Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Top 8 on The Voice include Adam Cunningham, Chloe Kohanski, Noah Mac, Addison Agen, Brooke Simpson, Red Marlow Keisha Renee and Davon Fleming (NBC Photo)

Next week, fans of The Voice will select their Season 13 finalists.

And for those who are new fans of the show, here’s how it will work.

Each contestant will perform twice Monday night, once as a soloist and once in a duet with another finalist.

And, yep, both performances will count in the voting. In fact, there are even special voting rules for the duets. More on that in another blog.

On Tuesday night, four contestants will be eliminated. The top three vote-getters will automatically advance to the finals. The lowest two vote-getters will be automatically ousted.

Then the singers finishing fourth, fifth and sixth in the voting will sing for the last instant save of Season 13.

My advice to fans of the singers listed below: Take nothing for granted. Vote, vote, vote. By every means possible.

At this point in Season 12, Hunter Plake and Brennley Brown looked like likely finalists.

Both wound up victims of the Top 8 elimination show.

Here’s how I’m ranking the Season 13 Top 8. Last week’s ranking appears in parenthesis.

1. Addison Agen (2) (Team Adam Levine): That re-creation of Britney Spears’ pop song “Lucky” was bold, brave and lots of other things you wouldn’t expect from a 16-year-old. Plus Addison has now landed a song in the Top 10 four straight weeks. My only concern: Should she win, I just can’t see her on a stage in Vegas.

2. Chloe Kohanski (1) (Team Blake Shelton): Wow, Chloe took that artist-who-inspires-me-theme pretty seriously, right? She even looked like Deborah Harry during her performance of “Call Me.” My only complaint is that it was too much Deborah Harry and not enough Chloe. The right song choices over the next two weeks could easily deliver a Season 13 win for Chloe and Blake.

3. Noah Mac (3) (Team Jennifer Hudson): In my mind, Noah’s imaginative arrangement and performance of Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World” was the first-half highlight of last week’s show. This week, it’s going to be vitally important that Noah finish in the top 3 so he automatically advances. Otherwise, he’ll need the instant save. Noah’s from California, and you know what happens to West Coast contestants in need of a save via Twitter.

4. Red Marlow (4) (Team Blake Shelton): And in my mind, Red’s been the most consistent and most impressive of the show’s country quartet. A big moment this week would help immensely. Much like Noah, I’m not sure Red wants to put his fate in the hands of Twitter voters. He has a dedicated fan base, but he also ranks seventh among the Top 8 in his number of Twitter followers.

5. Brooke Simpson (6) (Team Miley Cyrus): Brooke stated her case for deserving a spot in the finals pretty amazingly Monday night when she sang “Amazing Grace.” The song soared to number two on iTunes. Can Brooke follow it up with another moment? One tip for Brooke: Do not let Miley pick your outfit for Monday’s show. You might wind up looking like Big Bird.

6. Keisha Renee (7) (Team Blake Shelton): I’m confused. Blake told us Keisha is always insisting on singing country songs. Now way “All By Myself” was a country performance. No matter how many times Blake dropped Carrie Underwood’s name in the rehearsal room. All that said, it was impossible to argue with the results. Keisha was impressive. The big moments she and Brooke scored on Monday tightened the competition and added suspense heading into Top 8 night.

7. Davon Fleming (5) (Team Jennifer Hudson): I had to chuckle Monday night when Blake said Davon belongs in the finals. Not because he’s wrong. But because I imagined a thought bubble over his head adding, “alongside Keisha, Chloe and Red.” But in this sense, he made a good point. This Season 13 cast is so talented, everyone on this list has finalist level talent in one sense of another.

8. Adam Cunningham (9) (Team Adam Lambert): I think Adam the singer scored his victory this week. He avoided the bottom two. I’m afraid this week, singing for an instant save is the best scenario he can hope for come Tuesday night. That statement stems more from his social media support than his performance abilities because no one on the show sings with more passion.

See also …
Who’s winning Season 13 on social media
Caution fans: Downloads alone won’t win The Voice
Hey, The Voice, about this Las Vegas business
Yep, The Voice, here’s how you promote past contestants