Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Voice Top 10 includes (front row, from left) Paxton Ingram, Mary Sarah, Alisan Porter, Shalyah Fearing, Hannah Huston, Laith Al-Saadi; (back row, from left) Adam Wakefield, Bryan Bautista, Daniel Passino, Nick Hagelin (NBC Photo)

As promised, we begin tonight with special guests — Michelle Obama and Jill Biden talking about Joining Forces, an effort designed to help veterans and their families.

And now the Top 10 will perform “Home.” The Dierks Bentley song, not the Phillip Phillips song of the same name.

Daniel Passino

Until now: Blind audition: Performed “Marvin Gaye” and turned two chairs. Battle round: Performed “Turning Tables” with Kristen Marie and prevailed. Knockout round: Performed “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” against Alisan Porter and was eliminated. Brought back by Pharrell as coach comeback artist. Live playoffs: Sang “When I Was Your Man.” Landed at number 40 on iTunes. Voted into finals. Top 12: He performed Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature,” landing at 79 on iTunes, 10th best of the night. He was voted into the Top 11. Top 11: Sang “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper. Song hit number 107 on iTunes, last among the Top 11. Landed in the bottom two on results night with Owen Danoff, but got the instant save after singing “Jealous.”

Tonight: He’ll sing “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith. How cruel: The guy finishes in the bottom two, then they make him go first tonight. Daniel calls this song a culmination of this time on the show. That said, an Aerosmith song wouldn’t have been something I’d expect Daniel to tackle. Daniel turns in an adequate vocal, but it lacks the edge of a Steven Tyler performance, and that high note was no substitute for a Steven Tyler shriek. Pharrell can say Damn, Daniel all he wants, and I still think Daniel’s likely to land in the bottom two again. Christina says she heard a few pitch moments, but though they were overshadowed by his passion. Grade: C

Shalyah Fearing

Until now: Blind audition: Performed “What is Love” and prompted a chair turn from Christina, but only Christina. Battle round: Performed “Lady Marmalade” with Tamar Davis. She didn’t win, but was stolen by Pharrell Williams. Knockout round: Performed “Broken Wing” in a match with Emily Keener and lost, but was stolen by Adam Levine. Live playoffs: Sang “Listen.” Landed at number 14 on iTunes. Voted into finals. Top 12: She performed “Up to the Mountain,” landing at number 46 on iTunes, seventh best of the night. She was voted into the Top 11. Top 11: Sang “The Climb.” Song hit number 96 on iTunes, eighth best of the night. Was voted into the Top 10.

Tonight: She’ll sing “My Kind of Love” by Emeli Sande. Shalayh badly needs to regain the momentum that had her looking like a potential finalist a couple of weeks ago. She says she’s dedicating this song to her mom and adds that it’s the type of R&B song he hopes to perform post-show. Shalyah winds up delivering a powerful vocal, but it was a bit overbaked. There’s no doubting the passion with which she sings, though, and that should buy her another week on the show. Adam rewards her with a standing ovation. He calls it an “excellent job” and begs voters to keep her around so she can sing “No More Drama” next week. Grade: B

Nick Hagelin

Until now: Blind audition: Performed “Lost Stars,” turned three chairs and joined Team Pharrell. Battle round: Performed “Electric Feel” with Jessica Crosbie and prevailed; Jessica was stolen. Knockout round: Performed “Lost Without U” in a matchup against Moushumi and was eliminated. Brought back by Christina as her comeback artist. Live playoffs: Sang “Stay.” Landed at number 25 on iTunes. Voted into finals. Top 12: He sang Blake Shelton’s “Mine Would Be You,” dedicating the song to his wife. It landed at 41 on iTunes, fifth best of the night. He was voted into the Top 11. Top 11: Performed “Your Body is a Wonderland.” The song hit number 99 on iTunes, ninth best from the night. He was voted into the Top 10.

Tonight: He’ll sing “I Can’t Help It” by Michael Jackson. Nick says he wants to break out of a box with this performance and that this is a song he’s been performing for years. I suppose we were supposed to take that comment literally, because he’s started this performance in an open-ended box. Nick shows off some great dance moves and turns in an okay vocal, but not one that’s likely to rank as one of my favorites from the evening. Christina says there were moments when he sounded just like Michael. She says he killed it and she wants to see him move around more on stage. Grade: C+

Hannah Huston

Until now: Blind audition: Performed “Unaware” and turned three chairs. Performed “Elastic Heart” with Maya Smith and prevailed; Maya was stolen. Knockout round: Performed “House of the Rising Sun” in a match with Malik Heard and advanced. The song wound up being the round’s most popular on iTunes. Live playoffs: Sang “Ain’t No Way.” Landed at number 44 on iTunes. Voted into finals.Top 12: She performed “Something’s Got a Hold on Me.” The song landed at number 40 on iTunes, fourth best of the night. She was voted into the Top 11. Top 11: Performed “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” She hit number 34 on iTunes, sixth best of the night. Was voted into the Top 10.

Tonight: She’s sing “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele. Not sure I understand the strategy here. Hannah has surprised so far, but it’s hard to surprise singing an Adele song. And I can’t picture this as a huge iTunes hit. After the performance, my opinion of the song choice hasn’t changed. Hannah delivered a couple of nice growls, but not quite as much passion as I was looking for. And, again, it’s just tough not to be compared to Adele singing that song and come up short. Should it get her through to next week? Absolutely. Should she cover Adele again? Nope. Pharrell, however, calls it “1,000 percent amazing.” Adam Levine only gave it “99 percent.” Grade: B–

Laith Al-Saadi

Until now: Blind audition: Performed “The Letter” and turned two chairs. Performed “Honky Tonk Woman” with Matt Tedder and advanced. Knockout round: Performed “In Your Eyes” in a matchup with Jessica Crosbie and prevailed. Live playoffs: Sang “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Landed at number 32 on iTunes. Voted into finals. Top 12: Performed “Born Under a Bad Sign.” Landed at 45 on iTunes, 6th best from the night, and number one on the blues singles chart. Was voted into the Top 11. Top 11: He performed “Make It Rain.” The song hit number 29 on iTunes, third best of the night. He was voted into the Top 10.

Tonight: He’s sing “The Thrill is Gone” by BB King. And we get another reminder that Laith has already released three albums worth of original music, all of which sold well after Pharrell mentioned them last week. Another solid performance from Laith. Not my favorite from him, but he’s showing signs of someone who could contend for the Season 10 crown. He gave over a large portion of his time slot to show off his guitar skills, which is an interesting strategy. Blake calls his guitar playing incredible, but says his singing is so well, he wants to hear that as well. Adam calls it the best show of musicianship he’s seen on The Voice. Grade: B+

Paxton Ingram

Until now: Blinds: Sang “Dancing on My Own.” Turned three chairs. Battle round: Sang “I Know What You Did Last Summer” with Brittney Lawrence and prevailed. Knockout round: Performed “Hometown Glory” in matchup with Angie Keilhauer and advanced. Live playoffs: Sang “How Deep is Your Love.” Failed to crack Top 200 on iTunes. Advanced to finals via Blake’s save. Top 12: He sang “Hands to Myself,” landing at 164 on the iTunes Top 200, worst of the night. But he was voted into the Top 11. Top 11: Performed “Break Every Chain,” a Christian/gospel song and went from last on iTunes among Voice contestants to first, hitting number 18 on iTunes. Was voted into the Top 10.

Tonight: He’ll sing “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” by Celine Dion. Hmm, I thought for sure Blake would keep Paxton in the gospel lane after last week’s iTunes success. But it sounds like Paxton’s picked this song. He says he’s always admired Celine’s vocals and stage performances. He hasn’t completed the first verse, and I can tell you he’s in over his head. For one thing, his vocals are almost getting swallowed up by the band in spots. Pretty good ending, though, and no doubt Paxton was pouring heart and soul into his vocal. Christina loved the drama in the performance. Blake says he’s “in the zone.” Grade: C–

Mary Sarah

Until now: Blind audition: Performed “Where the Boys Are” and turned all four chairs. Battle round: Performed “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” with Justin Whisnant and prevailed. Knockout round: Performed “You Ain’t Woman Enough” in a matchup with Brittany Kennell and advanced. Live playoffs: Sang “Rose Garden.” Landed at number 67 on iTunes. Voted into finals. Top 12: Sang Carrie Underwood’s “So Small.” Landed at 86 on iTunes, 11th best from the night but was voted into the Top 11. Top 11: Sang “Johnny and June” and scored her biggest iTunes success to date, hitting number 26, second best among contestants. Was voted into the Top 10.

Tonight: She’ll sing “Stand by Your Man” by Tammy Wynette. Sorta surprised to see her going back to a classic country song — from 1968 — after singing more current songs the last two weeks. Blake also calls this a difficult song to sing. Well, I’ll be interested to see how that does on iTunes. It certainly was a throwback performance. Mary Sarah sounded fine, but I’m afraid lots of fans will find it boring. But Adam Levine calls it “incredible” and Blake is predicting that it’s be a good night for her. Grade: B–

Bryan Bautista

Until now: Blind audition: Performed “The Hills” and turned two chairs. Battle round: Performed “It’s a Man’s Man”s Man”s World” with Malik Heard and prevailed; Malik was stolen. Knockout round: Performed “Sorry” in a matchup with Trey O’Dell and advanced. Live playoffs: Sang “Pillowtalk.” Landed at number 37 on iTunes. Advanced to finals via Christina’s save. Top 12: He performed “Kiss from a Rose.” It landed at number 72 on iTunes, ninth best of the night. He was voted into the Top 11. Top 11: Sang “Just the Way You Are.” Hit number 79 on iTunes, seventh best of the week. Was voted into the Top 10.

Tonight: He’ll sing “Promise” by Romeo Santos. Christina thinks this is the perfect song to show the kind of artist Bryan is. He’s selected it partly because his mother loves this style of Latino music. He opens the song in Spanish. Bryan sounded great on parts of that. On other parts, his pitch didn’t seem quite as perfect as Christina had hoped. Pharrell thought it was awesome and says anyone with Latin blood should be voting for him. Adam calls him one of the show’s most gifted singers. Grade: B

Alisan Porter

Until now: Blind audition: Performed “Blue Bayou” and turned all four chairs. The song turned out to be the most popular of the blinds on iTunes. Battle round: Performed “California Dreamin’ with Lacy Mandigo and prevailed; Lacy was stolen. Knockout round: Sang “The River” in a matchup against Daniel Passino and advanced. Live playoffs: Sang “Cry Baby.” Landed at number 12 on iTunes, best from the round. Voted into finals. Top 12: She performed Demi Lovato’s “Stone Cold” and earned iTunes bonus points for the first time by landing at number nine on the singles chart, second best of the night. The song was also number four on the iTunes pop chart. Top 11: Performed “Stay with Me Baby.” Landed at number 31 on iTunes, fourth best of the week. Was voted into the Top 10.

Tonight: She’ll sing “Let Him Fly” by Patti Griffin. She says this song is the physical representation of the most difficult time in her life, when she needed to tackle her addiction and end a relationship that she wanted to work, but knew wouldn’t. Another top-notch vocal from Alisan on a night when those haven’t been plentiful on The Voice. Heartfelt, too. That should easily rank among the night’s best on iTunes. Blake said the performance got to him. Christina liked her vulnerability. Easily one of the night’s best. Grade: A–

Adam Wakefield (Team Blake)

Until now: Blind audition: Performed “Tennessee Whiskey” and turned two chairs. Battle round: Performed “Can’t You See” with Jared Harder and prevailed. Knockout round: Performed “Bring It On Home to Me” in a matchup with Peyton Parker and advanced. Live playoffs: Sang “Seven Spanish Angels.” Landed at number 30 on iTunes. Voted into finals. Top 12: He sang “Soulshine” and topped everyone on iTunes, landing at number seven and earning bonus points in the process. The song also hit number one on the country singles chart. Top 11: Performed “Lights” by Journey. Landed at number 33 on iTunes, fifth best of the night. Was voted into the Top 10.

Tonight: He’ll sing “I Got a Woman” by Ray Charles. Blake says he let up a little bit last week and has to keep the gas on every week. Nice opening by Adam. And Adam performs an impressive piano solo midway through the song. As for the big performance Blake was looking for … well, Adam never left his piano, but he did turn in a lively vocal. I’m not sure that was his best, but it probably ranked among the night’s top three or four performances. Pharrell says Big Machine better throw the whole machine behind him. Blake called it “unbelievable” and said Adam “blowed” his brains out. Okay, then. I wasn’t quite as impressed. Grade: B+