Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Joshua Davis performs on The Voice Monday night. (NBC Photo)

That means this week’s mission will be to select four finalists, without the wild card round that made its debut in Season 7.

I’m figuring two of the Top 4 spots probably already belong to Sawyer Fredericks and Meghan Linsey.

That would leave Koryn Hawthorne, Joshua Davis and India Carney to battle for the other two spots and tomorrow night’s final instant save.

For my latest rankings of the remaining contestants, head here. And to see how they stack up on social media, head here.

Round 1 (Coaches’ Choice)

1. Joshua Davis, Team Adam: He’ll kick off the night with “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” Another emotional ballad from Joshua, who had done well on iTunes with songs along he lines of this. The production team did him no favor by sticking with a long shot for the entire first verse. We need to feel and see his emotion for this to work. Decent vocal, but all-in-all, a rather sleepy opening to semifinal night. That performance didn’t scream: I must be in the finals. Blake calls it a great job. Christina loved it, but can’t recall the past Joshua performance it reminded her of. Grade: B–

2. Koryn Hawthorne, Team Pharrell: She’s going to perform U2’s “One.” Interesting song choice. Even more interesting staging, with Koryn standing at the end of a tunnel of light bulbs. The lights are now coming on as Koryn prances toward the camera. Unfortunately, this vocal seems stuck in first great. Not sure that was the best song choice for Koryn, though by the end, we once again knew she was emotionally invested. Unfortunately, that was one of my least favorite Koryn performances. Adam says she did a fine job. Christina compliments Koryn on her growth during the competition. Pharrell calls her “inspirational.” Grade: C+

3. Meghan Linsey, Team Blake: She’ll perform “I’m Not the Only One.” And one verse in, I can tell you this is going to be the best vocal we’ve heard so far tonight. That said, it’s the middle of the song before we get the emotion Blake was talking about. And Meghan did a very nice job of building the dramatics over the course of that performance rather than attacking it vocally from the first note. Pharrell calls it a “great performance.” Meghan says she’s been growing consistently on the show. Blake likes her “vintage” sounds. Grade: B+

4. India Carney, Team Christina: She’ll perform “Gravity.” A bit of a shaky opening. India hit one heck of a glory note in the second half of that performance, and certainly got stronger as the song progressed. But it wasn’t my favorite India performance, though she gets a nice reception from the crowd. Adam likes the way she approached the song. Blake calls the performance “powerful” and says he’ll be shocked if she’s not in the finale. Christina liked her “control” of the song and calls her a “smart singer.” Grade: B–

5. Sawyer Fredericks, Team Pharrell: Sawyer gets to sing last, like he needs any more help making the finals. He’ll sing “For What It’s Worth.” Young Sawyer has one heck of an ensemble on stage with him. I’m not sure he’s quite getting the serious message of the song, given the smile he keeps flashing the audience. Nor am I thrilled by the way the background singers are carrying the chorus. But it’s a rock classic, performed by Sawyer, so it will probably shoot right up the music chart. I did like the a cappella ending. Adam says he did the classic justice. Grade: B

Koryn Hawthorne performs on The Voice Monday night. (NBC Photo)

1. Joshua Davis, Team Adam: He’ll sing “When I Paint My Masterpiece.” OK, I immediately like the vibe and tempo of this song. This is so much better than Joshua’s first-round performance. Hey, very nice cover of a Bob Dylan tune by The Band. Very well done, Joshua. One of his best performances. Blake, who didn’t know the song, really liked Joshua’s version. Christina compliments the drummer, and calls the performance “awesome.” Adam says that performance “felt so good.” It sounded very good, too. That deserves to be an iTunes hit. Grade: B+

2. Koryn Hawthorne, Team Pharrell She’s singing “Don’t You Weep.” Koryn is bringing more of her trademark intensity to this performance. She’s taking The Voice to church. My complaint is I can’t hear Koryn over the beat or over that legion of background singers. Regardless, I suspect that performance might propel Koryn into the finals. Adam says she’s made more progress than any contestant he can remember on The Voice. Christina can’t believe how much passion she performs with at such a young age. Grade: B+

3. Meghan Linsey, Team Blake: After watching her homecoming footage, she’s going to sing George Jones’ “Tennessee Whiskey.” Smart move, going back to a country song she can sing with a touch of the soul she prefers. And she’s going to deliver another fine vocal. Another powerful performance. I don’t think there’s any doubt she should be in the Top 4. Christina compliments her on her versatility. Blake calls it her most important performance so far and says he can’t wait to see how that does on iTunes. Grade: A–

4. India Carney, Team Christina: Her pick for the second performance tonight will be Michael Jackson’s “The Earth Song.” Hey, the round two performances tonight are much better than those from round one. India is delivering a pitch perfect cover of this. Wow. Wow. Wow. India just delivered her best and most dynamic performance at the best time. The second half of that was just crazy wild. Pharrell said it sounded, looked and felt “beautiful.” Adam says that performance was like a mini-musical. Christina called it a “superstar” performance. Very, very good. That sorta throws a wrinkle into things, doesn’t it? Grade: A

5. Sawyer Fredericks, Team Pharrell: His second song of the night will be “A Thousand Years.” And I can tell you right now this will be the most successful song from tonight on iTunes. It’ll be interesting to see if Sawyer can hit number one with it, because he’s doing an excellent job. Glad to see it, because he’s going to win Season 8 in a landslide, and a performance like this is deserving. I can’t imagine him doing a much better cover of that song. Sawyer likes the power in his voice. Blake says he’s clearly the front-runner and calls him “the real deal.” Grade: A