Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Iris Herrera performs for Team Kelsea during the playoffs on The Voice Monday night. (NBC Photo)

The pre-taped playoff performances for Team Kelsea on The Voice aired tonight.

Kelsea advanced five singers to the playoffs and had to pick two semifinals.

Her choices were

Did she chose correctly? Here are Voice Views’ song by song grades for the night’s performances.

Iris Herrera, 19, of Newaygo, Mich., “White Horse” by Chris Stapleton

The blinds: Performed “You Are My Sunshine” and turned 3 chairs.
The battles: Performed “Ceilings” by Lizzy McAlpine and won her match with Simone Marijic
The knockouts: Performed “Jolene” by Ray LaMontagne and won her knockout against Angie Rey.
The playoffs: Love Iris’s rasp and distinctive tone, but this might not be the best song for showing it off. She seems to be straining vocally at times, though she sure poured passion and stage presence into that ending. Hoping she advances. After turning no chairs last season, she’s one of Season 27’s best stories. Grade: B

Jaelen Johnston, 21, of Derby, Kansas, “If You’re Reading This” by Tim McGraw

The blinds: Performed “Where the Wild Things Are” by Luke Combs and turned 3 chairs
The battles: Performed “Neon Moon” by Brooks and Dunn and won his battle against Hailey Wright; she was saved by Kelsea.
The knockouts: Performed “Dial Drunk” by Noah Kahan and won his match against Hailey Wright.
The playoffs: The second spot in the lineup is odd placement for the guy I consider Kelsea’s best chance of winning the show. At first, I was questioning the song choice, but Jaelen wound up delivering a strong, emotional performance. Losing the hat and opening his eyes would make the emotion more powerful. Grade: A–

Alana Lynise, 21, of Toledo, Ohio, “Nobody Gets Me” by SZA

The blinds: Turned 3 chairs, singing “Issues.”
The battles: Performed “Angels Like You” to win her match with Brook Wood.
The knockouts: Performed “I’ll Never Love Again” by Lady Gaga and won her match with Page Mackenzie.
The playoffs: The first thing I thought when Alanna took the stage was, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of hair.’ Fortunately, she quickly had me thinking, ‘That’s a lovely tone.’ Her voice was especially effective on that heartfelt chorus. As a side note, can someone please cut off Michael Buble’s mic. For crying out loud, this is the playoffs. Can the coaches please shut the hell up during the performances!?!?! Grade: B+

Tinika Wyatt, 50, of San Diego, Calif., “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe

The blinds: Performed “Sorry Not Sorry” by Demi Lovato. Failed to turn a chair, but got Adam Levine to press his replay buttn.
The battles: Performed “How Deep in Your Love.” Lost her battle to Conor James, but was stolen by Kelsea.
The knockouts: Performed “Best of My Love” to win her match with Dan Kiernan.
The playoffs: Look, Tinika is a heck of a lot better than her failure to turn a chair with her blind audition would indicate. This was a solid, impassioned vocal, but came off as a little overdone to my taste. Grade: B

Darius J., 35, of Pahokee, Fla., “Hey Ya!” by Outkast

The blinds: Performed “Caught Up” in the season premiere and turned 3 chairs.
The battles: Performed “Creep” and lost his battle to Britton Moore, but was save by Adam Levine.
The knockouts: Performed “American Boy” by Estelle and lost to Conor James of Team Adam. But he was stolen by Kelsea.
The playoffs: This should be interesting. Check out Darius’s outfit. Not to mention, the green beard. Okay, this is coming off a little gimicky for a playoff performance. But I dare you not to smile. How can you not? And that’s part of the goal of a performance, right? Grade: B–

And it’s decision time for Kelsea.

She opts to advance Iris and Alanna. Huh? Has she ever watched this show? Does she know how well male country singers do once fan voting begins? Wow. Thrilled to see Iris advanced. Shocked to see Jaelen eliminated.