Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Voice coaches Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, John Legend and Blake Shelton look on during The Voice Season 17 knockout round. (NBC Photo)

The Voice has announced voting rules for Season 17.

The big changes: Twitter voting is gone. And I believe Xfinity voting will have more of an impact.

In past seasons, Twitter was the place to go if you wanted to support a favorite in an instant save situation.

This year, instant save votes — and the first is coming Tuesday night — will be cast via The Voice app and The Voice website.

And in past seasons, if I recall correctly, Xfinity voting was limited to one vote per contestant after a performance show.

For Season 17, that limit will be 10 votes per contest per Facebook account or Xfinity account.

Here’s what else you need to know about Season 17 voting ahead of next week’s live playoffs, where the Top 20 will square off for spots in the Top 13.

* You can vote up to 10 times per artist per email address using The Voice app.

* You can vote up to 10 times per artist per email adress by going to nbc.com/VoiceVote.

* Apple Music versions of songs artists sing on the show will return on Top 13 night. Each of your first 10 streams of those songs will count as a vote for your favorite.

* The singer with the highest number of overnight streams gets a bonus, multiplying streams of their songs by 5. That means 1,000 streams becomes 5,000, so it’s a powerful tool.

* In the eastern time zone, the voting window is 8 p.m. on performance night to 7 a.m. the next morning. Adjust accordingly for your time zone.

Head here for the full voting rules.

And, as an aside, those rules indicate the finals will last five weeks.

That’s great news after watching the show cut the finals to just three weeks for Season 16.

As for the voting rules, I’m not a big fan of Xfinity or Apple Music voting.

In my mind, all fans should be treated fairly. Their ability to support someone they follow on the show shouldn’t be limited by the subscription services they choose to use.