Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blake Shelton with the remaining members of Team Blake (From left) Gyth Rigdon, Andrrew Sevener, Kim Cherry, Oliv Blu, Dexter Roberts, Kendra Checketts, Carter Lloyd Horne and Selkii. (NBC Photo)

Two weeks later than normal, The Voice will finally air its Top 24 show Monday night.

That means lots of music. The show will squeeze 24 solo performances into a two-hour window.

It will also means lots of eliminations Tuesday night, when 12 of those 24 artists go home.

I’m going to be most curious to hear the official announcement of how fan voting will work this week.

In past seasons, the top two vote-getters from each team automatically advanced, then each coach got to save one more member of his or her team.

The coaches saves are back. That’s for certain.

But the teams are uneven for the first time ever after the first-ever Cross Battles. And a p.r. rep from The Voice has indicated the fan voting will result in the top eight vote-getters advancing, regardless of what team they’re on.

That would certainly make the most sense. If the old rules were used, three of the four remaining members of Team Adam Levine would advance while Team Blake contestants would face longer odds thanks to the team’s cross battle success. That wouldn’t be fair.

But at-large voting also risk a Team Blake heavy and country heavy Top 13.

Some predictions and things to watch for …

Team Blake: Dexter Roberts and Gyth Rigdon are almost certain to advance. Both had strong pre-show fan bases, a key in a Voice season in which we’ve still only seen singers perform three times.

Team Legend: Maelyn Jarmon deserves to advance based on three excellent performances, and Shawn Sounds turns four chairs in the blinds. I’ll also be rooting for Lisa Ramey, who has returned with a revenge after failing to turn a chair in Season 15.

Team Kelly: I like the young pop potential of Presley Tennant and still haven’t figured out why she was a one-chair turn in the blinds. Jej Vinson stumbled a bit in the Cross Battles, but I expect him to be a favorite to advance as well.

Team Adam: The team’s only cross battle winners were Mari Jones and Kalvin Jarvis. Will anyone on Team Adam survive based on fan voting?

The stolen and the saved: You have to figure they face the longest odds of advancing since they didn’t get a ton of fan support in the cross battles. The stolen include Celia Babini (Team Legend), Betsy Ade (Team Adam), Kendra Checketts (Team Blake) and Rod Stokes (Team Kelly). The saved include Domenic Haynes (Team Adam), Selkii (Team Blake), Jacob Maxwell (Team Legend) and Abby Kasch (Team Kelly).

Yet another gimmick: And after spending six hours of airtime to eliminate eight contestants in the Cross Battles — and sacrificing two weeks of finals in the process — here comes the latest Voice gimmick. One cross battle loser will be brought back to face Comeback Stage winner Kanard Thomas for the 13th spot in the Top 13. Who will get that honor? Beth Griffith-Manely deserves it based on a great and unreward Cross Battle performance. My hunch is it might go to L.B. Crew, the only four-chair turn recipient eliminated to date.

Check back Monday night. I’ll be serving up song by song grades for the Top 24.

See also …
Social media leaders among the Top 24
Blake emerges king of the cross battles

Kelly Clarkson with the remaining members of Team Kelly (from left) Rod Stokes, Jej Vinson, Abby Kasch, Presley Tennant, Rebecca Howell and Matthew Johnson. ((NBC Photo)

John Legend with the remaining members of Team Legend (from left) Lisa Ramey, Jacob Maxwell, Maelyn Jarmon, Celia Babini, Shawn Sounds and Jimmy Mowery. (NBC Photo)

Adam Levine with the remaining members of Team Adam (from left) Kalvin Jarvis, Mari Jones, Betsy Ade and Domenic Haynes (NBC Photo)