Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The finals begin tonight on The Voice.

That means the pressure is on for the Top 12, especially Rob Taylor, Koryn Hawthorne, Hannah Kirby and Brian Johnson, all of whom needed a coach’s save to make it this far.

We’ll also be hearing from Sawyer Fredericks and Mia Z. of Team Pharrell, Meghan Linsey and Corey Kent White of Team Blake, DeAnna Johnson and Joshua Davis of Team Adam, and India Carney and Kimberly Nichole of Team Christina.

I’ll be grading every performance as it occurs, so keep checking back for the latest.

If this works the way it has in past seasons, the bottom three in fan voting will compete again tomorrow night in hopes of securing an instant save via Twitter.

1. Hannah Kirby (Team Blake): She “flips her lid” over new Voice mentor, Reba McEntire. Blake says he saved Hannah because she’s so unique on stage. Blake has her singing “On the Edge of Seventeen,” a classic Stevie Nicks hit. Hey, look, Hannah’s even wearing a Stevie-like cape. And she sounds better on this than I thought she might. Like this song choice for Hannah, who wades out into the crowd, shows off some of her not-so-typical dance moves and belts out one heck of a glory note for a finish. That was a really upbeat way to start the finals. Well done, Hannah. Adam calls her “an amazing singer.” Blake says he doesn’t know how she could possibly be a better vocalist than she is. Grade: A–

2. Brian Johnson (Team Adam): He’ll be singing Sting’s “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You.” Funny, he remembers listening to Reba music while his mom drove him to pre-school. He says he’s going to focus on the faith his wife has in him while he performs this song. Not at all sure about this song choice. Yeah, Brian seems to be straining as he hits the higher parts of the song. Having to follow Hannah to the stage doesn’t help. He tries to add a little wrinkle to the end, but that won’t be one of the most watched or most downloaded songs from tonight. Just a prediction. Blake congratulates him on a fine performance. Christina says he seems to have completely overcome the struggles he had during rehearsals. Adam says Brian did a good job with a demanding song. Grade: C+

3. India Carney (Team Christina): Christina is giving India a rock song, Hozier’s “Take Me to Church.” Excellent song choice, Christina. If you have India sing nothing but R&B classics, she’s not going to last as long as she should in this competition. Not sure about that opening. If I didn’t know the song, I wouldn’t have understood the first two lines. But India comes alive and shows off her inner rocker once the music swells, even dropping to her knees for a big finish. And her voice swelled along with the music. I liked the way she cut loose on stage, even interacting with the crowd at one point. Pharrell calls her a professional. Blake says she did a great job. Christina liked her presence and conviction. Grade: B

4. Mia Z (Team Pharrell): She says she’s ready to be the 16-year-old living her dream. Pharrell says she’s proved her place on the show. He has her singing The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You.” She’s going to have to add some Mia wrinkles to make this work. I like her confidence considering her age. I didn’t like the song choice because it’s a tune that really doesn’t go anywhere. And I didn’t think Mia stretching for the high notes and hitting the stratosphere were enough to turn the song choice into a winner. Hmm, Adam thought it was a “cool” song choice. And he liked the way she did something more subdued. Blake compliments her on being so inventive. I’m hoping Mia survives so she can show her talent on a song better suited to her cool blues voice next week. Grade: C+

5. DeAnna Johnson (Team Adam): DeAnna and Reba share small-town stories. Adam has her singing another Christian song, “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail).” Reba wants her to pour emotion into the performance. And Adam tells her the emotion is going to be more important than the vocals this time around. That opening wasn’t particularly strong. You could barely hear DeAnna over the backing music. DeAnna does find her footing after the first few lines though, and winds up turning in a solid performance. That tender ending was particularly nice. Blake says she did a great job. Christina says the song was a nice fit for her voice. Grade: B–

6. Sawyer Fredericks (Team Pharrell): He’s now 16 and says he’s happy his dad has been able to take enough time off from the family farm to travel to The Voice to watch him perform. Reba compliments him on a powerful voice. He’s going to sing “Imagine” by John Lennon. No problem hearing Sawyer at the start of this performance. And this is a really nice song choice for him. He has the fans screaming about three lines in. And he’s followed Reba’s advice by smiling during the performance of this song about hope. For 16, he did that pretty darn masterfully. Adam calls him “unbelievable.” Blake calls him a “champ.” Pharrell says Sawyer missed a note, but recovered masterfully, too. Prediction: That song will soar up the iTunes chart. Grade: B+

7. Rob Taylor (Team Christina): Christina says she saved Rob because she can see his potential and wants him to realize that potential. She’s giving him “I Put a Spell on You.” Christina is encouraging him to use a rasp on his cover of the oft-done song. Wow, excellent opening by Rob. He even unleashes a bit of an evil laugh. Well, this isn’t going to be your standard cover. Rob is unleashing everything, from grit to falsetto and everything in between. That was certainly the most flashy and one of the more memorable performances tonight. Pharrell calls it “masterful.” Adam says he “pulled ahead in the race.” Christina called that “exciting” and said he slayed it. Christina wanted him to let go. He sure did. That was also the most surprising performance so far tonight. Grade: B+

8. Corey Kent White (Team Blake): Blake will have Corey sing “Why” by Jason Aldean. He wants Corey to show off a bad-boy image. Hmm, and he looks so wholesome. Not at all like an outlaw. OK, Blake admits that, but he wants Corey to find his “20 percent bad guy.” I don’t know whether I’m witnessing “bad boy” Corey, but he’s singing this very well. And I’ll be absolutely shocked if Voice voters shed the show’s only country singer this early in the finals. Corey did a very nice job of selling that with emotion, too. Christina calls it “really, really nice.” Blake says it wasn’t the perfect vocal, but loves the way he’s invested in the song he’s singing. Grade: B–

9. Koryn Hawthorne (Team Pharrell): Pharrell calls her inspirational. And Koryn has selected an inspirational song, “Stronger.” Koryn has some ideas about how she wants to arrange the song. Hmm, she didn’t know Kelly Clarkson is Reba’s daughter-in-law. But Reba thinks Kelly will be thrilled with Koryn’s version of the song. And she certainly starts strong. Dang, she packed a lot of power and emotion into that opening. Wow, the contestants who needed saves last week have come out remarkably strong tonight, delivering some of the best performances. Koryn just turned in a pretty fearless performance of that Kelly Clarkson hit. Blake welcomes her to the Top 10. Christina likes the fact that she keeps gaining confidence. She compares her to Tina Turner. Pharrell says he’s in awe of her performance. Grade: B+

10. Joshua Davis (Team Adam): He’s going to perform Simon and Garfunkel’s “America.” Adam says he has a beautiful voice, but sings “inside” rather than outside. Reba compliments him on a nice smile. Adam wants him to do this performance without a guitar so he’s more engaged with the vocals. Adam also says he has the potential to win The Voice, but will likely have to be a little uncomfortable along the way. Once again, the sound mix means we can barely hear Joshua’s first line. He winds up turning in another solid performance. Not sure it was as good as last week’s “Budapest.” But I’m pretty sure it will do very well on iTunes. Pharrell thought it was his best performance yet, so what do I know? Adam calls it perfect. Grade: B

11. Meghan Linsey (Team Blake): Ask me if I’m surprised that Meghan is going country this round. She’s going to sing “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town. Reba wants her to bare her soul on this performance. Hmm, something tells me this is going to be very good. And, hey, Meghan’s putting a touch of soul in this performance. And she’s pouring her heart out in the process. That, folks, was the best vocal we’ve heard tonight. Pharrell says she “nailed it.” Adam says the only thing he doesn’t like is that she’s on Blake’s team. Blake predicts that she just had a breakout moment. He calls her performance awesome. Grade: A

12. Kimberly Nichole (Team Christina): She’s singing “The House of the Rising Sun.” Hmm. Has this been done often on singing shows? Of course. Then again, Kimberly just could deliver a special version of the song. Christina predicts she’ll be on the rise when she’s finished. Well, she’s back in a tutu. OK, this is going to be very, very good. Go get them, Kimberly. This is sensational. During rehearsals, she worried about going too far over the top. She need not have worried. OK, let’s now call that the vocal of the night. She has all the coaches on their feet for that performance. Talk about rocking The Voice stage. Pharrell said he knew he’d be standing three lines in. Adam’s reaction: “What?” Blake says it’s time to talk about Christina winning for the first time because of Kimberly. Christina loved Kimberly’s interpretation of an oft-done song. Grade: A+