Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Gwen Stefani with Taylor Swift, who will mentor all four teams during the knockout round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

The knockout round returns to The Voice tonight after a one-season absence.

Last spring, The Voice opted for a pair of battle rounds instead of a knockout round.

I prefer this format much better; I suspect contestants do, too.

The battle round is a strange beast. Teammates are asked to compete against each other while singing a duet. Except they also have to work together to make the performance as strong as possible. And, far too often it seems, coaches pick a song that favors one singer over the other.

During the knockout round, it’s all about solos. Each contestant selects a song and gives it her or his best.

Which seems more appropriate for this competition. We are, after all, searching for the best voice, not the best duo.

Taylor Swift will be the guest star for the next two weeks, serving as a mentor for all four teams.

Sugar Joans

Bryana Salaz

Bryana Salaz, 16, of San Antonio, Texas, auditioned with Ariana Grande’s “Problem,” showing off tons of potential and charisma. She turned three chairs. She defeated Gianna Salvato, who turned one chair in the blinds, during the battle round. They performed “Boom Clap.” Sugar Joans, 24, of Los Angeles, auditioned with “Chain of Fools,” displaying a nice rasp in her voice. She also turned two chairs. In the battle round, she squared off against another two-chair turn recipient, Jean Kelley. They turned in one of the best battles of Season 7, singing “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child. Sugar won, and Jean was stolen. Bryana is going to sing “Heart Attack” by Demi Lovato. Gwen and Taylor are trying to make sure Bryana connects with the song and shows some restraint rather than just showing off her vocal prowess. Sugar is going to sing Beyonce’s “Love on Top,” saying she likes the song’s “old-school flair.” Taylor calls her a stunning performer.

Bryana’s up first. And she’s following the coaching tips and easing her way into the song. Wow, big voice for such a small, young lady. Which she does a great job of showing off the first time she hits the chorus. And how about her composure on a national stage at such a young age? That, folks, was a blistering performance from young Ms. Salaz. Now Sugar, eight years her senior, takes the stage. She has such a nice jazzy tone to her voice. And she works one of those signature growls into the first verse. Her vocals bring Pharrell to his feet in the middle of the song. Another really strong performance. Good luck, Gwen, this is gonna be a tough call. Adam, Pharrell and Blake praise them both. And Pharrell pledges to press his button, should Sugar lose. My pick: Bryana, just because she was so impressive at such a young age. Gwen’s pick: Bryana.

And Pharrell follows through with his promise and uses his only knockout round steal to swipe Sugar Joans.

Daniel Griffin

James David Carter

James David Carter, 34, of Atlanta, Ga., auditioned with Kevin Sharp’s hit, “Nobody Knows,” and earned a quick four-chair turn with his stellar vocals. In the battle round, he defeated another country singer, Craig Wayne Boyd, who turned a pair of chairs in the blinds. For the battle, they performed “Wave on Wave” by Pat Green. Griffin, 23, of Greenville, S.C., auditioned with a fun, upbeat version of Michael Buble’s “It’s a Beautiful Day.” He turned three chairs. He lost his Team Pharrell battle round match to four-chair turn recipient Luke Wade. But their performance of “Maybe I’m Amazed” was so good, both Blake and Gwen wanted to steal Griffin. He decided to join Team Blake. James has selected “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor, saying he wants to show the singer-songwriter part of himself and sing the way he would have recorded it as a country artist. Both Taylor and Blake are encouraging James to find a spot in the song to shine vocally. Griffin is singing “As Long as You Love Me” by Justin Bieber, promising to put his own twist on the tune.

James is up first. I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t advance. He wanted to bring a singer-songwriter vibe to the knockouts, and he’s done that. And he’s trying to spice up the chorus with some vocal wrinkles. And he winds up delivering a solid performance, but nothing particularly flashy, which I have a feeling Griffin will deliver. Now it’s his turn. Not thrilled with the opening. Then again, I’m not exactly a Justin Bieber fan. Pharrell compliments James for bringing his own flavor to the song and says Griffin managed to do the same. Gwen also liked both, but says James gave her goosebumps. Both Adam and Gwen, however, say they’d give the knockout win to James. My pick: James. I have a hunch we’ll see him deep in this competition. Blake’s pick: James.

Katriz Trinidad

DaNica Shirey

Katriz Trinidad, 15, of San Diego, Calif., turned to an old favorite — Etta James’ “At Last” — for her audition. She turned three chairs. In the battle round, she defeated a four-chair turn recipient, Blessing Offor. They performed “Do I Do” by Stevie Wonder. DaNica Shirey, 25, of York, Pa., auditioned with Jessie J’s “Big White Room.” She turned three chairs and became York County’s first-ever contestant on the show. In the battle round, she defeated Toia Jones, a two-chair turn recipient in the blind auditions. They sang Beyonce’s “Halo.” And Pharrell says he’s paired them because they’re both vocal powerhouses. DaNica is going to sing Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love for You.” Taylor calls DaNica a classic case of someone who’s “insecurity fuels their talent.” But she and Pharrell are praising her rehearsal performance. Katriz is going to sing “Super Woman” and she’ll dedicate the performance to her mother who she says is always there for her. Taylor says she’s very polished for such a young age. But they want to see her show more personality on stage.

DaNica is up first. Folks, this young woman can sing. That opening is fabulous. And listen to the power in her voice. I’m not a huge fan of this song, but DaNica is making me love it. She nailed some incredible notes through that performance and delivered a wonderful ending. OK, this won’t necessarily be easy, because Katriz is quickly showing that she’s another small young teen with a huge voice. I’m just not sensing quite as much passion in her performance, but she has already nailed two glorious glory notes. She’s another very young performer who isn’t showing the least bit of nerves performing on a national stage. Gwen is praising them both. Adam says DaNica sang “the crap out of that song.” Blake compliments Katriz for stepping up, and for being so cute. Blake calls DaNica “a perfect singer.” Pharrell calls them both amazing. My pick: DaNica for her passion. Pharrell’s pick: DaNica. She advances again. Pharrell is shown saying he thinks she could be one of the singers in the running to win the competition.

Damien Lawson

Toia Jones

Damien Lawson, 35, of Monroe, La., auditioned with Boyz II Men’s “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” and displayed one of the best pure voices we heard during week one of Season 7. He turned all four chairs. In the battle round, he defeated Kelli Douglas, who turned three chairs in the blind audition. They performed Otis Redding’s “Knock on Wood.” Toia Jones, 29, of Montgomery, Ala., auditioned with Adele’s “One and Only.” She turned two chairs with a powerful performance of the song. In the battle round, she performed Beyonce’s “Halo” and lost to DaNica Shirey. But both Gwen and Adam tried to steal her; Toia opted to join Team Adam. Damien is going to sing “How Do I Live” by LeAnn Rimes. He says he wants to show another side of himself by singing a country song and says he likes songs with deep meaning. He gets high praise for his rehearsal. Toia is going to sing “Crazy in Love,” saying she wants to show the type of performer she can be. Yep, she’s picked another Beyonce song.

Damien goes first. Adam seems to think he has the edge entering the performance. And he’s starting off very strong. There’s no doubting the emotion he’s pouring into the song. It’s an emotional performance that appears to have Gwen on the verge of tears. And Damien closes with a heck of a glory note, following by a wonderfully tender ending. Very nice. Toia takes the stage and quickly shows off her performance style. Not loving the song choice, but Taylor asked her to bring out the crazy in the song, and she’s doing her best to follow that advice. Toia has her former coach Pharrell on his feet. Toia is proving herself one heck of a performer. We’re seeing a quite a contrast in styles with those two performances, folks. Blake compliments Toia for her performance and says he’d give the win to her. Pharrell says Toia “tore this place down.” Gwen also picks Toia. My pick: Toia, just based on the fun she had with that performance. Adam’s pick: Damien. He says he thinks he’s more prepared to move on in the competition. Pharrell would clearly like to steal her back, but he’s already used his steal.

Tanner Linford

Jessie Pitts

Jessie Pitts, 18, of Birmingham, Ala., auditioned with Brandi Carlile’s “The Story,” showing off a beautiful, delicate and distinctive voice that prompted a pair of chair turns. She landed a spot on Team Gwen, but lost her battle round to Ryan Sill after a performance of “I Need Your Love” by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding. Blake stole her at that point. Tanner Linford, 17, of Kaysville, Utah, auditioned with Alison Krauss’ “When You say Nothing at All.” Blake Shelton turned at the last moment, giving the returning contestant a spot on the show. In the battle round, he defeated fellow teen Justin Johnes with One Direction’s “You and I.” Jessie is going to perform “Your Song” by Elton John with “my little twist.” She plans to do the Ellie Goulding version. Taylor calls her performance “endearing.” Tanner will sing “Calling All Angels” by Train, saying the song represents the kind of artist he wants to be. During rehearsals, Blake says he likes the fact that Tanner is coming out of his shell.

Jessie’s up first, and immediately displays that wonderfully unique voice of hers. She has one of my favorite voices on this show. And I appreciate that this version is so different from the original. Very nice ending, too. Tanner’s going to put up a fight; that’s clear from his opening note. That said, he might have bitten off a bit too much with this song choice. He delivers some really nice big notes, though. Pharrell says he would give the win to Jessie for showing so many shades in her performance. Gwen called Jessie’s performance “off the charts.” Adam says Tanner sings like he’s 6-3, 250, despite his small size and youth. My pick: Jessie. Blake’s pick: Jessie.

Luke Wade

Taylor Phelan

Luke Wade, 31, of Dublin, Texas, performed Otis Redding’s “That’s How Strong Love Is” for his audition and turned four chairs way back in the season premiere. In the battle round, he defeated three-chair turn recipient Griffin. For their battle, they performed “Maybe I’m Amazed.” Taylor Phelan, 25, of Sherman, Texas, auditioned with The Neighbourhood’s “Sweater Weather,” turned four chairs and wound up with one of the most successful blind audition singles on iTunes. In the battle round, he defeated Jordy Searcy. They performed “Breakeven” by the Scripts. Jordy had turned three chairs with his blind audition. Yep, for some reason Pharrell has decided to pit a pair of four-chair turns against one another.

Luke says he’ll be singing “Rich Girl” by Hall and Oates. He says he wants to show he can take a pop song and make it his own. Taylor Swift says he has a great radio voice. Pharrell likes his “unique spirit.” Taylor Phelan will sing “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit. Taylor Swift encourages him to put down his guitar, calling it his “teddy bear.” She wants to see him cut loose on stage. Luke is up first. Dang, nice tone. And wonderful wrinkle he just threw into that performance. He’s stalking around the stage like he owns it. That, folks, was the best performance we’ve seen from a male singer so far tonight. Taylor Phelan next. I actually like his song choice better. That said, I’m not sure it provided as many opportunities for vocal fireworks. And that could cost him. My pick: Luke. Gwen calls Luke’s song choice “perfect for his voice.” She liked Taylor’s performance style. Adam vows to steal the loser. Blake says it’s literally “unbelievable” how talented Luke is, but he thought Luke ad libbed too much. Pharrell’s pick: Luke.

But it’s clear, Taylor isn’t going anywhere. Adam and Gwen both want him on their teams. OK, so does Blake. Adam says “he’s shocked” Taylor is available. Gwen calls him “a real artist.” Blake says he wants to “shine the spotlight” on Taylor all the way to the finale. And Taylor is asking his wife, sitting in the audience, who to chose. Taylor decides to join Team Adam.