Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blake Shelton has plenty of assistance during the battle round on The Voice — all the members of the country band Little Big Town. (NBC Photo)

First, some musings on what we witnessed last night.

Robbed: I understand Gwen Stefani’s decision to keep John Taylor Williams; his blind audition cover of “Heartless” was still hovering near the top 100 on iTunes pop chart today. But Amanda Lee Peers won that battle round. Hands down.

Hmm: I’m left wondering if the failure of big-voiced R&B singers to make the finals in past seasons had anything to do with Pharrell Williams’ decision to advance Elyjuh Rene over Maiya Sykes. To my ears, Maiya was the stronger bet. But Sisaundra Lewis had the best voice of any Season 6 contestant and failed to advance past the Top 8.

Meanwhile: I don’t know why Blake Shelton felt like he had to choose between his two male country singers, James David Carter and Craig Wayne Boyd. Country singers have done so well on the show, I would have tried to get both to the live round and let voters decide who they preferred. Oh, well, his Craig Wayne loss is Gwen’s gain.

Best of the night: OK, that show-closer between Griffin and Luke Wade was darn good. But my favorite performance on Monday’s show came when Sugar Joans and Jean Kelley performed “Survivor.” The interplay between them toward the end of that number was nothing short of phenomenal.

And, of course, we’re still awaiting the battle round match featuring DaNica Shirey, the first York County contestant to advance through the blind auditions on The Voice.

Jordy Searcy

Taylor Phelan

Taylor Phelan vs. Jordy Searcy: 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. Jordy Searcy, 20, of Fairhope, Ala., turned three chairs singing Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love” in a blind audition that wasn’t aired. Pharrell says he teamed them up for a combination of indie rock and pop. And he’s given them “Breakeven” by the Scripts. Pharrell thinks Taylor has what it takes to win the show; he had one of the most successful blind audition songs on iTunes. Pharrell likes the fact that Jordy is different. Alicia is trying to get both singers to bring out more emotion in their performances.

Hey, Pharrell was acting as though Taylor should be the favorite. But Jordy just delivered a heck of an opening. Remember, we didn’t get to see his blind audition. OK, Taylor is delivering a fine performance as well. But when it comes down to who nailed that high note — well, Jordan hit it better. But Taylor is showing a lot of conviction and stage presence. My, my, another excellent battle on The Voice. Really nice ending, too. Adam and Blake both say they’d give a narrow edge to Taylor. My pick: Taylor, because he held his own and has an impressive blind audition track record. Pharrell’s pick: Taylor.

Joe Kirk

Alessandra Castronovo

Joe Kirk vs. Alessandra Castronovo: Joe Kirk, 17, of Nashville, performed “Lego House” for his blind audition. His vocal was impressive enough to entice all four judges to turn around. Alessandra Castronovo, 21, of Millstone Township, N.J., auditioned with “When Love Takes Over,” the David Guetta song that features vocals by Kelly Rowland. Two coaches turned around for an audition that wasn’t aired. Adam calls this an unlikely pairing. He says Alessandra has effortless power in her voice. He says Joe Kirk has a special charisma. He has them singing Rihanna’s “Stay.” Adam is complimenting Alessandra’s voice and encouraging Joe to cut loose a bit more. Adam is encouraging his two singers to “milk every moment” from the lyrics. Joe is working on shaking off a case of the nerves. Alessandra is another of those singers we barely met in the blind auditions. Follow the link above and check out a couple of her videos and I think you’ll be very impressed with her vocals.

Wonderful opening by both singers. Whatever Adam said to Joe about shaking off his nerves worked. He’s delivered a very assured performance. Dang, and both of them held a wonderful extended glory note on the first “stay.” Wow, and they just did it again. That folks, was a wonderful performance from those two young singers. Dang. Blake thinks Joe delivered one of the best battle round performances in the show’s history. The performance brought Gwen to tears. Pharrell calls Alessandra “a diva” and means it in the best possible way. My pick: Joe, because I think a young guy with that voice could catch fire on this show. Adam’s pick: Wow, he picks Alessandra. Not that she didn’t deserve it.

In battles we don’t get to see …

Team Adam: Rebekah Samarin defeats Clara Hong.

Team Blake: Grant Ganzer defeats John Martin.

Team Blake: Tanner Linford defeats Justin Johnes.

Troy Ritchie

Menlik Zergabachew

Menlik Zergabachew vs. Troy Ritchie: Menlik Zergabachew, 19, of Silver Spring, Md., performed Sublime’s “Santeria” as his audition song. He’s the reggae singer who turned a pair of chairs with that performance. Troy Ritchie, 21, of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., sang “Out of My League” by Fitz and The Trantrums in the blind audition. Gwen was the only coach to turn around for his performance. Not sure that this pairing makes a lot of sense. Gwen will have them sing “Maneater” by Hall and Oates. Menlik, who wanted to sing reggae, says he’s going to sing it with a reggae flair but needs to learn the melody, Gwen says. Troy needs to tone down the fun factor and deliver the seriousness of the lyrics, his coaches say. Meanwhile, they seem disconnected. Of course, it will all work out well, because The Voice has already spoiled the suspense. Whoever loses is going to be stolen.

OK, I think this battle was over sold. This is actually my least favorite performance in two nights. Menlik is doing, okay, given the fact that he’s being asked to sing a Hall and Oates song. Troy actually added a little reggae flavor of his own. Blake calls it bad ass, clearly more impressed by that performance than I was. Adam says Menlik and Troy both made big leaps with their performances. Blake calls it “bad ass” and the “best battle of the day.” Pharrell says he was surprised by Troy’s performance and also praised Menlik. My pick: Menlik, I suppose. He’s the more unique of the two and has a better chance for future success. Gwen’s pick: Troy.

But, hold it, of course, Menlik is going to get stolen. Adam tells him he has “a serious voice that needs to be heard.” Pharrell is also bidding for Menlik’s services. And Menlik decides to join Team Pharrell.