Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Top 8 on The Voice includes (from left) Katie Kadan, Marybeth Byrd, Will Breman, Kat Hammock, Jake Hoot, Hello Sunday, Ricky Duran and Rose Short. (NBC Photo)

If you’re a longtime Voice fan, you know how this week will work.

But for those who need a refresher, here’s what will happen.

Each member of the Top 8 will sing a solo on Monday night. Each will also be paired up for a duet.

It’s ’80s Week on The Voice, but judging from the episode synopsis, it sounds like the theme applies only to the duets.

On results night, the Top 3 vote-getters advance to the Season 17 finals. The bottom two vote-getters are automatically eliminated.

The three artists in between will sing for the season’s final save and the fourth spot in the finale.

Now, it’s time to rank the Top 8.

1. Rose Short (Team Gwen) (3): Okay, Rose will not win. She might not even get one of the automatic berths in the finale. That’s how it goes for talented female R&B singers on The Voice. But let me plead my case: While the other front-runners were doing the expected last week, Rose did the unexpected (covering Blake’s God’s Country) and turned in one of the best vocals of the night. That was a bold and brilliant move from someone who should be included in any discussion of Season 17 front-runners.

2. Jake Hoot (Team Kelly) (2): I haven’t been able to confirm it yet, but I suspect Jake won the streaming bonus for the third straight time last week. If so, and if he does it again in the semifinals, that means he would enter the finals with five times more cumulative votes than anyone else. And that, folks, combined with his consistently solid performances and Voice fans’ love of country artists, will make him the favorite to win Season 17.

3. Katie Kadan (Team Legend) (1): Her Adele’s performance was excellent. And she still fell behind Jake on iTunes for the first time. She definitely belongs in finale, but those booming vocals alone might not be enough to bring her the Season 17 crown.

4. Will Breman (Team Legend) (7): Okay, he has won me over. I truly thought Will was show-boating with all his on-stage antics during the battle round. Now, I’m come to realize that’s just part of his performance style. And last week’s show-closing performance merely makes me eager to see what he’ll do next.

See also …
Social media leaders among the Top 8
iTunes results for the Top 10
iTunes results for the Top 11
iTunes results for the Top 13

5. Ricky Duran (Team Blake) (5): Lost among some of the more surprising performances Monday night was the fact that Ricky — always steady — delivered his best yet. And he might be Blake’s best hope of continuing an impressive string of having a singer in the finals for 11 straight seasons. That includes at least two finalists in four of the past five seasons.

6. Marybeth Byrd (Team Legend) (4): Somewhat surprisingly, the former four-chair turn needed a save to make the semifinals. Her best approach would be to shy away from a big belting number for Monday’s solo — she can’t match Rose or Katie when it comes to vocal firepower — and go with a softer, emotional performance instead. That’s when her voice sounds exquisite.

7. Kat Hammock (Team Blake) (6): Song choice is everything for Kat, and last week’s song choice did her no favors. Given the strength of this year’s cast, I think she’ll need to instant-save her way into the finals to advance.

8. Hello Sunday (Team Kelly): In my book, you don’t get bonus points for being young. And this duo has been way too inconsistent to merit a spot in Season 17 finals. But the fact that they haven’t been forced to sing for a save yet means they could get a chance to sing for Tuesday’s save.