Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Rihanna, right, will serve as adviser for all four teams during the knockout round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Anyone who wins or gets stolen during the knockouts will advance to those live playoffs, where each team will be represented by five singers.

But first, we have 16 knockout round matches to get through.

And we’ll be seeing lots of Rihanna, who will serve as the knockout round adviser for all four teams.

There are four steals this round, one per coach.

And The Voice has already leaked one performance we’re likely to see tonight — Jordan Smith vs. Viktor Kiraly. I’ll be shocked it that doesn’t result in one of those four steals.

For a look at the teams heading into the knockout round, go here. For a look at which singers were part of the most popular songs during the battle round, head here.

Team Adam:

Andi and Alex

Blaine Mitchell

Andi & Alex have been one of the most successful entries so far in Season 9. Both rounds, they’ve scored the most successful song on iTunes. They turned four chairs in the blind audition, then turned in a beautiful performance of “Wherever You Will Go” in the battle round. For the knockouts, they are singing “Stupid Boy.”

Blaine, 24 when he auditioned, of Fort Worth, Texas, is the sometimes-country singer who prefers alternative rock. He’s one of Adam’s two battle round steals. Adam picked him up from Team Blake after a battle round match between Blaine and Blind Joe. Blaine turned two chairs when he auditioned with “Drops of Jupiter.” In the knockout round, he’ll be singing “Hold Back the River” by James Bay.

The knockout: Really exceptional opening by Blaine Mitchell. Heck, forget what I said about the opening. Blaine is turning in a great performance. That was very, very good. Now let’s see what Andi and Alex can do with “Stupid Boy.” Cassadee Pope’s version of this song was one of my all-time favorite performances on The Voice. These two are pure magic when they sing together. And very nice finish on that. Blake says he made a mistake letting Blaine go. He also liked Andi and Alex, but felt their song wasn’t quite as dynamic.

Adam picks Blaine as the winner. Andi & Alex head home. What? Really? I guess that’s what happens when you film the knockouts long before you know how the public reacts to the artists.

Team Gwen:

Ellie Lawrence

Braiden Sunshine

Ellie turned three chairs in the blind auditions with “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off,” which turned into an iTunes’ hit. In the battle round, she defeated Tim Atlas. They sang “Sweater Weather” and the song was one of nine to crack the iTunes Top 200 during the battle round. She’s going to perform “Cool for the Summer.”

Braiden, the youngest cast member on The Voice this season, pulled an upset in the battle round. He defeated four-chair turn recipient Lyndsey Elm when they sang “No One is to Blame.” In the blinds, the teen from Lyme, Ct., turned two chairs with his cover of “The Mountains Win Again.” For the knockout round, he’ll sing the way-too-often done “Feeling Good.”

The knockout: Braiden takes the stage with a new look. His song choice is something of a surprise; this is a young man who’s spent an awful lot of time singing classic rock. But you know what? He just delivered his best performance on the show so far. Could he actually oust Ellie, who appeared to be one of the strongest contestants on Team Gwen? Yikes, a bit of a rough start for Ellie. I’m afraid this might not have been the best song choice for Ellie. Though I certainly liked the attitude she displayed during the last half of that performance. Braiden’s makeover is scoring big points. So are his performance and the improvement he’s made.

Gwen picks Braiden as the winner. Ellie goes home. Two knockouts in, two of my favorites are going home. But, hey, give Braiden credit. He turned in a superb performance.

Blind Joe

Barrett Baber

Barrett Baber vs. Blind Joe

Barrett, 35, of Fayetteville, Ark., won a showdown of four-chair turns when he faced off against Dustin Christensen in the battle round. Their cover of “Walking in Memphis” turned out to be one of the most popular of the battle round on iTunes. Oh, and Barrett turned those four chairs in the blinds singing “Angel Eyes. For the knockout round, he’ll sing “Colder Weather” by the Zac Brown Band.

Blind Joe, 32, when he auditioned, won a closely matched battle round against Blaine Mitchell, who wound up being stolen. They performed Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll.” In the blind auditions, Joe turned all four chairs singing The SteelDrivers “If it Hadn’t Been for Love.” In the knockout, he’s sing “Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys.”

The knockout: Not sure I agree with Blake’s strategy. He keeps matching his most popular singers against one another. If I’m him, I might want the public to have a chance to vote for both of these guys. Barrett goes first and delivers a really solid performance. He grabbed my attention the first time he hit the chorus and kept it through the rest of the song. Blind Joe has a bit of a disadvantage in that he has only his voice to pull the audience in. Barrett used lots of body language to help deliver his message. Blind Joe winds up turning in a solid performance and certainly tried to show off his vocal power near the end of that. But Barrett turned in the better performance.

Blake picks Barrett as the winner. He says Barrett simply turned in the best vocal.

Amy Vachal

Madi Davis

Madi Davis vs. Amy Vachal

Amy, a 23-year-old from Brooklyn, N.Y., wound up with an unusual challenge in the battle round, going against the duo of Jubal and Amanda. But their performance of the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody” cracked the iTunes’ Top 200. Singing late in the blind auditions, Amy turned all three chairs possible with her cover of “Dream a Little Dream.” Adam’s team was already full at the time. In the knockout round, she’ll sing “A Sunday Kind of Love” by Etta James.

Madi, 16 when she auditioned and from McKinney, Texas, defeated fellow team Sydney Rhame in the battle round in a performance we weren’t shown. But their cover of “Riptide” was so well done it charted on iTunes anyway. In the blinds, Madi turned two chairs when she performed Carole King’s “It’s Too Late.” In the knockout round, she’ll go with “A Case of You” by Joni Mitchell.

The knockout: Madi would appear to be the underdog here, but she’s really impressing Pharrell and Rihanna during auditions. Rihanna is pushing for more attitude — sexy attitude — from Amy. Amy goes first, and I’m not seeing any Rihanna-like moves. That said, Amy certainly delivered a fine vocal on a song she said was definitely in her “wheelhouse.” She’s so highly regarded, she’s going to be tough to beat after a performance like that. Madi’s turn. Hey, I love her tone. How did we not see her battle? This young lady has a great voice. And this is a splendid performance, perhaps the best we’ve heard so far tonight.

Pharrell names Madi the winner. Thanks, Pharrell, for rewarding the better of those two vocals. But Amy’s far from done — Adam and Blake are both trying to steal Amy. Blake calls her one of his favorite artists who has ever auditioned. Adam says he thinks Amy could win the show. Amy opts to join Team Adam.

Chance Pena

Ivonne Acero

Ivonne Acero vs. Chance Pena

Forever known on The Voice as “the cantaloupe girl,” Ivonne lost her Team Pharrell battle round match to Siahna Im, but got second life on the show when she was stolen by Blake. An unsuccessful auditioner from Season 8, she returned for Season 9 and turned two chairs in the blinds when she sang Taylor Swift’s “Style.” For the knockouts, she’ll perform “Part of Me” by Katy Perry.

Now the youngest member of Team Blake, Chance was just 15 when he auditioned and got Adam Levine to turn around for his performance of “I See Fire.” He drew a tough assignment in the battles, getting pitted against the duo of Andi & Alex. But their joint performance of “Wherever You Will Go” wound up being the most popular of all 24 songs from the battle round and impressed Blake so much that he stole Chance. He’ll sing “Demons” by Imagine Dragons.

The knockout: Again, I don’t agree with Blake’s strategy. He’s matching his two steals against one another, which guarantees one will make the live playoffs while he’s dispatching four-chair turns left and right? But he’s got more wins than any other coach. Meanwhile, Rihanna is really impressed with Ivonne’s voice. Chance goes first. Dang, this guy is only 15. He’s doing exceptionally well. OK, there were a couple of bum notes in there, but Chance showed lots of stage presence, too. But Ivonne’s voice sounds much better than I remember. When I saw this song choice, I thought she might be in trouble. Not so. And I really like the emotion she’s bringing to this song.

Blake names Ivonne the winner, and he got it right. Chance heads home.

Viktor Kilary

Jordan Smith

Viktor Kiraly vs. Jordan Smith

Jordan has been the most heavily pimped contestant of Season 9, so much so that I’d suggest The Voice back off and allow his talent to speak for itself. He turned four chairs in the blind audition; then won a knockout round match against Regina Love, singing “Like I Can.” Regina was stolen by Gwen. Jordan will be singing “Set Fire to the Rain.”

Viktor, 31 when he auditioned, is the Hungarian pop star trying to make a name for himself in the U.S. He turned four chairs in the blind audition, then defeated Cassandra Robertson in the battle round when they sang “Nobody Knows.” His Voice performances have done relatively well on iTunes, but he hasn’t really caught fire yet with Voice fans. Tonight, he’ll be singing “If I Ain’t Got You.”

The knockout: Jordan goes first with “Set Fire to the Rain.” And, as advertised, he’s giving us an excellent vocal. And that’s before his voice hits the stratosphere the second time he hit the chorus. Wow, and this keeps getting better. Okay, my new favorite vocal of the night. That was sensational. And it’s going to be incredibly difficult to match. But Viktor comes out and delivers a performance that shows not only great range, but great passion. From the time he hit the chorus to the end of that song, he was superb.

Adam declares Jordan the winner. And Gwen Stefani steals Viktor. He just became the top singer on her team.