Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Monday was dedication night on The Voice as the Top 13 took the stage.

They were singing for spots in the next week’s Top 11.

That means two singers go home Tuesday night. And the instant save will be back to determine which of the bottom three vote-getters advance.

Of the singers who needed saves last week, Kymberli Joye turned in the strongest performance Monday night.

In fact, she turned in one of the strongest performances of the night period.

Here are the song by song grades for the Top 13.

Chris Kroeze (Team Blake) “Let it Be” by The Beatles — Chris is dedicating this to him hometown, where a young girl was recently abducted. He sang this song at a vigil for the family. Nice suggestion from Blake about the opening, and nice opening by Chris. Interesting that he found time in the performance for a guitar solo, but things got a little sleepy in the middle of that performance. Strong finish from Chris though. Grade: B

Tyke James (Team Adam) “(Everything I Do) Do it For You” by Bryan Adams — Tyke dedicated his song to his mom. Adam says this song has been done so often, Tyke needs to do something different, like performing this song with a ukelele and some Hawaian flavor. Didn’t like this song choice and the new take on the song is interesting, but can’t change that, even with the nice wrinkle Tyke applied to the ending. Remember, this show is called The Voice. Grade: C

DeAndre Nico (Team Adam) “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercyme — DeAndre dedicated this song to his girlfriend, Christal, who got pregnant over the summer, but lost the baby. DeAndre is beyond the keys on an elevated platform. He’s turning in a heartfelt performance of the song, that’s for sure, though things got a little shouty at one point. DeAndre pulls it back down for a tender ending. Overall, that was solid. Grade: B

Kymberli Joye (Team Kelly) “Diamonds” by Rihanna — Kymberli is dedicating this song to her sister, who also wants to be a singer. Love the songs Kymberli is selecting. Kelly said she couldn’t not save Kymberli last week because she has such a great voice. She’s serving up another example of that tonight, starting soft and nailing every note, then letting that big voice of her soar near the end of the song. This young lady should be a front-runner, folks.

Kennedy Holmes (Team JHUD) “Wind Beneath my Wings” by Bette Midler — If this was Kennedy’s song choice, she should have been steered in another direction. If it was the show’s, shame on The Voice. Kennedy dedicated this to her parents. Nope, this is not working for Kennedy. She’s incredibly talented for her age, but for the second straight week, I feel like she picked a song she couldn’t quite pull off, one that reminded us more than once that she’s 13 competing against pros. But the coaches give Kennedy a standing ovation. Grade: C+

Sandy Redd (Team JHUD) “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” by Boyz II Men — Sandy is dedicating this to her late mother. She’s also started a summer program for kids to keep her mother’s legacy alive. Wow, Sandy delivered an incredibly emotional performance, so emotional it seemed to affect her vocal from time to time. She gets praise from the audience, but it will be interesting to see how that it received. Blake praised the low register in her voice; I wasn’t as thrilled with it. If I was grading that on emotion alone, it’d earn an A. Grade: B–

Chevel Shepherd (Team Kelly) “Little White Church” by Little Big Town — She’s dedicating this to her dad, who’s a rock fan, but likes this song. Oh, and he also warns her to stay away from guys. Wow, that was easily my favorite performance from Chevel so far. Great arrangement. Great vocal. Chevel could have given us even a little more attitude, but she hit a couple of absolutely killer notes during that performance. That has better earn her a spot in next week’s show. Grade: A–

MaKenzie Holmes (Team JHUD) “I Am Changing” from Dreamgirls — MaKenzie says she never dreamed she’d make the Top 13. She dedicated her song to Jennifer for giving her a second chance on The Voice, so she’s singing Jenniver’s song. I’d like to see MaKenzie sing something other than a power ballad. Impressive vocal. Not sure the emotional connection was as strong as it could have been. And I’m not sure that will be a fan favorite. I wasn’t crazy about the song choice. But after a vocal like that, MaKenzie should advance to next week’s show. Grade: B

Sarah Grace (Team Kelly) “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John — She’s dedicating this to her school and school mates, who inspire her. She attends a school for the performing arts. At 16, Sarah is so impressive as not just a singer, but a musician. Kudos for putting her own twist on that, and that ending was lovely. Unfortunately, that was not my favorite overall vocal from Sarah. Hoping she still advances though. Grade: B–

Dave Fenley (Team Blake) “Hard to Love” by Lee Brice — He says it’s like every line in the song was written from his biography. He dedicated it to his wife. Dave gruff and raspy vocals worked well on that song. Solid performance that Blake calls “incredibly important” to establishing Dave as a top vocalist on the show. I would have like a more surprising song choice. Grade: B–

Lynnea Moore (Team Kelly) “Wolves” by Selena Gomez — She dedicated this to her mother, who is in prison. Dang, Lynnea, that was about 200 percent better than last week’s performance. She showed off some sass, she showed off impressive vocal versatility. And this young lady sparkles with star power. That was worthy of a spot in the Top 11. Nice song choice too. Grade: B+

Kirk Jay (Team Blake) “I’m Already There” by Lonestar —Kirk dedicated this to his mom. And his mom was in the audience, watching him perform live for the first time ever. Wow, the show is really pushing this guy. Another solid vocal from Kirk with a really strong ending. And, of course, he gets another standing ovation from coaches. Hey, The Voice, let’s not annoint him the winner in Week 1. Grade: B+

Reagan Strange (Team Adam) “You Say” by Lauren Daigle —She dedicated her song to her grandparents and says she sang it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Adam calls her a “snarling beast.” Huh? Reagan sounded lovely on the verses, but seemed a bit shouty on the chorus. Good thing she shouted though, because otherwise her voice might have been swallowed up by the band. Not sure why that was the night’s closing performance. Grade B–