Idol Chatter & Voice Views

We’ve watched three weeks of blind auditions.

Now it’s time for battles on The Voice.

That means we’ll bid farewell to some singers tonight.

Others will get a second chance thanks to steals.

For a look at why Team Blake and Team Adam might have an edge in the competition, head here. You’ll also find links to bios and pre-Voice videos for each of the 48 Season 6 contestants.

And here we go …

TEAM USHER

T.J. Wilkins

Biff Gore

Biff Gore vs. T.J. Wilkins: Biff Gore, 45, of Denver, Colo., is the worship leader whose wife was pregnant with child number six when he auditioned with “A Change is Gonna Come” and enticed all four judges to turn their chairs. T.J. Wilkins 23, of Los Angeles, is the young man who credits his mom for steering him away from trouble and the gang life as a young man. He sang “Bennie and the Jets” in the blinds and turned three chairs.

Wow, Usher is pairing up two of his best. They’ll sing “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” About 20 years of age separate these two guys. Biff has a new child; T.J. just graduated from college. The rehearsals focused on getting both guys to pour their feelings into the performance. I won’t be surprised if a steal is in the offing. I mean how do you choose between these guys? Both are vocally impressive. Like the fact that Usher picked a song that landed in the wheelhouse of both guys. And Biff is showing off some moves on stage. Watch out, T.J., he might just upstage you. Very nice performance from both guys. My take: I think I’d give the edge to T.J. for a slightly wider vocal range. Usher decides: He says they were both perfect, each pushing the other to do better. Usher picks T.J.

The steal? And I told you. Blake steals Biff, calling him a great entertainer. “I’m alive,” Biff proclaims.

TEAM BLAKE

Jake Worthington

Lexi Luca

Lexi Luca vs. Jake Worthington: Jake Worthington, 17, of LaPorte, Texas, is the guy who returned to the show after a Season 5 misfire. He turned three chairs his second time around, performing “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” Lexi Lucca, 17, of Wellington, Fla., had just Blake turn for her performance of “Wasting All These Tears,” but didn’t mind since she sings country-pop.

Blake has paired the teens against one another and has them singing Thomas Rhett’s “It Goes Like This.” Initially, Jake seems more comfortable with the song, and Lexi is struggling with her nerves. But she shows great improvement between the first and second rehearsals. Jake has a nice tone, but also a tendency to mumble his lyrics. Almost immediately, you can see that Lexi is more expressive on stage. Hey, and she has a sweet tone to her voice. We saw only a couple of seconds of her blind audition. But her voice strays off pitch just a bit when she goes for the really big notes. Jake turned in a solid performance, and his vocals improved as the song went on. Wow, another close call. My take: I’d give the edge to Jake by the narrowest of margins because he’s the slightly better singer at this point. Blake decides: Jake advances.

The steal? No one steals Lexi.

TEAM SHAKIRA

DeShawn Washington

Dani Moz

Dani Moz vs. DeShawn Washington: Dani Moz, of Delmar, N.Y., performed “I Need Your Love” for her blind audition, slowing down the dance song and turning it into an R&B pop jam to land a spot on Team Shakira. DeShawn Washington, 23, of Natchitoches, La., is the young man who left college to help out his family financially. He sang “Twistin’ the Night Away” for his audition; only Shakira turned.

She’s got them singing “My Kind of Love” by Emeli Sandé. Though it’s a song by a female, DeShawn says he feels comfortable with it. Dani seems to find a quick comfort level with the song as well. Sounds like this is going to be a battle between two big voices. Dani is sounding better and better. DeShawn has a really gritty sound. DeShawn started a little slow, but picked it up over the course of the performance. He had to if he wanted to keep pace, because Dani was tearing up the stage. Talk about pouring heart and soul into the performance. Dani also hit some incredible notes. My take: Dani takes it. I thought she ruled that stage. Shakira’s decision: She declares Dani the winner, saying she thinks she has more potential moving forward.

The steal? DeShawn doesn’t get stolen, though Usher looked tempted.

TEAM ADAM

Kat Perkins

Patrick Thompson

Kat Perkins and Patrick Thompson: Kat Perkins, 33, of Minneapolis, Minn., is the former lead singer of the rock band Scarlet Haze who turned three chairs singing “Gold Dust Woman.” Patrick Thompson, 35, of Festus, Missouri, is the guy who told The Voice he’s worked lots of jobs in his life, some picked because of how they would affect his schedule playing music. He sang “Can’t You See” in the blinds and turned two chairs.

Interesting song choice: Adam has given them “Whenever I Call You Friend,” a duet recorded by Kenny Loggins and Stevie Nicks. Patrick seems a bit tentative; Kat seems determined to belt at full volume. Patrick has a great raspy tone. Dang, Kat just held a note forever. I can see why she ditched country for rock music. She’s a natural belter. But Patrick certainly held his own as well. Wow, two big voices. My take: I’d give Kat a slight edge. She hit two incredible glory notes during that performance. Adam’s choice: And Adam selects Kat as well.

The steal? And Shakira steals Patrick Thompson, saying she’s a “sucker” for voices like his.

TEAM BLAKE:

Paula DeAnda

Sisaundra Lewis

Paula DeAnda vs. Sisaundra Lewis: Paula Deanda, 24, of San Antonio, Texas, is the young woman who was once signed by Clive Davis and released two gold singles at age 16. She turned two chairs singing “The Way” in the blinds. Sisaundra Lewis, 44, of Orlando, Fla., is the former vocal director for Celine Dion. She got all four judges to turn around for her performance of “Ain’t No Way.”

Blake has given them “Do What You Want,” a duet performed previously on The Voice by Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera. Paula admits she was a little intimidated when she heard she was matched up with Sisaundra. Blake says Paula is going to have to play it up a little while Sisaundra is going to have to pick her moments judiciously. Paula looks like a million bucks and turned in a vocal that kept getting stronger; she clearly knows her way around a stage. But she just ran into a buzz-saw in Sisaundra. She hit an incredible note midway through that performance. If she was picking her moments, she picked an awful lot of them. She might have oversung just a wee bit. My take: Sisaundra has the potential to win Season 6. Blake’s pick: Sisaundra.

The steal? Paula does not get stolen.

TEAM USHER

Stevie Jo

Jake Barker

Jake Barker vs. Stevie Jo: Stevie Jo, 19, of Tyler, Texas, is the guy whose parents were members of hard rock bands and who auditioned with an Usher song, “There Goes My Baby.” One judge turned: Usher. Jake Barker, 28, of St. Petersburg, Fla., is the young man who made his live performance debut on The Voice stage and turned three chairs singing “When I Was Your Man.”

He has these young men singing “Higher Love.” Usher’s encouraging Stevie Jo to use his rock voice. He’s encouraging Jake to project more. Both guys are off to a bit of a shaky start. For only his second time on stage though, Jake is moving around and pouring a good deal of emotion into the song. In fact, he seems a little more natural on stage than Stevie Jo. They’re getting rave reviews from the coaches. And Adam has already announced that he’ll steal the loser. My take: Jake because of the stage presence he showed in just his second performance. Usher’s decision: He picks Stevie Jo.

The steal? Yep, Shakira and Adam both want to steal Jake. As it turns out, so does Blake. And Jake decides to join Team Adam.