Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Rob Taylor performs “I Put a Spell on You” Monday night on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Along the way, three singers will sing for their Voice lives and one will be saved.

Last night was pretty special for the Season 8 cast.

When voting ended at noon, Frederick Sawyer, Kimberly Nichole and Meghan Linsey were sitting at number 2, 3 and 4, respectively on the iTunes singles chart.

And four singers — Frederick, Meghan, DeAnna Johnson and Rob Taylor — were topping genre charts, rock, country, Christian and R&B / soul, respectively.

That’s impressive.

If you missed where anyone landed, head here.

In the meantime, here’s how things are stacking up.

Done in by a song: Mia Z. and Brian Johnson have to be most nervous heading into tonight. Both got stuck with poor song choices last night. I’m not sure what blues singer Mia was supposed to do to make “Miss You” work. Brian had the misfortune of following Hannah Kirby to the stage with “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You,” which tested the limits of his range and wasn’t going to be rousing regardless of what he did.

The fighters: Hannah, Rob and Koryn Hawthorne entered the finals only because they were saved by their coaches a week ago. And they took the stage as though they had something to prove: that they belonged. If there’s any justice on The Voice stage, all three belong in the Top 10, too.

The revelations: Until last night, the Season 8 outcome looked pretty predictable: Sawyer Frederick breezes to an easy win. Not so fast, said Meghan, with a wonderful country-soul performance of “Girl Crush.” No so fast, said Kimberly, following it up with an even better version of “House of the Rising Sun.” Watch out, Sawyer.

Coach of the Night: The would be Christina. She jolted India Carney out of her R&B comfort zone, and that needed to happen. She served up oft-done tunes to Rob (“I Put a Spell on You”) and Kimberly, but encouraged both singers to attack them with reckless abandon. They did. And it worked. Big time.

And it’s time for results.

On to the Top 10 are …

* Kimberly Nichole (Team Christina). She arrived last night. And could, like Blake said, be a threat for the title.
* Sawyer Fredericks (Team Pharrell). No surprise there. He trailed Kimberly most of the day on iTunes, but wound up overtaking her.
* Meghan Linsey (Team Blake). Yep, that rounds out the three contestants who earned bonus points.
* Joshua Davis (Team Adam): No surprise. He’s been steady and impressive.
* India Carney (Team Christina): I still think she might be the best female singer on the show.
* Hannah Kirby (Team Blake): Great job, voters. I thought she was one of the best last night.
* Koryn Hawthorne (Team Pharrell): She slayed “Stronger” last night, so that’s deserved.
* Rob Taylor (Team Christina): Wow, so three of the save contestants last week made it through.
* Corey Kent White (Team Blake): And that means all three members of Team Blake advance.

So that leaves Mia Z., Brian Johnson and DeAnna Johnson will have to perform for an instant save.

Mia Z. (Team Pharrell): She’ll sing “Stormy Monday.” Interesting, Pharrell just noted how well she did on the iTunes blues chart. Yet last night he handed her a rock song. Well, she’s singing blues again tonight, but I’m really having a hard time understanding what she’s singing. She did show off her range yet again. That performance didn’t scream “save me.” Grade: C

Brian Johnson (Team Adam): He’s singing “Amazed.” He starts off very well. Then again, this is Brian’s forte, singing an emotional song like this. There was a bit of a vocal stumble on that chorus, though. All in all, pretty solid. Also what you would expect from him. Grade: B

DeAnna Johnson (Team Adam): Wow, DeAnna doesn’t seem as nervous as I thought she might. Really like the unique tone of her voice. And she just turned in a very nice performance of “It Will Rain.” There was a really great note in there. Grade: B+

Based on the on-screen votes, this is going to be incredibly close.

And the moment of truth.

The instant save goes to: DeAnna Johnson.

That means Brian and Mia head home.