Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Voice held its first-ever cross battles Monday night, and Dexter Roberts, Matthew Johnson and Maelyn Jarmon proved why they should be in the running for the Season 16 Voice crown.

Eight battles were held Monday. Winners, based on fan voting, will be announced during Tuesday’s results show.

Then coaches will have a chance to save or steal contestants. Each coach gets one of each this round.

Here are Monday’s cross battles, The Voice Views grades and my pick for the winner of each.

CROSS BATTLE #1

Kim Cherry (Team Blake), “Poison” — Kim has a ton of performance experience, fronting her own event band, Legends of Summer. And she’s serving up the attitude on this song. A bit of rap too. Oh, yes, go Kim. She serves up a big ending too. That was very good. Grade: B+

Betsy Ade (Team Kelly), “You Oughta Know” — Never liked this as a competition show song. Betsy’s serving up a good deal of attitude of her own. But these verses are so rapid fire. Betsy pulls off her jacket and whips it into the audience. Wow, two big, energetic performances for the first cross battle ever. Grade: B

Winner: Kim Cherry, Team Blake

CROSS BATTLE #2

Mari (Team Adam) “My, My” — Loved Mari’s audition and battle round performance. Not sure this one is coming off as well. At least not in the early going. Though Mari seemed to find her groove as the song went on. That wasn’t quite as impressive vocally as what we’ve seen from her in the past. Grade: C+

Selkii (Team Blake) “Torn” — Better song choice by Selkii. I think she has the experience edge on Mari, and it’s showing. She looks just a little more natural on stage. Really likes this young woman’s style and vocals. An ambitious performance; she went for lots of glory notes. Grade: B–

Winner; Selkii, Team Blake

CROSS BATTLE #3

Lisa Ramey (Team Legend) “It Hurts So Bad” — Tell you what, I think this lady feels like she has something to prove after not turning a chair in Season 15. She set the stage on fire in the battles. And she’s pouring tons of passion into this performance too. Talk about powerful vocals. She just did it again. Dang, woman. Grade: B+

Karen Galera (Team Kelly) “Unfaithful” — Karen doesn’t have nearly as much performing experience as Lisa, but she’s turning in a solid performance. And her ability to sing part of the song in Spanish is her wild card. Really nice ending, but there was no way that song was going to deliver the vocal firepower Lisa brough to the stage. Grade; B–

Winner: Lisa Ramey, Team John

CROSS BATTLE #4

Matthew Johnson (Team Kelly) “Who’s Loving You” — Nice soulful performance by Matthew. Not only did he deliver perhaps the most pitch perfect vocal we’d heard to this point, he also delivered a big ending. And did it all with a ton of passion. Grade: A–

Dominic Haynes (Team Adam) “Damn Your Eyes” — In terms of delivering a passionate performance, Dominic matched Matthew. Not sure the vocal was an impressive. And all the chest tapping was a bit distracting. But that was another solid performance. Wish The Voice hadn’t interrupted the Cross Battles with commercials. Grade: B

Winner: Matthew Johnson, Team Kelly

CROSS BATTLE #5

Presley Tennant (Team Kelly) “Love on the Brain” — Presley, somehow, got just one chair turn in the blinds. She showed the folly of that in the battles. And she’s doing it again tonight. There’s power to spare in that 16-year-old voice of hers. The only complaint I’d have it she might have overdone it a bit, going in at 10 rather than building to a 10. But that was a really solid performance. Grade: B

Kayslin Victoria (Team Legend) “Stay” — She’s the youngest contestant still on the show and not nearly as experienced as Presley. But she’s also been fearless on stage to this point. This was not a good song choice for Kayslin, who sounded shouty throughout. She proved she’s better than that in the earlier rounds. Grade: C–

Winner: Presley Tennant, Team Kelly

CROSS BATTLE #6

Celia Babini (Team Adam) “A Thousand Years” — Like the fact that Celia has a distinct sound. She’s also a very good songwriter, judging from the music she’s already released. I’m sensing a tendency among contestant tonight to oversing, perhaps to try too hard to impress. That was solid, but her vocal wavered on at least a couple of occasions. Grade: B–

Oliv Blu (Team Blake) “Gravity” — Olive has a really nice tone. And I like the way she approached the beginning of the song with a bit more control, then delivered lots of frills and intensity closer to the end. Very impressive performance from another singer who I think was a one-chair turn in the blinds. Grade: B+

Winner: Oliv Blu, Team Blake

CROSS BATTLE #7

Dexter Roberts (Team Blake), “I Believe” — Look, Dexter has a huge fan base from his time on Idol. And this is a crowd-pleasing song choice. And Dexter is delivering a near perfect vocal. He will win this battle, no matter what Andrew does. But that was a great performance all on its own. One of the best of the night. Grade: A–

Andrew Jannakos (Team Adam), “I’m Yours” — Andrew has a nice rasp in his voice, which he showed off several times in this performance. He also hit a very nice glory note near the end of the song. But that was nearly as assured, vocally or performance wise, as Dexter’s was. Grade: C

Winner: Dexter Roberts

Maelyn Jarmon (Team John), “Mad World” — Brilliant, from the first note. Maelyn looks like a star. More importantly, she’s singing like one. Listen to that voice soar, absolutely effortlessly. Great song choice, perfectly executed. Great ending, great performance. Best of the night. Grade: A

Rod Stokes (Team Adam), “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” — I’m wondering if Rod was pushing just a little too hard after hearing Maelyn’s performance. Because he wavered a bit vocally at a couple of points. Still a solid performance, but Adam put him in a really difficult spot. Incredibly, he asked to be challenged when first Blake, then John, sent perhaps their best singers to the stage. Grade: B–

Winner: Maelyn Jarmon