Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Farewell, Holly Tucker.

OK, I know it isn’t official; The Voice hasn’t even started yet.

But can there be any other outcome tonight?

Holly Tucker performs Monday night on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

At 10 a.m. this morning, when voting ended, her songs from last night were sitting 11th and 12th on iTunes among the 12 songs from last night’s show.

In fact, the number 10 song, “Okie from Muskogee” was number 47 on the charts. Holly didn’t show up until number 69 with “My Wish.” “God Fearing Women …” landed at 122. (Head here for a look at where all the songs landed.)

Now, the iTunes charts haven’t always been gospel in terms of predicting who goes home.

Last week, for instance, Sasha Allen’s song from performance night finished dead last, but two contestants finished behind her in the voting.

But I’m guessing that this week, that iTunes margin will be a bit too wide to overcome.

And if Holly fans want to do some complaining about where the 20-year-old from Texas has been forced to perform on the show … well, they have every right to.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a contestant get such unfair placement on a singing show.

Everyone knows the toughest spot is at the start of the show, where you’re most likely to be forgotten by the time voting begins two hours later.

In each of the last four weeks, Holly was forced to perform first or second.

Even in the live playoffs, she was the first Team Blake member to take the stage.

Until last night, she had overcome that with very smart song choices performed very well. In particular “Done” and “How Great Thou Art.”

Last night’s performances, however, didn’t quite match those.

Whether a different order of performance would have made a difference is debatable.

But even on American Idol, they do a better job of mixing up who’s forced to try to make a lasting first impression and who gets a chance to make a last impression.

Sasha Allen celebrated her birthday with one of her strongest weeks yet on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

And the results …

It’s Sasha’s birthday, folks. That means she can’t go home. Actually, she had one of her better nights on The Voice on Monday.

Safe this week:

* Michelle Chamuel. Hardly a shock. Her songs landed number one and number three on iTunes.
* Sasha Allen. The birthday girl is safe. And note that Shakira had her sing a country song last night.
* Danielle Bradbery: Well, you knew there was no way she was going home. Though she acts a bit relieved.
* Amber Carrington: That means every coach has a team member in the semifinals. And it means Adam won’t have to mutter anything that gets him in trouble this week.

That leaves The Swon Brothers and Holly Tucker facing elimination.

After performing together earlier in the night.

You have to figure the Swon Brothers are safe.

And they are.

But Team Blake loses its first member since the live finals started as Holly Tucker, predictably, heads home.

That leaves a final five to perform next Monday night. Check back over the weekend when I’ll post a new set of rankings for the remaining contestants.