Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Monday, we heard from the remaining 10 members of Team Adam and Team Blake as the live playoffs began on The Voice.

Amanda Brown of Team Adam stole the show, as evidenced by the feedback she got and the reception her rendition of “Dream On” received on iTunes the next day.

Tonight, the members of Team Cee Lo and Team Christina take the stage, vying for viewers’ votes and a chance to stay in the competition.

To review, the top two vote-getters automatically advance; the other three will have to vie for a save from their coach on Thursday’s episode.

Speaking of which, that episode will also feature a pair of special performances. Coach Adam Levine and Maroon 5 will debut their latest single, “Daylight.”

And Season 2 winner Jermaine Paul will return to perform his debut single, “I Believe in this Life.”

Team Christina:

Adriana Louise: One of the two pop singing beauties on Team Christina, she bested teenager Celica Westbrook in the knockout round by tackling the Kelly Clarkson hit “Already Gone.” She’ll sing “Fireworks” tonight. Judging from her Voice blog, a key would be overcoming her tendency to get incredibly nervous before performing. Don’t know whether it was nerves or not, but many of the lyrics in that first verse were impossible to hear. Adriana seemed to find her groove as the song went on after a slightly rough opening. No doubt she can belt when it’s required. Grade: C+

De’Borah: The best matchup on Team Christina in the knockout round wound up being this 25-year-old former church singer after former Monster Ball background singer Chevonne. De’Borah prevailed with a superlative version of “You Found Me.”  She’ll sing Pink’s “Who Knew.” Are you kidding me? She’s going crazy on this song, and doing one hell of a job singing a song by a great singer. There was one small section there where the vocals suffered slightly from the on-stage antics. Otherwise, that was flawless. She unleashed one absolutely incredible note in the middle of that song. Grade: A-

Devyn DeLoera: She has a penchant for big ballads and demonstrated it again by singing Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” in the knockout round, in which she bested Laura Vivas. And there’s certainly no need for a blind audition when Devyn steps on stage. She’ll take on “Bleeding Love.” Hmm, wasn’t thrilled with the musical arrangement of the song. And the vocal wasn’t as subtle as I was hoping. She was full throttle for most of the second half of the song. And she seemed to be going sharp much of the time. She has a big voice, I just would have preferred more feeling and less belting on that song. Grade: C-

Sylvia Yacoub: She became the latest singer to tackle a Christina song, belting out “Fighter” during the knockout round to defeat Aquile. Judging from pre-show interviews, we might see a more laid-back performance from her tonight. Sylvia is going to sing “The One That Got Away” to show off her vulnerability. Hey, Devyn, this is how you show off vulnerability. I really like this side of Sylvia. She hadn’t impressed me vocally until that performance. But that was damn impressive. Wonderful soft opening, and she still managed to show off her power and squeeze in a brilliant glory note at the end of the song. Really, really, really nice. Grade: A

Dez Duron: His take on “Stuck on You” in the knockout round was a bit of a vocal letdown after a fine battle round performance. But it was still good enough to defeat Alessandra Guercio. This week, Dez will go country with a song called “Wanted.” Christina picked the song, though Dez says he’s not a country singer. This should be interesting. Here’s what doesn’t make sense — making Dez sing a country song. Well, Dez tried his best, but if he advances, it won’t be because of that vocal. I blame Christina as much as Dez. He hit a couple of really nice high notes; otherwise that was just plain mediocre. Grade: C.

Team Cee Lo

Cody Belew: The guy who loves to put some bam-bam into his performances slowed it down in the knockout round by singing “Jolene.” By signing it so well, in fact, he upset Avery Wilson, one of the highly touted teens on the show. Cody will slow it down again, singing “One More Try.” This guy has a better voice than I would have suspected from his first couple of performances on the show. He just hit a couple of incredible notes during his rendition of that song. Plus that big glory note near the end. Very nicely done. Grade: B+

Diego Val: Flashy performances aren’t a problem for Diego, as he demonstrated again while performing Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way” during the knockout round. Whether his vocal was good enough to defeat Caitlin Michele is debatable. Singing “Bailamos” by Enrique Iglesias, Diego will try again to impress us with his vocals. If Diego advances, it won’t be because of his vocals. That was an OK performance, but nothing like the two that immediately succeeded it. For a Latin lover song, for a song that means “let’s dance,” that wasn’t as engaged as I thought it would be. Grade: C.

MacKenzie Bourg: The only performer to play guitar during the knockout round, he’s surging in popularity. His twist on “Call Me Maybe” did nothing for me, but earned him a win over Daniel Rosa. As I reported earlier this week, he’s the most popular member of Team Cee Lo in terms of Facebook likes and Twitter followers. He’ll sing “What Makes You Beautiful.” I’m liking this much better than last week’s rendition of “Call Me Maybe.” The song doesn’t show off the kind of vocal range we heard from Cody Belew and De’Borah, but it was a solid vocal from start to finish and a pretty fun performance. Grade: B-

Nicholas David: One of The Voice veterans with four albums and an EP to his credit as Nicholas Mrozinski, he sang “Put Your Records On” in the knockout round to defeat Mycle Wastman. Nicholas will be singing “My Everything” as Cee Lo encourages him to show off his soul. Well, I don’t know about swagger, but Nicholas is shuffling across the stage. He’s never going to keep his eyes open during a performance, is he? Unfortunately, the lack of stage charisma subtracts from what was a very solid vocal. We’ll have to see how much fan appeal he has. Grade: B

Trevin Hunte: One of the show’s early favorites, he was impressive again singing “Against All Odds” in a knockout round match with Terisa Griffin. I’m getting tired of hearing about his eighth-grade teacher, but not his voice. And, tonight, he gets the pimp spot, an indication the show hasn’t lost any faith in his vocal ability either. His song tonight: “How am I Supposed to Live Without You.” Cee Lo, the master of big productions, has decided to strip this one down, probably a wise decision. Hey, and Trevin’s apparently getting a Voice makeover. And, of course, Trevin is delivering another very, very good vocal. The one thing this performance doesn’t have going for it is the element of surprise — something Amanda Brown and Sylvia Yacoub delivered so well this week. Still, one of the night’s best vocals. Grade: B+