Idol Chatter & Voice Views

 

A look at the song picks tonight makes me think we’ll be in for a night of great music on The Voice.

Laith Al-Saaid and Adam Wakefield have selected what should turn into real crowd-pleasers. Shalyah Fearing is going to take up to church on what I suspect might be the night’s final performance.

And a couple of contestants are trying something new as Mary Sarah goes much more current and Nick Hageline tackles a country song.

Don’t forget, downloads only count as votes after the end of the show. So even though the songs are already on iTunes, you might want to wait until them to buy the songs from your favorites.

Carson Daly opens the show by telling us the Top 4 will release original singles and videos, just like in Season 7.

Mary Sarah (Team Blake)

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.

Tonight: She’ll perform “So Small” by Carrie Underwood. It’s by far the most current song she’s performed after doing Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Lynn Anderson for her previous solos. Mary Sarah says she can relate to the son because of her brother, who weighed just one and one-half pounds when born. Because of his experience, she’s worked with organizations that help families who have premature babies. Wasn’t sure this was going to work at the opening. But once Mary Sarah hit the chorus, she found her comfort zone and wound up giving a performance that’s certainly Top 11 worthy. Can’t imagine her not surviving this week after that. Adam likes the fact that she tackled a more current song this week. Blake says he completely got wrapped up in the song because of Mary Sarah’s performance. Grade: B

Laith Al-Saaid (Team Adam)

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.

Tonight: He’ll perform “Born Under a Bad Sign” by Cream. Laith says he’s been playing blues music like this since he was young. I think this is one of those song choices that could produce a really great performance tonight. Okay, but after hearing Adam tell Laith to escalate the performance earlier during rehearsals, I spent most of my time watching that and waiting for him to cut loose. He waited until the last few seconds to do it. Still, it was another solid performance from Laith. Pharrell isn’t Laith’s coach, but he’s encouraging viewers to vote for him. Blake calls the performance as good as it gets. Adam praises Laith for doing blues in an authentic way and says he’s beyond proud of Laith. Grade: B

Daniel Passino (Team Pharrell)

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.

Tonight: He’ll perform “Human Nature” by Michael Jackson. This is one of my least favorite song choices. But Daniel says he’s decided to do it because everything he loves about pop music starts with Michael Jackson. Sounds like Daniel is doing his own re-arrangement of the song. Sure enough, he has, with a neat little stop midway through the performance. And he builds to a falsetto ending. There certainly wasn’t anything wrong with that, though I found it just a little sleepy. Perhaps because that song’s been done so often on these shows. Adam likes Daniel’s confidence on stage. Christina calls it “awesome” and “smooth.” Pharrell is encouraging the crowd to chant “Damn, Daniel” for a second straight week. Grade: B–

Emily Keener (Team Pharrell)

Until now: Blind audition: Performed “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and turned all four chairs. Battle round: Performed “Explosions” with Jonathan Bach and prevailed. Knockout round: Sang “Big Yellow Taxi” in match with Shalyah Fearing and advanced; Shalyah was stolen.Live playoffs: Sang “Still Crazy After All These Years.” Landed at number 58 on iTunes. Advanced to finals via Pharrell’s save.

Tonight: She’ll perform “Lilac Wine.” Pharrell says it’s a great song for Emily because of her love for songs with strong lyrics. After needing a save last week, Emily says she’s determined to win over America. She starts off nearly a cappella, showing off that sweet tone that’s uniquely hers. But I’m not sure I agree with Pharrell because this isn’t the type of song that does exceptionally well on a singing show like this. It’s not all that well known. She might be better off stripping down very popular songs. I will say that was the most heartfelt performance Emily has delivered to date. Adam is thrilled with the song choice. Christina says the performance was “magical.” Pharrell calls it “amazing.” Grade: B+

Nick Hagline (Team Christina)

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.

Tonight: He’ll perform “Mine Would be You” by Blake Shelton. This is one of the most intriguing song choices of the night, and Nick says he’s dedicating this performance to his wife. He’ll start sitting at the keys. Congrats to Nick on taking a country song and making it fit his style. I’m not familiar with Blake’s version, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t sound like that. Nick showed off his great range again on a tender love song. Pharrell says it was amazing. Blake compliments Nick on a great job. Christina likes his charisma. Another solid performance. Grade: B

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.

Tonight: He’ll perform “Soulshine” by Allman Brothers. Adam says this is a song he played with his late brother in crappy bars all across the country. But he and Blake are clearly making some tweaks, like this gospel-tinged opening. And Adam provides a brilliant vocal to being this performance too. That was a very nice match of singer and song. Easily one of the best tonight so far. Prediction: That will be very well on iTunes. Pharrell loves his vocal precision and the way he delivered his message. Adam Levine says that was like a rock-and-roll Hall of Fame performance. Blake predicts Adam Wakefield will be performing for a long time. Grade: A–

Bryan Bautista (Team Christina)

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.

Tonight: He’ll perform “Kiss From a Rose” by Seal. Christina wants Bryan to show off his softer side on this song. Yikes, a bit of a shaky opening for Bryan. He might have started the song a bit too high. He finds his footing on the chorus. Did he just lose a couple words there? After telling us Bryan would be delivering a tender performance, I was anticipating one filled with emotion. Instead, that became all about glory notes near the end. My least favorite so far tonight. Pharrell predicts he’ll get a record deal and calls it a great job. Christina says every girl needs to download that. Grade: C+

Owen Danoff (Team Adam)

Until now: Blind audition: Performed “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” and turned all four chairs. Battle round: Performed “Runaway” with John Gilman and prevailed. Knockout round: Performed “She’s Always a Woman” in a matchup with Ryan Quinn and advanced.Live playoffs: Sang “Hero.” Landed at nubmer 25 on iTunes. Advanced to finals via Adam’s save.

Tonight: He’ll perform “7 Years” by Lukas Graham. Adam loves that Owen is doing a current song. Owen wanted to play bass on this song. Adam convinces him otherwise, saying he needs to focus all his energy on winning over listeners with his voice. Hey, that decision worked out very well. Owen delivered what I think was his best performance so far on the show. There was nothing introverted about the second half of that performance. Very heartfelt. Pharrell said the performance “packed a mean punch” and says he’s “a great story-teller.” Adam says he loved the way Owen broke out of his shell during that performance. Grade: A–

Alisan Porter (Team Christina)

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.

Tonight: She’ll perform “Stone Cold” by Demi Lovato. She says she wanted to do something more current and admires Demi Lovato. And Alisan went from 0 to 100 in no time on this performance, didn’t she? Okay, that was a wonderfully passionate performance. Not to mention a pretty spectacular vocal. A great reaction from the crowd. Again, I suspect that will do very well on iTunes. Adam calls the performance “unbelievable.” Christina says she can’t wait for the Alisan album. Actually, she already has a very very good one out, Christina. Grade: A.

Paxton Ingram (Team Blake)

Unitl 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.

Tonight: He’ll perform “Hands to Myself” by Selena Gomez. Blake’s decision to save Paxton was last week’s big surprise because the former dancer finished dead last among the team’s six artists on iTunes. Paxton says he’s slowing this performance down and focusing on vocals, not dancing. This is already a better vocal than Paxton delivered last week. That said, Paxton had the disadvantage of following Alisan onto the stage, and I won’t be shocked if he lands in the bottom two tomorrow night. Blake, however, says Paxton is awesome and thinks he’ll be around for a while. Grade: C+

Hannah Huston (Team Pharrell)

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.

Tonight: She’ll perform “Something’s Got a Hold on Me” by Etta James. Hey, great opening. And a great growl from Hannah. And I love how at home a pre-school teacher from Nebraska looks on The Voice stage. I’m not sure this is “House of the Rising Sun” great, but that was a very good, very fun performance from Hannah. Reserve a spot for her in the Top 11. Adam calls her performance “alien soul,” whatever that means. He means it as a compliment. Blake says he’s a fan and loves the way Hannah works the stage. Pharrell says it’s amazing what Hannah is doing and the inspiration she’s providing on The Voice. Grade: A–

Shalyah Fearing (Team Adam)

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.

Tonight: She’ll perform “Up to the Mountain” by Patti Griffin. Called it. As soon as I saw this song choice and heard a snippet of the iTunes version, I just knew it’d be the show-closer. Shalyah likes the message of the song, that you need to have faith. Right now, Shalyah looks like Alisan’s toughest competition. She’s got such a rich voice. And this vocal is actually more spot on than the one that got such a great reception last week. But once again, Shalyah pours heart and soul into the performance. Adam is smiling ear to ear, for good reason. Christina calls her “a fearless singer.” Pharrell says she lifted the audience with that performance. Adam notes that Shalyah just turned 16. She, too, is a sure bet for the Top 11. Grade: A.