Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Having gotten all my grumbling about tonight’s format out of the way in an earlier blog, this will be a gripe free recap of the Season 18 Voice semifinals.

Nine singers will perform tonight — Todd Tilghman, Toneisha Harris and Joanna Serenko from Team Blake; Thunderstorm Artis and Allegra Miles from Team Nick; Megan Danielle and Micah Iverson from Team Kelly; and CammWess and Zan Fiskum from Team Legend.

The top vote-getter from each team advances during Tuesday’s results show. Then the remaining five singers will compete for an instant save at the close of Tuesday’s show, meaning five singers will make the finals for the first time ever on The Voice.

Voting will begin tonight when the show starts and continue through 7 a.m. eastern time Tuesday (adjust accordingly for your time zone). Xfinity voting begins this week, joining The Voice app and the show’s website as means of supporting your favorite(s).

Remember, the top vote-getters on their teams last week were Todd Tilghman, CammWess, Thunderstorm Artis and Micah Iverson.

Here are tonight’s song by song grades.

Joanna Serenko (Team Blake), “Lean On Me” — Heartfelt performance from Joanna, but she seemed a little tentative at the start and, in addition, was drowned out by the backing music. She did attack with more gusto as the song drew to an end. Being the saved artist from last week, Joanna might be a long shot to make the finals. Grade: B–

Micah Iverson (Team Kelly), “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” — Really liked the song choice. Really liked the vulnerability Micah showed on the song. And while it wasn’t a song with a lot of vocal gymnastics, Micah built some dramatic energy and got to show off his falsetto. Very nicely done. Grade: B+

Todd Tilghman (Team Blake), “Love Me” — Todd opened with a really nice rasp. Neat setting for the performance to, with Todd surrounded by his children. Another great song choice, and Todd is delivering vocally and emotionally. Neat ending too. That pulled some heartstrings. Grade: A–

Zan Fiskum (Team Legend), “Never Be the Same” — Zan came about as close to at-home magic as you probably can with last week’s performance of “Blowing in the Wind.” Not liking this pick as well, for one thing, it’s not a great showcase for Zan’s unique sound. But aplaud her on a brave song choice. Love the setting she created for the performance too. And the big ending. Grade: C+

Thunderstorm Artis (Team Nick), “Home” — We just got to meet Thunderstorm’s wife and he explains how much he missed her while traveling for music. This is easily my favorite Thunderstorm performance. Tons of emotion. Pitch-perfect vocals and enough chances to the song to make it his own. He picked up the tempo at one point near the end; I almost wished he hadn’t, because this performance was beautiful in its simplicity. Grade: A

Megan Danielle (Team Kelly), “What Hurts the Most” — In terms of a song to show off the cry in her voice, that was a great pick. She showed off a nice rasp too. But it’s a song filled with emotion, and Megan’s eyes seemed closed almost the entire time, making it a little difficult to connect. But Voice fans have treated country singers very kindly over the seasons, and she’s the only country singer left. Grade: B

Allegra Miles (Team Nick), “Overjoyed” — Allegra is dedicating this to her 92-year-old grandmother. Neat. Wasn’t sure about this song choice, but Allegra still shows off her distinct tone and also reminds she can sing with power and still sound very good. That said, it’s just really hard to replicate the energy a crowd would provide during a performance like this. Grade: B+

Toneisha Harris (Team Blake), “Because You Loved Me” — The song choice is a little tired and I wasn’t crazy about the arrangement. But there’s no questioning Toneisha’s vocal firepower or ability. Kelly offers her a chance to sing in her Vegas show. Blake wants her to perform at one of his shows too. That’s another performance that probably would have been much more effective on the big stage with an audience. Grade: B

CammWess (Team Legend), “Rainbow” — Another great emotional performance, and you had to love the way he built the drama in the song. John called it “stunning.” By the end, I couldn’t disagree. My only quibble: His vocals seemed overpowered by the backing music early in the song, but he had certainly delivered by the end. Grade: A–

Disclaimer:
Producers, coaches, judges and hosts on American Idol and The Voice will pretend they are hosting a legitimate singing competition this week and next. Having blogged about singing shows for more than a decade, I can assure you they are not.

You cannot go from a Top 20 to a winner in four weeks (American Idol) or a Top 17 to a winner in three weeks (The Voice) and call it a fair and legitimate singing competition.

So have fun watching. Vote if you want. Put very little stock in the results because they will mean virtually nothing.

Most of all, support the singers when their time on the show ends. They deserved a better showcase for their talent.