Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Hailey Wright and Jaelen Johnston both advanced to the knockout round for Team Kelsea on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Four four-chair turns took the stage Monday night on The Voice, and all four advanced.

That included Bryson Battle and BDii, aka Brian Darden, of Team Legend and Lucia Flores-Wiseman and Grace Miller-Moody of Team Adam.

Meanwhile, Bryson’s partner, Ari Camille was the night’s stolen contestant, landing on Team Adam, while Barry Jean Fontenot and Hailey Wright advanced to the knockout round after being saved by their respective coaches.

Other battle round victors include Jaelen Johnston, Alanna Lynise, Kaiya Hamilton, Carlos Santiago and Jason Kaso.

Eliminated from the competition were Brook Wood, Hayden Grove, Antonio Ramsey, Tori Templet, Naomi Soleil and Aaron Rizzo.

Here’s a recap. Follow the links for more on each singer, including music they’ve already released.

THE COACH GOT IT WRONG

TEAM KELSEA:

The match: Alanna Lynise vs. Brook Wood
The background: Alanna, 21, turned three chairs with her cover of “Issues;” Team Legend was already full when she performed. Brook, 33, turned two singing “Save Me.
The song: “Angels Like You” by Miley Cyrus
The feedback: Michael complimented both singers, but said he thought Brook won the battle. John thought Brook’s performance was more on point, but loves Alanna’s tone. Kelsea says she’s torn on the outcome.
The outcome: Kelsea advances Alanna. Brook is eliminated.
My take: The song choice might have been closer to Brook’s wheelhouse than Alanna’s. But while Brook sounded solid throughout and delivered some really big moments toward the end of the song, Alanna seemed to be struggling to find her grip on the song throughout. Brook also carried that very nice ending. In other words, I don’t know what Kelsea was hearing.

WELL DESERVED SAVES

TEAM KELSEA:

The match: Hailey Wright vs. Jalen Johnston
The background: Jaelen, 21, turned 3 chairs with his cover of “Where the Wild Things Are.” Hailey, 19, turned 2 singing, “Where the Next Teardrop Falls.”
The song: Neon Moon by Brooks and Dunn
The feedback: “That’s some damn country music,” Kelsea proclaimed. Michael called it absolutely beautiful. John liked the character in both singers’ voices. He gives a slight edge to Jaelen. Adam thought they were both fantastic.
The outcome: Kelsea declares Jaelen the winner. But she then saved Hailey, allowing her to advance both of her country singers to the knockouts.
My take: Jaelen has a nice deep raspy voice, but sounded a little wobbly on the opening. Hailey really has a distinct tone. Jaelen eventually found his footing, delivering some nice vocal moments. To me, Hailey was the revelation in this performance. Very nice job by her. That said, given this show’s history, I can understand Kelsea reluctant to part ways with a talented male country singer. Having them both advance was the best solution.

TEAM MICHAEL

The match: Barry Jean Fontenot vs. Kaiya Hamilton
The background: Kaiya, 26, turned two chairs, singing “ICU.” Barry, 31, turned just Michael’s, performing “I Wish It Would Rain.”
The song: “Cry to Me” by Solomon Burke
The feedback: John called it a fantastic performance. He gave Kaiya the edge. Adam agreed, but said Barry has incredible potential. Michael said Barry’s a talented singer and a likeable guy. Michael called Kaiya “unbelievable” and “flawless.” Kelsea said she loves Barry’s soul.
The outcome: Michael declared Kaiya the winner. Then he pushed his save button for Barry. Kelsea pushed her steal button as well. Barry opted to stay with Team Michael.
My take: Barry delivered a really nice soulful opening. But this was almost a duplicate of the match between Hayden and Lucia, because Ari grabbed the spotlight as soon as she started singing. The harmonies at the end were pretty special too. Gotta say, that was a heck of a battle from two singers who turned a combined three chairs in the blinds. Both proved more coaches should have turned. I thought Kaiya won. I was really happy to see Barry advance as well.

THE COACHES GOT IT RIGHT

TEAM ADAM

The match: Hayden Grove vs. Lucia Flores-Wiseman
The background: Lucia. 22. earned a four-chair turn, singing “La Llorona.” Hayden, 31, turned just Adam’s chair with a cover of “Mack the Knife.”
The song: “My Funny Valentine”
The feedback: Kelsea complimented both singers. Michael gave a slight edge to Lucia, calling her a chameleon. John called the performance amazing. Adam said they were both great and delivered the song.
The outcome: Adam named Lucia the winner; Hayden was eliminated.
My take: This song choice tilted toward Hayden, and he started strong with his deep voice. But Lucia started singing, and her unique, intriguing tone immediately stole the spotlight. The harmonies between the two were very nicely done. But this performance made me appreciate Lucia’s versatility and I agree she was the winner.

TEAM LEGEND:

The match: Antonio Ramsey vs. BD II (aka Brian Darden)
The background: Brian, 31, turned four chairs, singing “Adorn.” Antonio, 35, turned just John’s, singing “Every Little Step.
The song: “Just Friends” by Musiq Soulchild
The feedback: Adam calls Brian a mega talent and gave him the edge. Kelsea said she thoroughly enjoyed the performance from both singers. Michael gave the edge to Brian as well, saying he has the talent to win the show. John said Antonio delivered his best performance of the song. He loves Brian’s charisma.
The outcome: John declared BDII the winner; Antonio was eliminated.
My take: Brian delivered a smooth, soulful performance from start to finish. He showed off nice range too. Not sure this song was a good fit for Antonio. For that reason, I thought Brian was the clear, clear winner.

TEAM LEGEND:

The match: Ari Camille vs. Bryson Battle
The background: Bryson, 21, turned four chairs, singing “A Song for You.” Ari, 21, turned two chairs, singing “I Wanna Be Down.”
The song: “Made for Me” by Muni Long
The feedback: Adam called Bryson spectacular, saying “you can’t sing better than that.” He gives the edge to Bryson. Kelsea said she was impressed by both singers. Michael called it an even match. John says Ari has “star potential.” He said Bryson leaves “everyone’s jaws on the floor” with his vocals.
The outcome: John awarded the win to Bryson. Not surprise there. Also no surprise that Kelsea and Adam pushed their steal buttons for Ari. She opted to join Team Adam.
My take: No doubt, Bryson has one of the better voices among the males on the show. And Ari has an unique tone, holding her own against a four-chair turn. Bryson gets the edge because of his incredible range. Meanwhile, Adam picks up another talented singer on an already stacked team.

THE MONTAGED

With nine matches scheduled for Monday night, I warned viewers montages were coming. They were, three of them. We saw just a snippet of those matches. They included Kameron Jaso and Aaron Rizzo, who were ALSO montaged during the blind auditions. I’ve long argued the show should at least put video of these matches on YouTube. After all, the cameras are rolling. The show simply doesn’t care to do it.

TEAM MICHAEL

The match: Aaron Rizzo vs. Carlos Santiago
The background: Carlos, 35, turned two chairs, singing “Right Here Waiting.” Aaron, 27, turned just Michael’s, singing “Drops of Jupiter.”
The song: “Gravity” by John Mayer
The outcome: Michael declared Carlos the winner. Aaron was eliminated.

The match: Kameron Jaso vs. Naomi Soleil
The background: Kameron, 18, turned just Michael’s, singing “This Town.” Naomi, 18. turned two, singing “Stars” in the blind audition finale. The other two teams were full when he auditioned.
The song: “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Hall & Oates
The outcome: Michael named Kameron the winner. Naomi was eliminated.

TEAM ADAM

The match: Grace Miller-Moody vs. Tori Templet
The background: Grace, 20, turned four chairs in the blinds, singing “Sunday Morning” as the very first artist fans met in Season 27. Tori, 24 turned 2 singing “Lover” and was the next to last singer to join Team Adam.
The song: “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon
The outcome: Adam advanced Grace; Tori was eliminated.

Kaiya Hamilton and Barry Jean Fontenot perform for Team Michael on The Voice. Both advanced to the knockout round. (NBC Photo)