Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Carson Daly and Bebe Rexha prepare for the Cross Battle finale on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

For instance, the show brought back iTunes and Apple Music versions of the songs performed by the Top 24 this week.

Remember, for years fans of the show could go to iTunes and download or stream versions of every song performed on the show.

Then last fall, The Voice drastically cut back on iTunes availability. Only those who made the Top 13 got the privilege.

So it was good news Monday when The Voice announced that songs from the Top 24 would be available for streaming.

But why keep it secret for so long? They didn’t create these recordings in a day. Why wasn’t Carson Daly touting the good news throughout the cross battles?

Suspecting something was up when a couple of the artists posted photos of visits to a recording studio, I asked a p.r. representative of the show when Apple Music recordings were returning. That was last Thursday. Three business days before Top 24 night.

The response: The person was unsure, but suspected it would be Top 13 night.

Gee, you think promoting the songs’ availability earlier might have piqued interest? Led to more streaming?

Ugh.

Some other recent missteps …

* Speaking of secrecy, how about that Twitter save at the end of Tuesday’s show? Okay, let’s ignore for a moment the fact that the Comeback Stage is a needless gimmick. Let’s ignore the fact that Kanard Thomas’ opponent should have been the top vote-getter from Top 24 night who didn’t advance.

Once The Voice decided to give a singer eliminated during the Cross Battles a second chance, why keep the identity of that person a secret? Since last Tuesday, Kanard’s fans knew he’d be singing for an instant save last night. Didn’t his opponent, LB Crew, deserve to provide his fans the same advance notice.

Then The Voice changed up the timing of the Instant save, moving it from the very end of the show. Again with no warning for unsuspecting fans from other time zones who might have been inclined to participate. Double ugh!

* The Voice performance night ratings didn’t budge this week. In fact, they dropped slightly in spite of the fact that every member of the Top 24 was performing. And the results show — again, with the fate of all 24 singers in the balance — matched the show’s all-time low, actually shedding viewers since last week. Meanwhile, American Idol has seen a recent surge in its Sunday night ratings.

Why? Simple. Viewers know the contestants on Season 17 of American Idol. They’ve picked favorites after watching the Top 6 perform 13 times. On The Voice? Monday marked just the four performance we’ve seen from the members of the Top 24. That’s a ridiculously low number with just three weeks left in Season 16.

* In a recent interview, Kelly Clarkson said she loves the cross battles because it put the focus back on the contestants. Love ya, Kelly. For your enthusiasm, your authenticity and your support of former contestants. But how did you not gag aloud when spouting that company line?

The cross battles, with coaches challenging other coaches, with Carson giving us a running count of how many artists each coach had advanced, with saves and steals and all the chatter from the coaches, did not, absolutely did not, put the focus on the contestants. If anything, the cross battles encouraged fans to vote for contestants because they were representing a particular coach.

* And while we’re on the topic of cross battles, the relative of a contestant responded to one of my tweets with the following insight: “Unfortunately, the artists don’t get to pick their songs — but they have to try to do their best with what they’re given.”

In the old knockout rounds, contestants chose their songs. So if that bit of information is correct, it’s another move in the wrong direction for a show that has been making tons of wrong moves in Season 16.