Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Voice Top 5 of Girl Named Tom, Jershika Maple, Wendy Moten, Hailey Mia and Paris Winningham (NBC Photo)

Each of The Voice Top 5 — Girl Named Tom, Hailey Mia, Jershika Maple, Wendy Moten and Paris Winningham — performed twice Monday in an attempt to convince fans that they should win Season 21.

Girl Named Tom and Jershika made the most convincing final arguments, though Wendy Moten got to close the show with a fan favorite.

Here are Voice Views song by song grades for the performance finale.

Hailey Mia (Team Kelly), “deja vu” by Olivia Rodrigo: Hmm, an interesting start to the show with the stage covered by beds and Hailey accompanied by a squadron of tantrum-throwing background vocalists. As for Hailey, she got to rap a bit and she got to show off her range. But that didn’t pack the emotional punch of the performances that got her to the finale. Grade: B

Paris Winningham (Team Blake), “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul: Mr. Cool opens the night with another R&B classic and gets to dance a bit with one of the background singers. That was a silky smooth performances, punctuated by the intensity and big notes Paris is known for delivering as his performances wind to a close. Grade: B+

Girl Named Tom (Team Kelly), “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac: Why was Girl Named Tom surrounded by fake rocks? Oh, well, forget the rocks. They sounded great on a great song choice and one that’s likely to top the charts for The Voice this week. There were moments when Bekah even had a Stevie Nicks’ haunting quality to her vocals. And the harmonies were fabulous. I also loved that spot where they changed up the song a bit leading into the guitar solo. Yep, fans, shower them with confetti on Tuesday. Grade: A

Jershika Maple (Team Legend), “I’ Goin’ Down” by Mary J. Blige: Not sure this song choice is going to give Jershika the boost she needs to challenge for the title. But, as usual, Jershika is delivering a passionate, pitch-perfect vocal. She has, flat out, been the best soloist on the show for the past three weeks. Grade: B+

Wendy Moten (Team Blake), “How Will I Know” by Whitney Houston: Please, keep Wendy away from those skates. She’s already wearing one cast. Meanwhile, she showed off her vocal firepower at the end of that song. Otherwise, it was a remarkably lackluster cover of a Whitney song on finals night. Blake, apparently living in an alternate universe, called it one of the best live vocals he’s ever heard. Dear Blake, quit dreaming. That wasn’t even in the Top 20 live vocals we’ve heard on The Voice this season. Grade: C+

Hailey Mia (Team Kelly), “idontwannabeyouanymore” by Billie Eilish: Hailey, sporting an Ariana Grande type hairstyle tonight, sounded fine on this, excellent at times. But going so contemporary on both of tonight’s song choices might have been a strategic mistake. I have a feeling the median age of Voice fans watching tonight is a good deal higher than the median age of billie eilish and Olivia Rodrigo fans. Grade: B

Paris Winningham (Team Blake), “Ain’t Nobody” by Chaka Khan and Rufus: I never thought I’d write this, but there were points in this performance where Paris’s big voice was on the verge of getting drowned out by the band. He delivered a couple of those trademark growls, but this was far from Paris’s best vocal and not a good last impression. Grade: B–

Girl Named Tom (Team Kelly), “Baby Now That I’ve Found You” by Alison Krauss: Bekah has an absolutely lovely tone and voice. Then again, we already knew that. All in all, this was a rather sleepy performance and didn’t scream “we absolutely need to win this show.” This should have been Girl Named Tom’s first performance and they should have closed with “The Chain.” Or found a much better second song. Grade: B

Jershika Maple (Team Legend), “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele: Conventional wisdom says Jershika has no chance of winning The Voice. Not after needed two instant saves to make it this far. No one told, Jershika, who continues to pour out heart and soul and that wonderfully distinct voice on every performance. Damn, can you imagine watching this young woman in concert? Grade: A

Wendy Moten (Team Blake), “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland: I’m pretty sure The Voice producers envisioned Wendy as a potential champ before Season 21 began, so she’ll get the pimp spot this week. This vocal was much, much better than her first effort of the night. But it was also a bit too frill-filled for my liking. And, just for the record, I’ll take emotion over big glory notes any Monday of the year. Grade: A–