Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Top 5 on The Voice, Taylor John Williams, Chris Jamison, Matt McAndrew, Damien Lawson and Craig Wayne Boyd. (NBC Photo)

Hey, look, at this point on The Voice we aren’t going to see many subpar performances; the remaining five are just too talented for that.

So what the coaches had better strive for is a perfect match of singer and song. And, most importantly, a song that will strike a chord with viewers at home.

Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani did that splendidly last week with Matt McAndrew (“Blower’s Daughter”), Taylor John Williams (“Royals) and Damien Lawson (“Someone Like You”). That’s why those performances landed in the Top 10 on iTunes.

Pharrell Williams did not; clearly he was listening to way too much music from the ’80s before selecting songs for DaNica Shirey (“These Dreams”) and Luke Wade (“Hold Back the Years”). And I’m convinced that’s a major reason he’s the only coach without a singer left on the show.

I’d also note that all of the songs in the Top 10 on iTunes last week were released since 2000.

Gwen, Adam and Blake Shelton will get two chances to get things right this week. If The Voice follows its recent format, everyone will sing twice Monday night.

Check back Monday at 8 p.m. I’ll be live blogging and grading each performance as it occurs.

And for a look at the latest social media stats for the Top 5, head here.

Here are the new rankings:

1. Matt McAndrew (2, Team Adam): Having watched it back, I didn’t show enough appreciation for Matt’s version of “The Blower’s Daughter” in last week’s song by song grades blog. He navigated the Damien Rice composition darn near flawlessly. On Saturday at noon, four days after the voting window closed, Matt’s cover was still in the Top 30 on iTunes singles chart. The next closest Voice performance: Taylor John Williams at number 86. (videos)

2. Craig Wayne Boyd (1, Team Blake): I’m a fan of the Eagles music, but if Blake Shelton wanted Craig Wayne Boyd to do something fun-loving last week, I’m pretty sure there are dozens of country-rock tunes with more dynamics than “Take It Easy.” The song just about took him on an easy-going ride into the bottom four. And it wasn’t because he didn’t sing well enough or show enough conviction on stage. (videos)

3. Taylor John Williams (3, Team Gwen): At one point, I considered Taylor John the least consistent of the show’s front-runners. But he seems to be finding his stride at just the right time, putting together splendid performances the past two weeks. And it’s hard not to admire his artistry. He took an incredibly popular current hit last week, switched it up and landed in bonus-point territory for the first time. (videos)

4. Damien Lawson (#4, Team Adam): The best voice among the Top 5? Last week’s Adele cover certainly made a case for that argument. And I’m glad fans showed their appreciation by putting Damien in the Top 10 on iTunes, because Voice fans haven’t always been so appreciative of R&B/Soul artists. “Someone Like You” also hit number one on the R&B/Soul chart, the third time Damien’s done that in the last four weeks. (videos)

5. Chris Jamison (#7, Team Adam): If I hear how good-looking Chris is one more time, I might throw something at my TV. If he gets the pimp spot one more time, I might throw something at my TV. Hey, Adam, this is called The Voice, remember? Has Chris improved his stage presence? Yep. Does he have a great falsetto? Yep. Did he pull off “Sexual Healing” nearly as well as the other four singers left pulled off their songs last week? Nope. (videos)

Wild Card candidates

Anita Antoinette (videos)

DaNica Shirey (videos)

Jessie Pitts (videos)

Luke Wade (videos)

Reagan James (videos)

Ryan Sill (videos)

Sugar Joans (videos)