Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Shi’Ann Jones performs during the knockout round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

They included Adam Cunnington and Chloe Kohanski, who were so impressive during their knockout round matches they enticed Adam Levine and Blake Shelton to use their only steals.

They also included knockout round winners Esera Tuaolo, Ashland Craft, Addison Agen, Davon Fleming, Janice Freeman and Shi’Ann Jones, the youngest singer in the competition.

Of course, in most past years, I could write that those singers were advancing to the voting rounds, because their next step is the Season 13 playoffs.

But the playoffs aren’t live this season and they won’t include fan voting. In fact, they’ve already been taped.

Yep, The Voice decided the producers and coaches are quite capable of picking this season’s Top 12 without any input from fans watching at home.

Folks, remember my warning about Season 13.

Meanwhile, on to my recap of Monday’s show.

THE NIGHT’S BEST

Team Miley Cyrus

The match: Ashland Craft vs. Chloe Kohanski
The songs: “Wanted Dead of Alive” by Bon Jovi for Ashland, “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac for Chloe
Background: Ashland topped all Season 13 contestant on iTunes in the blind auditions, then defeated Megan Rose in the battles. Chloe defeated Ilianna Viramontes in a battle that wasn’t televised. She also sang a Fleetwood Mac song (“The Chain”) in the blinds, turning two chairs.
The outcome: Ashland was named the winner by Miley. Both Jennifer Hudson and Blake Shelton tried to steal Chloe. She opted to join Team Blake.
My take: I would have rewarded the ache in Chloe’s voice — or was that her heart — with the win here. But there’s no way Ashland should have been eliminated. This was the best knockout match of the night. Given Ashland’s talent and the show’s history, I can understand Miley holding onto her strongest country singer. Chloe makes a great addition to Team Blake. Someone just needs to convince her to keep her eyes open on an emotion performance like that.

RIGHT OUTCOME, WRONG COACH

Team Blake Shelton

The match: Esera Tuaolo vs. Adam Cunningham
The songs: “Either Way” by Chris Stapleton for Adam; “Superstar” by Leon Russell for Esera.
Background: Esera is the former NFL player; he won a battle round match with Rebecca Brunner that was montaged. Adam defeated Natalie Stovall in the battles; they sang
The outcome: Blake awarded the win to Esera. But Adam Levine snatched Adam Cunningham for his team, even after saying Esera won the battle.
My take: Esera was certainly the attention grabber here. Who expects a former NFL player to sing with that kind of range? Incredible. But if I’m country coach Blake, I move forward with country singer Adam — because he turned in one heck of a performance too — and let another coach steal Esera. I’m pretty sure they would have.

THE SHOW’S FORMAT BACKFIRES (WHICH IS WHAT THE VOICE — BUT NOT KARLI — DESERVES)

Team Miley Cyrus

The match: Janice Freeman vs. Karli Webster
The songs: “I’m Going Down” by Mary J. Blige for Janice; “Blue Bayou” by Linda Ronstadt for Karli.
Background: Karli was named winner over Addison Agen following their battle round performance of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” the most successful cover so far in Season 13 on iTunes. Janice defeated Katrina Rose in the battles; they performed “Radioactive.”
The outcome: Janice was declared the winner; Karli was eliminated from the show.
My take: First, the show is called The Voice, so Janice deserved the WIN. That was one fantastic vocal. Second, this pairing baffled me. Miley watched Karli and Addison turned in an absolutely magical performance in the battle round, picked Karli as the winner, then sets her up against Janice. Huh? A wiser option would have been to get both singers into the playoffs and let fans decide who they prefer. Oops, that’s right. Fans can’t vote in the playoffs. Folly. But how about all Karli’s success on iTunes? Oops, I almost forgot. Miley would have no idea about that because the playoffs were filmed so long ago. More folly.

THE COACHES GOT IT RIGHT

Team Jennifer Hudson

The match: Davon Fleming vs. Eric Lyn
The songs: “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe for Davon; “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye for Eric.
Background: Davon turned four chairs in the blinds; then defeated Maharasyi in the battles; theey sang “I’m Your Baby Tonight. Eric was a one-chair turn who won over Ignatious Carmouche in the battles; they sang “Unaware.”
The outcome: Davon was declared the winner; Eric was eliminated.
My take: Davon punctuated a great performance with a couple of brilliant glory notes near the end. Based on what we’ve seen and heard so far, I can’t imagine him not making the Top 12.

Team Adam Levine

The match: Addison Agen vs. Dennis Drummond
The songs: “Beneath Your Beautiful” by Labrinth for Addison; “All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix for Dennis.
Background: Adam pits his steals against one another. He picked up Addison after she lost her battle round match to Karli Webster; they did better on iTunes than anyone so far in Season 13. Dennis paired off with Mitchell Lee for a cover of Mr. Jones” in the battles.
The outcome: Addison won the match, Adam decided. Dennis was eliminated.
My take: Confession: I became an Addison fan the moment I heard her debut album, which was recorded before she auditioned for the show at the tender age of 16. So I’m rooting for her. Not a lot of vocal frills in the performance we saw tonight, but quite impressive nonetheless.

Team Jennifer Hudson

The match: Lucas Holliday vs. Shi’Ann Jones
The songs: “Who’s Loving You” by Smokey Robinson for Shi’Ann; “Tell it Like it Is” by Aaron Neville for Lucas.
Background: Shi’Ann is the youngest singer on the show. She won a battle round match with Stephan Marcellus; Lucas is the former cashier whose video went viral. He defeated Meagan McNeal in the battles.
The outcome: Jennifer declared Shi’Ann the winner; Lucas became the first singer eliminated during the knockout round.
My take: Shi’Ann might be shy, but on stage, she looks lovely and joyous and seems fearless. She might be doing better at this stage of the competition that Koryn Hawthorne or Aliyah Moulden, and they both made the finals as teenagers. A well-deserved win.