Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Tonight, the live shows and the quarterfinals begin on The Voice.

And American Idol isn’t the only singing competition that likes to put its judges in the spotlight. The live show just opened with a medley of Queen hits by the mentors on The Voice — Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera.

Judging from that outfit she wore, I think Christina forgot that this how is supposed to be all about the voice. Just saying, not complaining.

So far, I’m a little confused about how this works. But the members of Team Christina and Team Blake will compete tonight. And it sounds like two contestants from both teams will go home next week.  Fans can start voting tonight after the show.

OK, so I’ll try grading the contestants, ala Idol.

Raquel Castro, Team Christina: The youngest performer on the show, she’ll sing “Blow.” Raquel is 16 and starred in the movie Jersey Girl as a young girl, playing Jennifer Lopez’s daughter. Raquel is looking lovely in silver on this dance number, and she’s living up to her reputation as a tiny dynamo. A very fun performance, but the vocal got a bit shouty at times. Grade: B-

Jared Blake, Team Blake: Jared is a father of six and needed two blind auditions before he found a home on Team Blake. He’ll sing “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon. Honestly, I’m not loving this rocked-out version of the song. You can tell Jared just wants to rock out. Shame he’s not singing a song he can just flat out rock on. Grade: C.

Are you following these rules on The Voice. Voting for the contestants continues through 10 a.m. EST Monday. Sounds like voters get to save one contestant on each team; the mentor gets to save another. The other two contestants go home.

Beverly McClellan, Team Christina: Watch out fellow contestants, Beverly will be singing “I’m the Only One” by Melissa Etheridge. This gal has been performing for something like 20 years. Now this is a voice. Why, if Randy was here, he might proclaim that Beverly is “in it to win it.” If her voice is suffering because of a cold, as she indicated in the lead-in clip, you’d never know it. And she still had enough energy left for a brilliant ending. Grade: A.

Dia Frampton, Team Blake: At age 23, Dia has been lead singer for a group named Meg & Dia (Meg being her sister) for some time. The group has a bunch of music available on iTunes. That said, she was introduced to us as a writer of children’s books and hasn’t shown the flair we just saw from Beverly. She’ll sing “Heartless.” Interesting. Blake is going to have her play piano to take her mind off her stage fright. OK, part of it might be that she followed Beverly. But I’m not liking this vocal at all, even if Blake gives it a standing ovation. The judges are praising her for the original take on the song. Sorry, I’ll take the Kris Allen version. Grade: C-.

Xenia, Team Blake: The bashful teen, who was quite lucky to survive the battle rounds because of pitch problems will sing “Price Tag” by Jessie J. Well, she held it together through that performance without caving to the nerves. And very sweet touch from Blake rushing on stage to reward her with a hug at the end of that performance. But at times, her voice was drowned out by the background music. The gap between that performance and the one by Beverly was ocean-like. Grade: C-

Lilly Elise, Team Christina: This 19-year-old is a student in the popular music program at USC’s Thornton School of Music. She’ll be singing “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” Wow, I am impressed. In the battle round, I thought Lilly was a case of style over substance. But she managed to show vulnerability early in the song and passion throughout. I heard a screech in there, but otherwise that was a very nice vocal on the Fergie song. Grade: B.

Patrick Thomas, Team Blake: This 20-year-old is a double major  in voice and economics at Vanderbilt University, where he’s on a full scholarship. His parents have performed on Broadway, but he’s a full-fledged country singer. He’ll sing: “I Hope You Dance,” a song he’s dedicating to his sister. He sounded pitch perfect through the early part of the song, then blasted it out on the final chorus. Cee Lo Green calls him one of the strongest contestants in the competition. And certainly the strongest member of Team Blake. Grade: B.

Frenchie Davis, Team Christina: Everyone who knows Idol knows the Frenchie Davis story. And so she goes from Idol outcast to the show-closer on the first-ever live performance of NBC’s new hit show. She’ll sing “When Love Takes Over.” Loved the opening and the ending of that performance. The middle not so much. But she certainly has a powerful voice. And just turned in one of the night’s best performances. Grade: B+

And so the first live show ends on The Voice. No need to spend the next two hours frantically voting. You’ve got until next Monday to cast ballots for these singers.

And, hey, they’re limiting the voting. Ten votes per artist per method.

These folks on The Voice rock. Vote limits. Current music. Great stuff.

As for me, I’ll return tomorrow with a recap.