Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Team Blake Shelton members for the Season 15 Live Playoffs on The Voice include (from left) Kirk Jay, Funsho, Natasia Greycloud, Chris Kroeze, Michael Lee, Dave Fenley. (NBC Photo)

The six members of Team Blake Shelton squared off in the live playoffs Monday on The Voice.

On Tuesday, two of those singers will advance to the Top 13 based on fan voting.

Then Blake will get to save a third singer to advance as well.

Here are song by song grades for Team Blake from Monday’s show.

Michael Lee — Everytime I Roll the Dice — Nice upbeat and bluesy way to start the show. The music overshadowed his vocals there for a bit about a minute into the performance. Really strong ending, but there were spots during that performance where Michael’s vocals were swallowed up by the background music. Grade: B–

Dave Fenley — Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground — Wow, Dave’s voice cuts through so crystal clear. And he’s got such a distinctive tone. If there’s any justice, he’ll make the Top 13. Solid performance, start to finish, showing off Dave’s deep gravelly tone. Grade: B

Natasia Greycloud — God Is a Woman — Natasia faces an uphill battle to make the Top 13 on Team Country. She’s certainly showing off her big voice on this song, but I’m not sure the song choice is going to enthrall Team Blake voters. The rapid-talk (was that rap?) section was a bit rough. Grade: C+

Chris Kroeze — Have You Ever Seen the Rain — Nice song choice by Chris. He’s turning in a solid performance, and let’s not forget how special that performance of “Burning House” was last week. I’d vote for Chris tonight just based on the lingering effect of that. Nice little wrinkle to the ending, otherwise this was a pretty straight-up cover. Grade: B

Funsho — How Long Has This Been Going On — Look, Funsho’s getting into Team Blake mode, showing up with a guitar. He’s showing off really nice range. And turning in an overall solid performance. Like Natasia, I fear he faces an uphill battle on Team Blake, where voters are likely to gravitate toward more country style singers. Grade: B–

Kirk Jay — One More Day — Does anyone get the feeling, Kirk is producers’ chosen one from Team Blake? A pimp spot right off the back. He’s turning in a solid performance, but he missed the mark slightly on that big note. Team Blake is really going to be a tussle for those three spots tomorrow night. Oh, and now the coaches give Kirk a standing ovation. Huh? Grade: B

Summary: Based on everything we’ve seen to date, I’d award the three spots in the Top 13 to Chris Kroeze, Dave Fenley and Michael Lee. Now, that leaves out Kirk, which won’t happen. If fans don’t advance him, Blake will.

See also …
Song by song grades for Team Adam
Song by song grades for Team Jennifer
Song by song grades for Team Kelly
Apple Music songs returning, but with a voting twist