Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Ali Caldwell, host Fergie and Whitney Reign listen to judges’ feedback on The Four.

From my perspective, The Four is still an over-the-top mess.

But the talent level seems to have ticked up a bit in Season 2.

And on Thursday night, the ratings did too.

TV By the Numbers reports that The Four finished second among shows broadcast by major networks Thursday night.

In contrast, for the first two weeks of Season 2, The Four trailed everything broadcast by ABC, CBS and NBC.

The Four’s ratings among 19 to 49 year olds ticked up to 0.8 after being stuck at 0.7 for the first three weeks of Season 2.

And the show recorded its best total viewership number of Season 2 on Thursday — an estimated 2.58 million, up from a previous high of 2.43 million for the season premiere.

All the numbers are considerably lower than the ratings for Season 1. But, hey, it’s summer. Fewer folks are glued to a TV screen in June than in February.

The highlight of Thursday’s show was a brilliant performance of “Set Fire to the Rain” by former Voice contestant Ali Caldwell.

As a result, she joined Sharaya J, James Graham and Jesse Kramer as a member of the four.

We’ll find out Thursday if she can retain that spot.