice in the battle round. She’ll sing “Turning Tables” by Adele.  Blake has convinced her to stick close to the original rather than to do a reggae version of the song.  Probably a wise choice since she’s singing Adele.  But why is she singing Adele?  Blake compliments her “tender moments.”  But Christina gives her the harshest feedback we’ve heard tonight … and it still wasn’t very harsh.  Personally, that was my favorite of the last three performances.  Grade: C+

Lindsey Pavao:  We haven’t seen Lindsey for a while, but Christina is right about her having a unique voice.  She’ll sing “Somebody That I Used to Know.”  Bizarre staging for this performance, but Lindsey looks the part.  And she sounds very good, with a quirkiness in her voice that makes her stand apart.  Adam says he would have liked a little more power in the chorus; Christina proclaims her a budding star.  Grade: B.

Jordis Unga:  She’ll sing “Alone” by Heart.  And she says she has something to prove after a shaky battle round performance.  Not thrilled by her opening on this song either, honestly.  Now she launches into that soaring chorus, and sounds like she’s shouting.  Not thrilled with this performance or the arrangement of the song.  Blake called her performance “amazing.”  I, for one, wasn’t amazed.  Grade: C-

Sera Hill:  She’s the hotel clerk who can’t stop singing and was so impressive during the blind auditions that Christina joined her on stage.  She’s going to sing Drake’s “Find Your Love,” surrounded by hunky looking guys.  OK, this seems old-fashioned, from her look to the arrangement.  The vocals were fine, but not as unique as a lot of the other voices we’ve heard tonight.  Christina calls her a “diva in training.”  Another case where the performance might have been better than the vocal.  Grade: C.

Erin Willett:  Summoning emotion for this performance shouldn’t be a problem for Erin.  Her dad was her inspiration, but lost his battle with cancer during the battle rounds.  She’s sing Stevie Wonder’s “Living for the City.”  She starts out on the piano.  She’s got a big powerful voice, doesn’t she?  That probably won’t rank as one of my favorites tonight, but it’s because of the material, not Erin’s voice.  She was spot on throughout, and that ending was fabulous.  Grade: B-

Ashley De La Rosa:   She’s another of the younger and less experienced contestants on The Voice.  She’s going to sing “Right Through You.”  OK, I honestly figured this would be a throw-away performance, given Ashley’s age.  But the gal who wants to rock is doing just that.  Wow, she shows no sign of stage fright, does she?  She’s stalking the stage like she owns it and belting out a fine version of this Alanis Morissette song.  Adam hit the nail on the head — much better than expected.  Grade: B.

Charlotte Sometimes:  The gal is one of the more experienced artists on The Voice.  She’s apparently got a sense of humor, too.  If America doesn’t like it: “Is Denny’s hiring?” she asks. She’ll sing “Misery Business.”  Brilliant opening to that song. Her voice got a little lost on the chorus with all the background music.  But she bounces back strong.  Loved the way she reigned in the song and absolutely made us pay attention to that unique voice of her’s.  And there were a couple of incredible notes in there.  As Christina said, she displayed her power and her tenderness over the course of that song.  My favorite of the night so far.  Grade: A- 

Jesse Campbell:  He’ll close the evening with “What a Wonderful World.”  He’s the guy trying to make a name for himself as a singer at age 42 after spending some time living out of his car with his young daughter.  Christina says he can sing “the phone book.”  Gotta say, I’m totally baffled by this song choice after some of the contemporary performances we’ve seen tonight.  Jesse was fine.  The performance was boring until he bailed it out with that big ending.  Cee Lo calls his voice “almost as beautiful as my hair.” He says if someone from his team doesn’t win, he’d like to see Jesse win.  Adam calls him “the dude to beat.”  Grade: B.