Idol Chatter & Voice Views

So, if I could wave a magic wand, who would I select as a final 12 on The Voice?

Well, here’s a combination of who I’d pick and who I think’s going to make it regardless of who I’d prefer.

Team Cee Lo: Trevin Hunte will make it and should. Cody Belew has been excellent in his last two performances. For the final spot, I’d probably take MacKenzie Bourg because he’s more musically relevant today than Nicholas David.

Team Christina: Sylvia Yacoub picked the perfect time to shine, because you don’t figure three female pop singers will make it from this team. She deserves a spot based on last night alone. De’Borah might be the team’s best performer/singer. I’ll put Dez Duron here because he’s going to make it on the heartthrob factor alone. I’d probably pick Devyn DeLoera instead.

Team Blake: Cassadee Pope is a no brainer. Terry McDermott is better than his Monday performance and deserves to make it. Liz Davis was very good Monday and would lend a touch of twang to the finals. Michaela Paige is a heck of a performer, but not quite as vocally adept. Of course, she’s just 16.

Team Adam: Amanda Brown, of course. To this point, she might be the most impressive contestant on the show. I graded Joselyn Rivera as the second-best based on Monday’s performances, but am guessing she’ll lose the spot to the more unique Melanie Martinez. Bryan Keith will advance, even though he wasn’t at his best Monday.

By now, if you’ve been following along, you know how tonight will work. The top two vote-getters on each team automatically advance. Each coach can save one of their remaining three teams members.

First up …

Team Adam: The singers who are safe are Amanda Brown and Bryan Keith. That leaves Adam with a really tough decision. And he chooses Melanie Martinez. That means Loren Allred and Joselyn Rivera head home. As I said earlier, I’m not sure Melanie is the best singer of the three, but she’s the most unique of the three.

Now a lengthy musical interlude. First, we hear Maroon 5’s new single, “Daylight.” Next up, Season 2 winner Jermaine Paul with “I Believe in This Life.” His album will be out in mid-December.

Jermaine’s a heck of a singer, but I didn’t envision him singing dance tunes.

Oh, and I still think the Season 2 crown should have gone to Juliet Simms.

Back to results …

Team Blake: Saved by fans are Terry McDermott and Cassadee Pope. Hooray! And Blake picks Michaela, leaving Liz Davis and Julio Cesar Castillo to head home.

Team Christina: Saved by the fans are Dez Duron and Sylvia Yacoub. And Christina saves Adriana Louise. Wow. Shocked by that decision. De’Borah heads home, along with Devyn DeLoera. Judging from her reaction, I think Adriana is a bit shocked, too.

Team Cee Lo: Saved by the fans are Trevin Hunte and Nicholas David. And Cee Lo saves Cody Belew. Excellent choice. That means MacKenzie and Diego Val head home.

And we have a Top 12 on The Voice.

Tonight’s biggest fan surprise: Nicholas David. Though solid every time he has performed, I really suspected he would need a coach’s save to survive tonight.

Best save by a coach: Cody Belew. Most will recall his ridiculously overzealous reaction to being selected by Cee Lo in the blind audition. But the guy has been incredibly impressive the last two weeks.

Biggest disappointment: I thought De’Borah turned in one of the best performances of any team during the live playoffs. But she’s heading home in favor of Adriana Louise.

Biggest disappointment 2: Liz Davis was the only true country singer remaining in the competition and certainly performed well enough to survive tonight. She was beaten, in essence, by a mohawk.