Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Voice will wrap up its Season 8 battle round tonight, and only one steal remains.

It belongs to Pharrell, who has seen three of his singers — Meghan Linsey, Travis Ewing and Kimberly Nichole — swiped by other coaches in the past two weeks.

Among the contestants we still haven’t heard from in the battles are Jeremy Gaynor and Sawyer Fredericks, both of whom turned four chairs during the blind auditions.

TEAM CHRISTINA

Jeremy Gaynor vs. Rob Taylor: Jeremy Gaynor, 30, of West Point, N.Y., auditioned with “Superstar” and turned all four chairs during the blind auditions. Rob Taylor, 22, of Donaldson, La., sang Luke James “I Want You,” displaying spot-on vocals from the word go. He turned three chairs in the blind audition. Interesting choice from Christina. She’s giving these two guys “Animals” by Maroon 5. Rather than giving them a classic song, she wants to see what they can do with a current pop/rock hit. That said, she’s also encouraging them to rework the song to suit their style.

These are two of Christina’s best, so this should be interesting. And right out of the gate, both singers prove they’re capable of handling the song from the standpoint of range. They also both showed off considerable charisma during that performance. I thought Jeremy stayed a little bit more in control over the course of the performance. I’d give a slight edge to Jeremy. Blake calls it a very intense performance and says Christina can’t go wrong in picking a winner. Adam notes that he turned around for both singers during the blinds; he’d give the edge to Jeremy. Christina names Rob the winner.

TEAM PHARRELL

Noelle Bybee vs. Sawyer Fredericks: Noelle Bybee, 18, of Ogden, Utah, sang Vampire Weekend’s “Unbelievers” in an audition that was part of a montage. Only Pharrell turned around. Sawyer Fredericks, 15, of Fultonville, N.Y., auditioned with the classic folk song “Man of Constant Sorrow.” All four coaches turned their chairs for his performance. Which means on the face of it, this looks like a mismatch. But remember what happened just last night when India Carney (four chairs) met Clinton Washington (1 chair) in The Voice’s phony boxing ring. Pharrell has them singing “Have You Ever Seen the Rain.” “It’s a classic, but they have to make it new,” he says. “They both sing in a way that’s totally unexpected.” Noelle says there are parts of the song that are out of her comfort zone and she considers herself an underdog, but she wants to be an underdog who surprises.

Great opening by Sawyer. I think he’s a big favorite in this match. That said, Noelle sounded really refreshingly unique on her initial solo. And they harmonized very well. Yeah, I see what Pharrell meant about Noelle having a distinctive sound. Very nice. That said, Sawyer’s blind audition song did better than anyone else’s on iTunes. Pharrell has to take that into consideration, right? So if the two of them sounded equally good, the win would still go to Sawyer. Adam applauds their artistry, but says he’d go with Sawyer. Blake says it’s vocally dead even and they both have great hair. Blake says he’s a big fan of Noelle’s voice. Christina says she has the voice of an angel. She also has praise for Sawyer’s artistry. Pharrell declares Sawyer the winner.

In three battles we don’t get to see …

Lexi Davila advanced over Bren’nae DeBarge on Team Adam
Brooke Adee advanced over Bay Brooks on Team Blake
Koryn Hawthorne advanced over Vance Smith on Team Christina

Corey Kent White vs. Jacob Rummell: Corey Kent White, 20, of Bixby, Oakla., performed the Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried” and turned two chairs, picking Blake despite intense lobbying by Pharrell, with an assist from Adam Levine. Jacob Rummell, 18, of Hartville, Ohio, sang Bruno Mars’ “Count on Me.” He turned two chairs as well and surprised many when he chose Blake over Adam. Blake has them singing “I Want Crazy” by Hunter Hayes, saying his music falls right between country and pop and has lyrics the two young guys can relate to. Blake says Jacob has to work on controlling his nerves. Meghan is trying to break Corey of his habit of closing his eyes when he sings. She wants him to use his “adorable face.”

Neither started particularly strong. But Jacob hit a heck of a note at the end of his first line. And both are doing a nice job of managing these rapid-fire lyrics. Obviously, Corey’s voice seems much better suited to the song. Wow, Blake didn’t exactly select an easy song for them, did he? And congrats to both these young men for looking so comfortable on stage. All that said, I’d pick Corey. Christina called it “super fun.” She likes Jacob’s magnetism. Adam likes the way Jacob handled a country song. Blake calls it a dead-even battle, but awards the win to Corey, which makes sense.

Jacob gets the last steal of the battle round, thanks to Pharrell.