Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The  message from The Voice fans is loud and clear: Take a risk, it just might pay off.

I mean, look at this morning’s iTunes charts. Three of the four — yep, four — Voice songs to crack the top 10 on the overall singles chart were cases where singers strayed from the original version of the tune.

The fan favorite was Terry McDermott’s stripped-down version of  “I Want to Know What Love Is.” It landed at number two on iTunes, the first time Terry has cracked the top 10 since the live shows began, if I recall correctly. The only song above it on the charts: “Scream and Shout” by Will.i.am with Britney Spears.

Cassadee Pope continues her impressive run.  Both of her songs from last night landed top 10, with country-turned-pop tune “Stand” checking in at number four and a more straight-forward rendition of “I’m With You” at number seven.

The other top 10 hit from last night — Nicholas David’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” yet another case of where a Voice performer put a unique spin on a well-known song.  It landed at number five, Nicholas’ best yet.

Oh, and cutoff time might be key to Trevin Hunte’s future on The Voice. At 10 a.m. EST, a click on the iTunes chart showed “I”m Telling You I’m Not Leaving” at number 11; by 10:06 a.m., it was up to number 9. A top 10 finish, of course, would earn him major bonus points. And it’s something he might need since his other song from last night — “Walking on Sunshine” — was the worst performing on iTunes.

Melanie Martinez, meanwhile, saw her run of two straight weeks in the Top 10 broken. But Melanie certainly didn’t do too badly on the charts. Both of her songs landed in the top 20. The only other singer to do that was Cassadee.

Here’s where all the songs that didn’t make the top 10 finished:

• 11. Trevin Hunte, “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going”
• 14. Melanie Martinez, “Crazy”
• 17. Melanie Martinez, “The Show”
• 21. Amanda Brown, “Natural Woman”
• 30. Terry McDermott, “Stay With Me”
• 31. Amanda Brown, “Here I Go Again”
• 39. Nicholas David, “September”
• 58. Trevin Hunte, “Walking on Sunshine”

What does this all mean for tonight?

Well, Cassadee should be safe. She’s now the proud owner of four straight top 10 singles.

As for the other five artists, if you add the placement of last night’s songs together, figuring the lowest score is best, it works out like this.

Melanie Martinez: 31
Terry McDermott: 32
Nicholas David: 44
Amanda Brown: 52
Trevin Hunte: 69

So, is the final four Cassadee, Terry, Melanie and Nicholas?

We’ll find out between 8 and 9 p.m. tonight. Check back then for a live blog.