Idol Chatter & Voice Views

A look at the highlights and not so bright spots during the knockout round on The Voice.

Keeping checking back. Between now and Monday, I’ll rank the singers on each team.

Sarah Simmons of Team Adam sings during the knockout round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Early favorites: As expected, former Michael Jackson background singer Judith Hill (Team Adam) and former Broadway star Sasha Allen (Team Shakira) dazzled singing solo in the knockout round. Sarah Simmons (Team Adam) did too, which is a little less expected because she has considerably less pre-show experience, though she did turn four chairs with her blind audition.

Four chairs and gone: Eight acts earned four-chair turn-arounds during the Season 4 blind auditions. Four are gone. Folk duet Midas Whale, soul singer Ryan Innes and former child star Monique Abbadie departed in the knockout round, joining The Morgan Twins, who were eliminated in the battle round.

Saved and not forgotten: Half of the contestants saved during the battle round survived the knockout round. Those include Sasha Allen and Karina Iglesias of Team Shakira, Cathia of Team Usher and Caroline Glaser of Team Adam. Rookie coach Shakira probably did the best job of improving her team via the use of the steal.

Contestants to watch: Back in Season 2, Jermaine Paul showed that someone who doesn’t turn four chairs in their debut can still win The Voice (only Blake and Cee Lo turned around when he auditioned). So watch these singers: Amber Carrington (Team Adam), who has performed country and pop and vanquished Sasha Allen and Midas Whale in her last two turns to sing; Danielle Bradbery (Team Blake), perhaps the best really young country singer to appear on the show; and The Swon Brothers (Team Blake), who have the personality and talent to become fan favorites.

Amber Carrington and Midas Whale (Ryan Hayes and Jon Peter Lewis) after their knockout round matchup on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Worst knockout round decision: Usher choosing Cathia to advance rather than Ryan Innes. Cathia was better than expected, Ryan worse than expected in Tuesday’s knockout round. But on a show short of sensational male singers, Ryan had been pretty darn sensational twice. In terms of long-term strategy, it would have been wiser to keep him.

Youth movement: In each of its first three seasons, The Voice finals have featured at least one contestant in their mid-30s or beyond — Beverly McClellan in Season 1, Tony Lucca in Season 2 and Terry McDermott in Season 3. The chance of that happening in Season 4? Not very good. Of the 16 contestants remaining, only Sasha (30) and Karina (35) were 30 or beyond at the time of their blind audition. Five of the 16 — Amber, Danielle, Caroline, Cathia and Garrett Gardner — were still teenagers.