Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Reba McEntire with five of her playof contenders, Tom Nitti, Jordan Rainer, Ruby Leigh, Noah Spencer and Jacquie Roar. (NBC Photo)

Ruby Leigh, Jacquie Roar and Jordan Rainer nabbed spots in the live shows for Team Reba on Season 24 of The Voice.

Team Reba’s pre-taped playoff performances aired Monday night, and The Voice’s newest coach opted to advance those three performers.

That meant the elimination of Noah Spencer, Reba’s knockout round steal, and Ms. Monet, her “super save” contestant.

Tom Nitti, the contestant Reba saved during the knockouts, dropped out of the competition and did not perform.

Remember, this marks just the second season in which Voice coaches have handpicked all of the singers advancing to the live shows.

In past seasons, fans typically voted in two-thirds of the Top 12.

Here are Voice Views’ song by song grades for Team Reba.

Jordan Rainer, 33 Atoka, Okla.
Song: “Boondock” by Little Big Town
Feedback: Niall called it so good and said it feels like Jordan is “a gig” already. Gwen said the song felt “so you.” John said she belongs in the lives. Reba loved her versatility.
My take: Jordan, you might recall, was pushed out of her comfort zone in the battles, then montaged in the knockouts. This song fell in her wheelhouse and she delivered a fun, impressive performance. She showed off plenty of vocal firepower too. Grade: B

Ms. Monet, 50, Pittsburg, Calif.
Song: “Until You Come Back to Me” by Aretha Franklin
Feedback: John called her so good, but said he wished she had dialed it back a little bit. Niall said it was an amazing peformance and said it was her most confident effort yet.
My take: Ms. Monet has vocal firepower to spare, but she tried to do too much here and wound up delivering an oddly disjointed performance. That shriek didn’t help. Not the first time. Or the second. Grade: C

Jacquie Roar, 37, North Plains, Oregon
Song: “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac
Feedback: John called it his favorite Jacquie performance so far and said he absolutely loved it. Gwen called it “amazing.” Reba loved the performance as well.
My take: Jacquie was one of the show’s most impressive performers through three rounds. She built on that with this performance, delivering the same intensity we’ve come to expect from her and changing the song just enough to make the performance interesting. Every time one of her performances end, I keep thinking she must be tons of fun to watch live. Grade: A–

Noah Spencer, 20, Richlands, Va.
Song: “Jolene” by Ray LaMontagne
Feedback: Niall called him “such an amazing talent.” Gwen said he’s a believable performing and a great artist. Reba loved the improvement he made from the rehearsals.
My take: I really liked this song choice for Noah. He showed off his unique tone, delivered plenty of emotion and plenty of vocal dynamics. And I would have advanced him over Jordan, if only to add more diversity to Team Reba. Wonder if he would have fared better with Reba has he performed Dolly’s “Jolene.” Grade: B

Ruby Leigh, 16, Foley, Missouri
Song: “Long Long Time” by Linda Ronstadt
Feedback: Gwen said she’s “blown away” by Ruby’s talent. John said it’s “quite stunning” that Ruby can sound like she’s been through so much at her young age. Niall joked that Reba would be fired if she didn’t advance Ruby. Reba said she’s “so proud” of Ruby.
My take: If there was any question Ruby would make the playoffs, I think it ended about two lines into this song. She continues to perform well beyond her years. I won’t be a bit surprised to see her in the Season 24 finals. My only quibble, she went really big at the 1:40 mark. She could have just let the emotion of the song and her lovely tone carry the day. Grade: A

Tom Nitti, 31, New Hartford, N.Y
Song: He dropped out of the competition, leaving Team Reba with just five singers in the playoffs
My take: I questioned Reba’s decision to save Tom in the knockouts, and it wound up backfiring big time. Alison Albrecht or Rachele Nguyen would have been a better choice. And we’ll never know about Caitlin Quisenberry or Elizabeth Evans because in a season in which The Voice re-airs everything during recap shows they couldn’t be bothered to show a single second of their knockout performances. As for Tom, no mention of why he dropped out on his Facebook, but he was performing live shows this weekend.