Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The knockout round begins tonight on The Voice.

Each coach gets another steal.

And it’ll be interesting to see who gets stolen. Six of the eight steals in the battle round went to artists who turned two chairs or less in the blind auditions.

In other words, underdogs turned in some very surprising performances. Remember Clinton Washington’s showdown with India Carney? How about Hannah Kirby’s showdown with Sarah Potenza?

TEAM CHRISTINA:

Ashley Morgan vs. Sonic: Ashley Morgan, 26, of Antioch, Calif., performed Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” in the blind audition, turning two chairs. Ashley was pitted against Mia Z. in the battle round. They performed ZZ Ward’s “Put the Gun Down. Pharrell declared Mia the winner. All three other coaches tried to steal Ashley. She opted to join Team Christina. Sonic, 23, of San Francisco, Calif., sang Sam Smith’s “Money on My Mind” in the blinds, turning two chairs. Sonic was matched with Ameera Delandro in the battle round. They sang Jessie J.’s “Masterpiece.” Christina declared Sonic the winner; Ameera was eliminated.

Sonic is going to sing “A Woman’s Worth” by Alicia Keys. Ashley is singing “Heartbreaker” by Pat Benatar. She’ll go first. Ashley showed off her powerful vocal from the first note of that performance. There weren’t a whole lot of shades of gray in that performance, were there? And she goes for a big finish and nails it. My, my, Sonic takes the stage and shows off lots of range and a more versatile performance. Very soulful. This will be a tough call for Christina. I’d give the win to Sonic. She built to a climax in her performance; Ashley was pedal to the metal from the word “go.” Christina names Sonic the winner as well.

Kimberly Nichole vs. Koryn Hawthorne: Kimberly Nichole, 32, of New York, auditioned with “Nutbush City Limits” by Ike and Tina Turner. She turned two chairs. In the battle round, she was matched against Lowell Oakley. They performed “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley. Pharrell declared Kimberly the winner. Lowell was stolen by Christina Aguilera. Koryn Hawthorne, 16, of Abbeville, La., sang Emeli Sande’s “My Kind of Love,” turning two chairs with her blind audition. In the battle round, she was matched against Vance Smith. They sang “Love Me Harder” by Ariana Grande and The Weeknd. Christina declared Koryn the winner; Vance was eliminated from the show.

Christina says both of these ladies bring sass to the stage and that’s one reason she paired them against one another. Koryn is going to sing Pink’s “Try.” Kimberly will sing “If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free.” Kimberly will go first. Remember, Pharrell has already declared an interest in stealing her back. She’s quite the performer, though this performance doesn’t have quite as much edge as her fine battle round take on “Hound Dog.” Actually, I’m not sure this was a great song choice. But she ends strong. Little bit of a rough start for Koryn, but she certainly finds her stride when she hits the chorus. Well, and she delivers a blistering vocal from that point on. Talk about determination. She held that note near the end forever. Wow. I’ve give the win to Koryn. Christina gives the win to Kimberly.

Pharrell steals Koryn.

TEAM BLAKE

Brian Johnson vs. Sarah Potenza: Brian Johnson, 24, of Cleveland, Ohio, sang Rod Stewart’s “Reason to Believe” and turned two chairs in his blind audition. Brian was pitted against Joshua Davis in the battle round. They sang “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” Blake declared Brian the winner; Joshua was stolen by Adam. Sarah Potenza, 34, of Nashville, Tenn., was the first contestant we met in Season 8 and auditioned with the classic rock hit, “Stay With Me.” She turned all four chairs. In the battle round, she was matched with Hannah Kirby. They turned in one of the best performances of the battles, singing “Gimme Shelter.” Blake declared Sarah the winner, but both Adam and Pharrell tried to steal Hannah. She decided to join Team Pharrell.

Blake says these two singers are so powerful, it wouldn’t have been fair to match them up against anyone else. Brian will sing James Morrison’s “Nothing Ever Hurt Like You.” He says he’s done two slower songs and wanted something upbeat for this round. Blake’s telling him he’ll need some dynamics in the performance to top Sarah. Hmm, she’s made an interesting song choice: She’s going to sing “Wasted Love” by Season 7 runner-up Matt McAndrew. She calls Matt her favorite Voice contestant of all time. Blake says he knows pairing these two contestants was the thing to do. I’m not so sure, because Brian is turning in a very solid performance. There wasn’t a thing wrong with that vocal. Very nice. Then it Sarah’s turn. Dang. What a voice. A wonderful combination of power and rasp. You’d better hope for a steal Brian. Because Sarah Potenza is absolutely slaying “Wasted Love.” Complete with a superb ending. I’d give the win to Sarah. Blake gives the win to Sarah.

And Brian Johnson will be stolen by Adam Levine. He calls Brian “ridiculous” and says he should be in the competition “100 percent.”

Meghan Linsey vs. Travis Ewing: Meghan Linsey, 28, of Nashville, Tenn., auditioned with a country version of the Nazareth rock classic “Love Hurts” and turned three chairs, but not Blake’s. Meghan battled Paul Pfau in a Team Pharrell battle. They sang “Don’t Let Me Down.” Pharrell declared Paul the winner; Meghan was stolen by Blake. Travis Ewing, 23, of Lafayette, La., auditioned with a slowed-down version of Destiny Child’s “Say My Name.” He turned three chairs. Travis was pitted against Anthony Riley in a Team Pharrell battle round match. They sang “Get Ready” by The Temptations. Pharrell declared Anthony the winner, but Travis was stolen by Blake Shelton.

Blake says he’s pairing these two together because they are his steals. Meghan wants to be a soulful pop artist, so she’s going to sing “Natural Woman.” Blake likes the fact that the former country singer is trying to reinvent herself. Travis is going to sing “I Don’t Want to Be” by Gavin DeGraw. Meghan takes the stage first. I remember being surprised by how good she was during the battle round. And she’s doing it again in the knockouts. Solid, solid performance with a nice frill at the end. She was in control of that from the word “go.” Travis has a tall order in front of him, and that first verse doesn’t convince me he’s going to be able to upset Meghan. That said, he finishes strong. And no one can say he didn’t deliver an impassioned performance. My pick: Meghan. Blake’s pick: Meghan.

TEAM ADAM

Clinton Washington vs. Nathan Hermida: Clinton Washington, 26, of Little Rock, Ark., sang Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” in the blind auditions. Only Christina turned around. In the battle round, he was matched with India Carney, who turned four chairs in the blind auditions. They performed “Stay.” Christina declared India the winner; Clinton was stolen by Adam Levine. Nathan Hermida, 17, of Boston, Mass., auditioned with Miquel’s “Sure Thing.” He turned two chairs. He was paired with Josh Batstone in a Team Adam battle round. They sang “Thinking Out Loud” in a performance that was montaged. Adam declared Nathan the winner; Josh was eliminated.

Adam says he paired them up because Clinton has lots of power, Nathan is a smooth performer and they can learn from one another. Nathan will sing Sam Smith’s “Leave Your Lover.” He’s pushing for a more emotional performance. Adam says Nathan has to break open. Clinton has selected Hunter Hayes’ “Wanted.” Adam’s team is R&B heavy, he says, so he thought attempting a country song would help him stand out. Clinton goes first, and the opening seemed a little rough. Rough enough that I was wondering about the wisdom of the song choice. But he nailed a couple of brilliant notes during the chorus and finished very strong. Nathan takes the stage and immediately shows off his falsetto. Very nice. This guy is a very good singer. And he’s delivering a very tender performance. Wow, I’m surprised at how good that was. I’d give the win to Nathan. Adam selects Nathan as well.

TEAM PHARRELL

Mia Z. vs. Sawyer Fredericks vs. Paul Pfau: Mia Z., 16, Pittsburgh, Pa., auditioned with a classic, B.B. King’s “The Thrill is Gone.” She turned two chairs. Mia was pitted against Ashley Morgan in the battle round. They performed ZZ Ward’s “Put the Gun Down. Pharrell declared Mia the winner. All three other coaches tried to steal Ashley. She opted to join Team Christina. Paul Pfau, 26, of Washington, D.C., auditioned with Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon.” Two coaches turned around. Next, Paul battled Meghan Linsey in a Team Pharrell battle. They sang “Don’t Let Me Down.” Pharrell declared Paul the winner; Meghan was stolen by Blake Shelton. Sawyer Fredericks, 15, of Fultonville, N.Y., auditioned with the classic folk song “Man of Constant Sorrow.” All four coaches turned around and it turned out to be the most successful blind audition performance on iTunes. In the battle round, he was matched with Noelle Bybee. They sang “Have You Ever Seen the Rain.” Pharrell declared Sawyer the winner; Noelle was eliminated from the show.

Mia Z. will sing “Hold On, I’m Coming.” She says she’s a blues singer and plans to stick in that vein. Wise decision, considering how good she sounds on this song. My, my, she’s showing off great range, too. You see this teen and expect bubblegum pop. But she’s serving up sass and blues with skill beyond her years. Very nice performance, Mia. Paul is going to perform “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” a Ray Charles song, though he’s doing the John Mayer version. The opening seems just a little rough. But he pulls it together to deliver a solid performance. Not sure that was quite as impassioned as Mia, though. And let’s face it, with two winners in this knockout match, it’s really a case of whether Mia or Paul will advance. No way Sawyer is going anywhere. Speaking of which, he takes the stage to sing “Collide.” And his voice cuts through, as usual. Very nice tone. I wonder if this will do as well on iTunes as his first two Voice performances. Yep, he’s sure to advance. My picks: Mia Z. and Sawyer. Pharrell’s pick: Sawyer and Mia Z.