Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Fans get to vote for their favorites for the first time tonight as the live playoffs begin on The Voice.

The Top 5 from Team Blake and Team Christina will perform, plus one mystery contestant each coach has decided to bring back.

Of course, if you’ve checked iTunes for the songs that will be available from tonight’s show, that’s hardly a mystery.

I’ll be providing song by song grades for Team Blake here and song by song grades for Team Christina in a separate blog here.

Team Adam and Team Pharrell will perform tomorrow night.

If this works the way it has in past years, the top two vote-getters from each team will advance to the finals next week. Then each coach will select a third singer to round out the Top 12. Results will be revealed during a special one-hour show on Wednesday.

Paxton Ingram: A dancer turned pop singer, this young man from Miami has impressed with his vocals and his stage presence every time he’s performed. He tackled Adele’s “Hometown Glory” in the knockout round. I’m not a big fan of his song choice tonight — Calvin Harriss’ “How Deep is Your Love — but we’ll see. Paxton explains that he’s performed some ballads. He’s eager to do an upbeat song that will allow him to dance. And true to his word, he only stays anchored to the mic stand for just the early part of the song, then begins working the stage, pretty impressively. Unfortunately, the vocal isn’t all that impressive considering what’s likely to follow. He did hit an extended glory note near the end. Adam says he definitely entertained. Blake compliments him on the command of the stage he showed. Grade: C+

Katie Basden: She’s the country singer who had the misfortune of auditioning when Blake Shelton’s team was already full. But she turned three chairs and still landed on Team Blake anyway when he stole her following a battle round loss to Ryan Quinn. She sounded geat singing “Gypsy” in the knockouts. She’s chosen to perform “Georgia Rain” by Trisha Yearwood. Blake thinks this is the perfect match of singer and song. Kudos to Blake for suggesting the huge note at the end because that was a bit of a sleepy song for a singer performing second in the live playoffs. Katie sounded fine. Just not sure how many casual fans will remember it two hours from now. And she’s up against some other vey talented country singers. Katie gets great feedback from Pharrell and Adam. Blake calls the performance “absolutely beautiful.” Grade: B

Joe Maye: From Baltimore, Md., Joe earned the very last steal of the knockout round after losing to Team Christina’s Kata Hay. You’ll probably remember his most for the way he belted out “I Put a Spell on You” when Christina joined him on stage for a short duet following his blind audition. Tonight, he’ll sing “Long Train Runnin'” by The Doobie Brothers. And he says he’s determined to give fans something else to remember. Blake thinks Joe is a Bruno Mars type and that American will fall in love with him too. He starts off nearly a cappella. Really, really strong opening. And an equally nice ending. In between, Joe showed remarkable stage presence. Probably the night’s most fun performance so far. Blake calls it an “incredible” performance, the type that makes him think Joe “could win this thing.” Well, first he needs to survive this week, no given for a pop-soul singer on a county heavy team. Grade: B+

Adam Wakefield: One of the veterans on The Voice, Adam was 33 when he auditioned and has been performing with a bluegrass/Americana band called the Copperheads. His former band, Old Man Brown, has three albums on iTunes. Really nice song choice by Adam: “Seven Spanish Angels” by Willie Nelson. Blake says he gave Adam this song because it’s got a broad dash of soul and is a good fit for his voice. Adam turns in a solid performance. But I love Willie Nelson’s version of that song, and that probably kept me from enjoying that as much as I might have otherwise. Adam Levine says Adam is his favorite on the show because of his story-telling ability. Blake loves Adam Wakefield’s blend of country and soul and thinks he has “a hell of a future.” Grade: B–

Mary Sarah: More throw-back country from Mary Sarah, who will sing Lynn Anderson’s “Rose Garden” tonight. The song dates from 1970, though Martina McBride scored a minor county hit with a cover of it about a decade ago. If you missed my blog on social media stats, Mary Sarah is far and away the leader, not only for Team Blake, but The Voice Top 20. She’s also the only four-chair turn singing for Team Blake. Mary Sarah explains that this is her grandmother’s favorite song, one she sang with her all the time. I really like what she did with the opening. Unfortunately, her voice gets swallowed up by the band when the song swells. Okay, that was just a momentary problem. Mary Sarah winds up with another solid performance and delivers a big ending. She should be finals bound, even though that wasn’t my favorite performance from her. Grade: B+

Justin Whisnant: I was rooting for Blake to bring back Brittany Kennell or Angie Keilhauer because I’m a fan of their pre-show music. Speaking of which, Justin was working on a debut album with his Oklahoma band, Cold Water County, before The Voice came calling. He had the misfortune of being paired with Mary Sarah in the battle round, which explains why he needed the coach’s comeback tonight. He’ll sing “Here’s a Quarter” by Travis Tritt. Blake likes Justin’s “red-dirt country” sound. It’s honky tonk time on The Voice. This will probably do very well with the show’s country fans, but Justin has a tall order to make the finals with three other country singers on Team Blake. Pharrell calls the performance “awesome” and liked the passion Justin showed. Blake calls it a great job. Grade: B–

Summary: Mary Sarah and Joe Maye should be voted into the finals on the strength of tonight’s performance. If I’m Blake, I then advance Adam Wakefield based on his overall track record on the show and his distinct vocals.