Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Adam Pearce and Emily Luther listen to feedback on their knockout round performance on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

In fact, it’s not unusual to see an upset in one of the early rounds and a four-chair turn recipient get bumped from the competition.

That isn’t the case in Season 13. At least it hasn’t been so far.

Four more singers took their four-chair-turn pedigrees into the knockout round during the episode that aired Monday night and all four advanced.

That means we’ll get to hear Brooke Simpson, Jon Mero, Moriah Formica and Keisha Renee again in the non-live playoffs that start next week.

And that means all six of Season 13’s four-chair turns have made the playoffs. Chris Weaver and Davon Fleming advanced from last Monday’s show.

Here’s my recap on what happened Monday.

BEST DUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT

Team Adam Levine

The match: Emily Luther versus Adam Pearce
The songs: Emily sang “Glitter in the Air” by Pink; Adam sang “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple.
Background: Emily turned three chairs in the blind audition; her battle round win over Gary Carpentier wasn’t shown. Adam turned two chairs in the blinds; then performed “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” with Whitney Fenimore in the battle round.
The outcome: Emily was declared the winner; Adam was stolen by Miley Cyrus, meaning both advance to the playoffs.
My take: Tough match to judge because they’re such different singers. Emily’s pitch perfect, enthralling performance didn’t surprise me, because I’ve watched her pre-show videos. Vocally, Adam might not quite have matched that, but there’s little to fault with his high-energy performance and that big glory note at the end.

TOLD YOU SO

Team Jennifer Hudson

The match: Noah Mac versus Jeremiah Miller
The songs: Noah performed “Hold Back the River” by James Bay; Jeremiah performed “Sorry” by Justin Bieber
Background: Noah turned two chairs in the blinds; then was stolen by Jennifer after he and Keisha Renee performed “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” in the battle round. Jeremiah turned two chairs in the blinds; then defeated Alexandra Joyce in a battle round match that was montaged.
The outcome: Noah received deserved high praise from all the coaches and advanced to the playoffs; Jeremiah was eliminated.
My take: Noah’s performance started a bit slow, but once he stood up and started prowling the stage, he was pure fire. It merely reinforced my belief that one of the biggest blunders of the battle round was Blake’s decision to cut him free. I expect him to get better and better.

BY THE NARROWEST OF MARGINS

Team Miley Cyrus

The match: Moriah Formica versus Whitney Fenimore
The songs: Moriah performed “These Hazel Eyes” by Kelly Clarkson; Whitney chose “Calling All Angels” by Train.
Background: Moriah is one of two Team Miley singers who turned all four chairs in the blinds. She was impressive again in the battles when she and Shilo Gold performed “Crazy on You.” Whitney Fenimore is a new member of Team Miley, stolen afterr she and Adam Pearce performed “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” in the battles. She turned two chairs in the blinds.
The outcome: Miley picked Moriah to advance to the playoffs; Whitney was eliminated.
My take: Whitney turned in a heck of a vocal, but she was pitted against a 16-year-old who took a Kelly Clarkson song and freshened it up with a rock vibe. My only complaint about Moriah’s performance is that her cover song is listed as pop on iTunes. She rocked it.

THE COACH GOT IT RIGHT

Team Miley Cyrus

The match: Brooke Simpson versus Stephan Marcellus
The songs: Brooke sang “A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin;
Background: Brooke turned four chairs in the blinds; in fact, she closed out the season premiere. She won her battle over Sophia Bollman when they performed “You’re a Big Girl Now. Miley stole Stephan, making him the first male member of her team, after his battle round performance of “Oh, Darlin’.”
The outcome: Brooke advances to the playoffs; Stephan was eliminated from the show.
My take: Wow, go Brooke! We got rasp. We got range. We got power. We got great stage presence. Stephan turned in a fine performance — love the way he lifted the mike stand into the air — but there’s no way Miley could risk losing a force like Brooke.

Team Blake Shelton

The match: Keisha Renee versus Kathrina Feigh
The songs: Kathrina sang “Girl On Fire” by Alicia Keys; Keisha sang “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack.
Background: Keisha Renee is the only four-chair turn on Team Blake. She topped Noah Mac in the battles when they performed “So Lonesome I Could Cry.” Blake stole Kathrina after she and Chris Weaver performed “Dangerous Woman.” Kathrina turned two chairs in the blinds.
The outcome: Keisha was declared the winner and advances to the playoffs; Kathrina was eliminated.
My take: Kathrina brought plenty of firepower to “Girl on Fire,” but she was going to have to sing rings around Blake’s chosen country female to win the knockout. And Keisha didn’t allow that to happen, delivering a fine performance of what has to be one of the most overdone country songs on singing competition shows.

Team Blake Shelton

The match: Mitchell Lee versus Anna Catherine DeHart
The songs: Mitchell sang “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain; Anna Catherine opted for “Just Breathe” by Faith Hill.
Background: Anna Catherine turns two chairs in the blinds, then overcame fellow country artist Kristi Hoopes in the battle round, but has been montaged both times. Mitchell Lee turned three chairs in the blinds; then scored an iTunes hit in the battles, performing “Mr. Jones with Dennis Drummond.
The outcome: Mitchell advanced to the playoffs; Anna Catherine was eliminated.
My take: The opening of Mitchell’s performance was a little sleepy, but he sure made up for it in the final minute. As for Anna Catherine, at least we got to hear her sing after two straight montages. When I saw tonight’s lineup, I feared she’d become just the third singer in Voice history to take the stage three times and never had a full performance air.

MONTAGED

Team Adam Levine

The match: John Mero vs. Dylan Gerard
The songs: Jon performed “Blame It on the Boogie” by the Jackson 5. The Voice didn’t bother telling us what Dylan sang.
Background: A four-chair turn recipient in the blinds, Jon dazzled against singing “I Wish It Would Rain” in the battles with Brandon Brown. Dylan turned two chairs in the blinds, then won a battle round match over Dave Crosby that didn’t air.
The outcome: Jon was declared the winner of a match that was sort of montaged. I mean, we got to see more of Jon’s performance than in most montages, but not a second of Dylan’s.