Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Voice Top 5 of D. Smooth, Gina Miles, the sister trio Sorelle, Grace West and Noivas perform tonight. (NBC Photo)

The Top 5 on The Voice compete for the Season 23 crown tonight.

Each contestant will perform twice over the course of tonight’s show — an up-tempo song and a ballad.

Overnight voting is back, but fans will be limited to one vote per email address, a major change from past seasons.

Blake Shelton is going for his 10th victory as a Voice coach in his final season on the show.

Grace West and Noivas give him two opportunities to snare that triumph.

Check back for song by song grades when the show begins.

See also …
Ranking the Top 5 on The Voice
Song by song grades for the Top 8
Overnight voting is back for the finale
A coaches’ reunion planned for Season 23 Voice finale

The numbers below indicate the order in which the performances occurred on the show.

Up-tempo Round

8. D. Smooth (Team Kelly) “What You Won’t Do for Love” by Bobby Caldwell — Okay, it’s the finale. Time to convince folks to vote for you. Time to pour on the emotion. That was an okay rendition of that song. But it was a poor song choice for this situation on a singing show. Grade: C+

5. Gina Miles (Team Niall) “Style” — Niall’s right, Gina’s got one of the most unique voices on the show. But it’s best displayed on ballads, so it’s a smart move to get her upbeat song out of way first. Gina seemed surprisingly relaxed on stage during what was a fine, but not great, performance. Wouldn’t it be nice is a non-Team Blake singer won for a change? Just saying. Grade: B

1. Grace West (Team Blake / up-tempo) “The Lights Went Out in Georgia” — For the uptempo round, Grace has donned a red hat instead of black. She sounds very good on the opening here. And that pretty much sums up the performance. Solid. Very good. Not great. Not something I’d necessary put on repeat. Is Reba McEntire really the original singer of that song? Grade: B

7. Noivas (Team Blake): “Fly Away” by Lenny Kravitz — Well, Noivas said he’d be putting on a show, and he didn’t disappoint in that respect. But I’m not sure this is anywhere near close to his best vocal. I mean, he has a big voice and sounded great on “Come Together.” Not so great here. Grade: B

9. Sorelle (Team Chance): “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” — For the first time, Sorelle didn’t seem completely in sync on that opening. I’d like to say they found their footing, but that never came together as well as most of their performances. And the stage is way too noisy with too many things happening. Grade: B–

Ballad Round

2. D. Smooth (Team Kelly) “My My My” by Johnny Gill — I’m assuming this is D. Smooth’s ballad. D is delivering a smooth R&B vocal, no pun intended. But I don’t consider this a smart song choice, or at least not one that’s going to have fans rushing to vote for D. That said, you have to admire D’s delivery and commitment. Chance calls it “insane.” Grade: B+

10. Gina Miles (Team Niall) “Nothing Compares to U” — Okay, here’s the emotion I’ve been waiting for during the ballad round. And there’s that wonderful tone from Gina. She gets to close the show, which is a little surprising. But, hey, she’s also delivering one of the night’s best performances. Not to mention the most heartfelt. I’m with Niall. Vote Gina. Grade: A–

6. Grace West (Team Blake) “She’s Got You” — Wow, this gal isn’t kidding about liking classic country music. This was a hit for Patsy Cline in 1962. Another fine vocal from Grace. Blake called it unbelievable. Niall said Grace saved her best two performances for tonight. I, again, would have preferred a ballad with more emotion. Grade: B

4. Noivas (Team Blake):, “Cold” — No one will even complain about Noivas singing with a lack of passion. He’s one singer who can start a song at 10 and still go to 11 or 12 by the time it finishes. That said, this was a little overbaked for my taste. I would have traded some of the bombast for more emotion. Grade: B+

3. Sorelle (Team Chance): “Million Reasons” — And now the finale has started. A great song choice. An original arrangement, which is easy with these girls’ brilliant harmonies. The sisters are singing more solo bits in this than they usually do. And they’re still holding their own. They end as a trio, singing together. And it’s very good. Grade: A–

My preferred order of finish for The Voice Season 23 …

1. Gina Miles
2. Sorelle
3. Noivas
4. Grace West
5. D. Smooth