Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Sofronio Vasquez and Aliyah Khaylyn embrace at the conclusion of their battle round match on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Aliyah Khaylyn earned a steal and four-chair turn artists Jaukeem Fortson, Georgia Starnes and Sofronio Vasquez all advanced as the battles continued on The Voice Tuesday night.

Kay Sibal was the other artist to earn a spot in the knockout round on a night that saw the elimination of Tsola, Beya and Drieon.

It turned out to be a great night for Snoop in the steal department. He also landed Austyns Stancil. Reba McEntire and Michael Buble also tried to steal Austyns after Gwen Stefani named Jose Luis the winner of their battle at the end of Monday’s episode.

Meanwhile, kudos to The Voice for showing a decent portion of all four battles.

Of course, it would have been incredibly bad form to montage battles in an hour-long show at 9 p.m. after airing a one-hour recap of last night’s battles at 8 p.m.

Here’s a recap.

BEST OF THE NIGHT

The match: Sofronio Vasquez vs. Aliyah Khaylyn
The song: “Power of Love” by Celine Dion
The background: Aliyah, 23, turned three chairs in the blinds, singing “Love and War.” Sofronio, 31, turned all four, signing “I’m Goin’ Down.”
The feeback: Snoop called it beautiful. Reba called it the “performance of the night” and said she got chills when they sang together. Michael called Aliyah a star and praised Sofronio as well.
The outcome: Michael awarded the win to Sofronio. Aliyah was then stolen by Snoop.
My take: Dang, that opening by Aliyah was magical. Sofronio was asked to hold back on the runs, but didn’t. Still, great performances by both on an excellent song choice by Michael. I think Sofronio might have been a little more consistently excellent. But Aliyah certainly deserved that steal.

THE COACH GOT IT WRONG

The match: Dreion vs. Georgia Starnes
The song: “Perfect Combination” by by Johnny Gill and Stacy Lattisaw
The background: Georgia, 21, turned four chairs in the blinds by performing “Too Good at Goodbyes.” Dreion, 32, also turned four chairs, singing “Shining Star.”
The feedback: Reba called it a great job. Gwen gave the edge to Dreion on voice, but to Georgia on being a complete package as an artist. Snoop said both are superstars in their own right and both have the potential to win the show.
The outcome: Snoop declared Georgia the winner. Dreion was eliminated.
My take: Not sure it was a perfect combination, because Georgia was pulled pretty far out of her wheelhouse. Looking like she was ready for one of her modeling gigs, she still did quite well vocally. But Dreion provided more of the vocal highlights on a song that was much better suited to him. Again, that’s one of the problems with the battles on The Voice. Not everyone gets to sing something well suited to their musical style. Another is a point Gwen mentioned. She had no steals left. Why not let coaches hear every battle before making decisions on who they should steal? Congrats to Georgia on pulling through in less than ideal circumstance. As for Drieon, he deserved better.

THE COACH GOT IT RIGHT

The match: Beya vs. Kay Sibal
The song: “Please, Please, Please” by Sabrina Carpenter
The background: Kay, 24, turned three chairs in the blinds, performing “From the Start.” Beya, 24, turned just Gwen’s, performing “Our Day Will Come.”
The feedback: Michael called it a great performance, featuring great harmonies. Gwen loved the performance.
The outcome: Gwen declared Kay the winner; Beya was eliminated. Gwen said she loves Kay’s potential.
My take: The Voice cut this one a bit short, but kudos to the show for showing as much of the performance as it did. Beya actually did better with this song than I thought she might. But Kay was a bit more impressive and provided more dynamics in the portion of the performance we were shown.

TOO SHORT TO KNOW

The match: Tsola vs. Jaukeem Fortson
The song: “Higher Love” by Kygo and Whitney Houston
The background: Tsola, 27, turned just Reba’s chair, singing “On My Mama” in a montaged blind audition. Jaukeem, just 13 when he auditioned, turned three chairs with “Easy on Me.”
The feedback: Gwen complimented Tsola on a beautiful tone. Michael thought Jaukeem performed beyond his years. Reba praised both singers.
The outcome: Reba awarded Jaukeem the win, calling him the total package. Tsola was eliminated.
My take: Not surprised by that decision. Given his youth and his talent, Jaukeem will probably be among the show’s front-runners. But honestly, The Voice didn’t show us enough of the performance for me to judge who should have won.

Georgia Starnes triumphed in a four-chair showdown on Team Snoop during The Voice battle round Tuesday night. (NBC Photo)