Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Voice Top 5 of Nathan Chester, Bryan Olesen, Karen Waldrup, Asher HaVon and Josh Sanders. (NBC Photo)

Monday night’s performance finale on The Voice could be something truly special.

Never before has The Voice staged a finale featuring such a seasoned array of talent.

The five finalists on The Voice include the front man for a Christian rock band, a veteran country singer, a worship leader, a skillful cruise ship entertainer and a man who once sang for President Obama.

Their average age at the time of their Voice auditions was 35.6, easily making them the oldest group of finalists in the Voice’s 25 seasons.

The youngest of the group, Nathan Chester, is 27. And has hundreds of public performances under his belt.

So stay out of their way, Voice producers. Don’t clutter up the stage with unnecessary bodies or adornments.

If someone on the production team has a fever dream about a guy twisting around on a bed in anguish and a giant teddy bear rushing to his rescue … please, pretty please, let it stay in that dream.

Keep the focus on these five talented artists. Let them shine all on their own.

Do that, and we could all be in for a special night of music.

Now, ranking the Top 5.

1. Nathan Chester (Team Legend), 27, Chicago, Ill.: Two weeks of lives, two amazing performances. Nathan was darn impressive from the opening of Monday’s performance. Once he left the mic stand, pure fire. That’s the way to entertain a crowd. And become The Voice champ.

Released music: In 2019, he played Vincent Van Gogh brother in a musical called “Starry” in New York. He’s featured on nine tracks on the “Starry” cast album, including a pair with more than 600,000 streams on Spotify. He also has three singles out under that name in the 2021-23 time frame.

2. Asher HaVon (Team Reba), 31, Selma, Ala.: When John Legend says you’re the best vocalist on the show and you aren’t even a member of his team … well, that’s pretty high praise. Praise Asher has backed up with a string of impressive performances.

Released music: He released a gospel single called “Free” in 2018 and followed up with a seven-song gospel collection called “TikTok Church Live” later the same year. He’s since released a secular EP “1991” in 2022 and a wedding song called “Solemn Swear” in 2023.

3. Bryan Olesen (Team Legend), 49, Lincoln, Neb.: Not sure what happened when Bryan covered “Against All Odds” Monday. But by Tuesday, he was back to rocking and in fine form to secure the instant save. If he rocks out like that twice more, he still might wind up winning this thing.

Released music: Four albums of original music on streaming sites with the Christian rock band VOTA, originally called Casting Pearls. The most recent is 2016’s “Fearless.” VOTA has since released a cover album, “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” that’s only available through the band’s website.

4. Karen Waldrup (Team Dan + Shay), 36, of Mandeville, La.: Karen dazzled me in the taped shows. I’m not sure the song choices have worked as well in the lives. The good news about a Voice season featuring so few performances? Karen is two “Heart Like a Truck” or “Georgia Rain” covers away from convincing me she should win.

Released music: Lots, including the albums Kendall County Road (2023) and Justified (2018) and stretching all the way back to a five-song EP in 2008. She has five stracks with more than 100,00 streams on Spotify, includng a 2018 release called “Me Again” with just shy of 600,000.

5. Josh Sanders (Team Reba), 35, Kannapolis, N.C.: His Voice performances have been solid, but he hasn’t quite delivered the vocal magic we’ve heard from the others on the list. That said, his Top 12 performance of “Angels (Don’t Always Have Wings)” was one of the most moving. Would I be shocked if he won? Not one bit.

Released music: Josh has four singles on Spotify, the most recent being “Red” from 2020. The oldest, “Riverbank,” came out in 2012.