Idol Chatter & Voice Views

If you haven’t heard, The Voice has decided to squeeze its typical three-night live playoff event into one two-hour show in Season 11.

Blame Election 2016. And plenty of folly on The Voice’s part. More on that here.

But the end result is that the field of 20 contestants will be whittled down to the 12 who will compete in the finals by the end of Monday’s show.

Here’s a look at the teams entering the playoffs, with my predictions on who will (and, in some cases, who should) advance.’

As always, following the links will lead you to a profile of the contestant. The number in parenthesis indicates blind audition chair turns.

Team Adam Levine’s live playoff lineup includes (from left) Brendan Fletcher, Billy Gilman, Simone Gundy, Josh Gallagher and Riley Elmore. (NBC Photo)

TEAM ADAM

Billy Gilman (4)
Brendan Fletcher (3)
Josh Gallagher (2)
Simon Gundy (2)
Riley Elmore (1)

Prediction: Former child country star Billy Gilman is one of the favorites to win the show. And he’s scored the best charting song so far, hitting number 18 on iTunes in the blind audition round. Brendan Fletcher is Team Adam’s dark horse. I expect them to be voted into the finals. That leaves Adam the decision of choosing to advance Riley, a talented teen who’s not nearly as ready for prime time as a lot of singers on the show; Simone, who’s going to have trouble standing out in a field of female R&B singers; or Josh, who has the benefit of being one of very few pure country singers on the show. I’d go with Josh.

Team Alicia Keys’ lineup for the live playoffs includes (from left) — Kylie Rothfield, Josh Halverson, Christian Cuevas, We McDonald and Sa’Rayah. (NBC Photo)

TEAM ALICIA

We McDonald (4)
Christian Cuevas (3)
Josh Halverson (3)
Kylie Rothfield (2)
Sa’Rayah (2)

Prediction: Young R&B singer We McDonald is clearly a show favorite and one of only three singers to turn four chairs during the blind auditions who’s still in the competition. But she hasn’t charted as well as Christian Cuevas and Josh Halverson, both of whom have hit the singles charts on iTunes in all three rounds so far. Josh is particularly interesting; he’s lost the last two rounds only to wind up back where he started, on Team Alicia. He also had the best charting song in the knockouts. I won’t be surprised if he and Christian win on votes, forcing Alicia to use her save on We.

The Team Blake Shelton lineup for the live playoffs includes (from left) — Austin Allsup, Courtney Harrell, Jason Warrior, Dana Harper and Sundance Head. (NBC Photo)

TEAM BLAKE

Courtney Harrell (2)
Dana Harper (2)
Jason Warrior (2)
Sundance Head (2)
Austin Allsup (1)

Prediction: I’ll be shocked if Team Blake’s only pure country artist — Sundance Head — doesn’t advance to the finals. I think he’s a pretty sure bet to win on fan voting. After that, anything could happen, though I’m hoping the other two spots go to Jason Warrior, who’s been impressive in all three rounds so far; and Courtney Harrell, who might have turned in Season 11’s best performance yet when she covered “River Deep, Mountain High” in the knockout round. And don’t look now, but she’s one of only five singers to land on the iTunes Top 200 in all three rounds of the competition.

The Team Miley Cyrus lineup for the live playoffs includes, from left — Sophia Urista, Ali Caldwell, Belle Jewel, Darby Walker and Aaron Gibson (NBC Photo)

TEAM MILEY

Ali Caldwell (4)
Aaron Gibson (3)
Belle Jewel (1)
Darby Walker (3)
Sophia Urista (2)

Prediction: The favorites here are pretty clear: Aaron, Ali and Darby, partly because Sophia was the only knockout winner montaged and Belle was montaged in the first two rounds. The lack of screentime could hurt their voting totals. That said, if Ali isn’t voted in and Miley pays any attention to iTunes, she’d see that the four-chair turn with the brilliant voice isn’t connecting with viewers; Ali still hasn’t cracked the iTunes Top 200 singles chart. Aaron, on the other hand, is one of the handful of singers who has wound up there following all three rounds. I wouldn’t be sorry to see rocker Sophia or singer-songwriter Belle make the finals, if only to make the Top 12 more diverse.