Prin Holmes

Which rocker guy?

Thoughts on tonight's performances: Kaleb: Very solid performance. I think that he has the best pure male country voice left. It definitely helped that he did a current favorite song. I think he could be Kelly's best shot at a win if she really wants to beat Blake with a country artist. Alexa: Oh, no, Alexa. This was not good. Not good at all. I'm sorry, but it really wasn't. The start was pretty decent, but it turned into a mess as it went along. Definitely not worthy of the vote. D.R.: A very solid performance on his part. Started out small, then built up to something much bigger. His voice shown an incredible amount of power and control, as well. Even his belting was well under control! Probably one of my favorites of this team. Could be a good contender for the public vote, or at least Kelly's save. Dylan: I think he has a very nice, smooth, solid, clear tone. But this song was definitely not for him. It actually had some decent, brilliant spots when he was in his lower range and his mid-range. It's when he got to his upper range that he lost me. He might only have to rely on Kelly's save, but then again, he was really close to Kaleb in the retweets. Tish: "At Last" has just been done to death on the show, and unfortunately, she couldn't offer up any interesting interpretation of it. It was nonetheless a good performance, but not really a mind-blowing one. Reid: I think he probably did the best job of Team Adam. A very strong performance, and when I definitely enjoyed. And that's something I rarely say about a contestant on Adam's team. But he's probably Adam's strongest singer, so he should get the vote. Jackie V.: It was a pleasant performance, but I couldn't get over how nasally her tone sounded throughout the entire thing. Not to take away from it, of course, but I just thought that I would note it. Drew: This was . . . just okay, to be honest. I guess he picked an okay song for himself. But he wasn't really all that interesting during it. Kind of boring, really. But he did well enough of the Twitter vote, so let's see if he has a chance. Mia: When in doubt, go country. That is, if you can handle the song. Mia, simply put, couldn't. Her lower notes were dynamite. It's just when she started going up higher in her range that she seem to lose the song. It ended up being pretty mediocre, especially compared to all of her past performances. I don't think she'll make it. Rayshun: Probably the absolute worst performance of the entire team. That Mary J. Blige song is a gem, and it shouldn't be taken by voices like his. And of course, he does a spin for performance purposes in hopes that he will get the vote. Really hope he doesn't, because he shouldn't have gotten this far in the first place. He only did because Adam loves him so much. As for the results, I was shocked that Pryor still got the viewer vote. WILKES was easily leading the Twitter vote last night. But I guess I underestimated the app vote. Blake was definitely trying to hide how pissed he was. But based on his options, Spensha was probably the right choice for his save. I knew that, by far, Gary and Austin were definitely out. It was a choice between Pryor and WILKES, and once America made the choice for him, the latter had to go. I'm okay with that, because I really don't know what everybody here saw in WILKES, and I really want to know what it was right now. Kelly's team was very unsurprising, in terms of the public vote. By the way Twitter was going, I was pretty sure that Kaleb was getting it, and he did. (Dylan was very close behind him, though.) And I suppose that it made sense that Kelly chose D.R. based on overall body of work, but I really wanted her to choose Dylan. Instead, I have to lose him and Tish. Don't really care one way or another about Alexa, though. I get the strangest feeling that Kelly should be prepared to lose D.R. either next week or the week after, though. Alicia had a very tough choice on a very stacked team, but at least Twitter reflected the vote this time, what with Jackie F. getting the vote. From there, I was pretty sure that Johnny was out of it, being the least-liked member of the team. But I really thought she would take Terrence through. She just loved him so much. But based on how she was being received by America, Christiana was absolutely the right choice. Sorry to see any of Johnny, Kelsea, or Terrence go, though, because I thought that they all deserved to be in the top twelve more than several other artists from any of the other three teams. Finally, Adam's team. The result of this one actually shocked me. Reid was leading in the Twitter vote, so it shocked me when Rayshun got it instead. You can tell it shocked Adam, too. After that, I thought that either Drew or Reid was a shoo-in. But alas for both of them, Adam chooses to keep his dream alive of beating Blake with a country artist and picks Jackie V. instead. So goodbye to Drew, Reid, and Mia in one fell swoop. Adam probably lost his three strongest members thanks to the new format. So it lasts, the field has been cut in half, and our top twelve is decided. Let's see what happens next week. Good episode, if only for the complete crippling of Adam's team.

Yeah. I guess it shows the coaches do listen to the fans, after all. Sometimes. At least if you're not Adam, who clearly showed he wasn't.

I like to take some credit for that, as well as someone else on Idol Forums. You see, last night, the latter sent her a tweet containing a link to Terrence's second Playoff performance, which displayed way more dislikes than likes, plus a warning that the public wasn't feeling him the way she was. I think I helped put the nail in his coffin just this morning by sending her a link to Christiana's performance from last night, which had way more views and likes than Terrence's. I simply told her the truth that Christiana was the one the fans wanted, not Terrence. I guess she listened, after all, and let Terrence go.

Current team rosters/cheat sheets: Team Adam Sharane Calister (saved by America's vote) Rayshun LaMarr (saved by America's vote) Jackie Verna (saved by Adam) Team Alicia Britton Buchanan (saved by America's vote) Jackie Foster (saved by America's vote) Christiana Danielle (saved by Alicia) Team Kelly Brynn Cartelli (saved by America's vote) Kaleb Lee (saved by America's vote) D.R. King (saved by Kelly) Team Blake Kyla Jade (saved by America's vote) Pryor Baird (saved by America's vote) Spensha Baker (saved by Blake) This is our top twelve.

HI is exactly five time zones behind EST. They would have to watch their Twitter feeds at three in the afternoon and keep on retweeting till four, despite not having seen a single performance by that time. Something not too difficult to do if you're not busy, but if you are, it could be very difficult.

You can actually vote through Twitter while watching the show. Even though you can't actually see what's going on, you can just check Twitter from five to six this evening. That way, you can easily vote for whomever you want from Adam's and/or Kelly's teams. I am in MST and will be doing that from six to seven tonight. It gives away the results before I get to see them, but at least I get a chance to make my votes count.

I suppose you didn't look at Twitter. Jackie dominated the Twitter retweets, and it wasn't even close. She's going through for sure tomorrow. Johnny, on the other hand, lagged way behind the rest of the team. Only way he gets through is if Alicia chooses him.

The artists only recorded studios for last night's performances. They did not record any for tonight's or tomorrow's performances. Wrong. It wasn't savvy at all. Gary pulled in the smallest amount of votes for Blake's team tonight. So it didn't work. It won't work for him every time.

Thoughts on tonight's performances: Spensha: I love the pureness of her voice. Unfortunately, she definitely went off key a couple of times, and that took away from the performance. Overall, it was still good, though, and that was my favorite Carrie Underwood song, so I was all right with what she did with it. WILKES: Good choice to not restrict himself to purely country. Doing the song of Blake's fiancée and putting somewhat of a rock spin on it was a very smart choice. However, I think the real spike in his votes came because of his fall during the song. He sounded very good, but I hope he doesn't become too much for a threat in this competition, because we really don't need another Blake win. Pryor: Oh, my. This was a mess. Between the total lack of dynamic variation and singing a classic Dolly song with a voice that totally doesn't fit it, it's no surprise to me that it was an overall terrible performance. Don't see him getting the public vote after this travesty. And that was not worthy of a standing ovation from the coaches. Austin: Austin, Austin, Austin. Bad move to pull a Lowell Oakley and switch out of your crooner lane and into a pop one. And even then, not even a good pop song. Maybe putting it in a crooner setting might have helped. Even though your voice sounded very smooth, it was just so inferior to the three before you. I don't think he's getting the vote. Gary: Definitely a pandering effort. All we needed was to cry a bit and wave the American flag, and he would have been set. However, the "correct" pandering to use is Christian pandering, not patriotic pandering. His voice was very solid throughout the song, but overall, it didn't do much for me. Terrence: I appreciated the spin he put on the song, but he probably should have put a better spin on it than that. Nevertheless, I loved his slow, quiet start that built up to a louder, faster presentation that actually resembled the original a little bit more. I don't know. I guess Terrence isn't really for everyone, but I liked it a lot. He might not get the public vote, but he's a good candidate for Alicia's save. Christiana: Hozier was not a good choice for her to take on. It sounded like her singing was slurred almost the entire way through, and she was woefully off-key quite a bit. She started to enunciate a bit more toward the end, I guess, but on the whole, I was greatly unimpressed. It's a pity, too, because I usually love her performances. Jackie F.: She had the misfortune of getting drowned out by the band early on, but once she picked up the pace and hit the chorus, she just killed it. She demonstrated who usual power, control, and dynamics and just brought the house down. Probably the best performance on the team tonight. And given how much her votes spiked after a performance, it would be a tragedy if she doesn't get the vote tomorrow. Or at least Alicia's save. Kelsea: All that hard work to pull out a great performance last night, only to blow it away with a mediocre performance tonight. What was that? It wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't good, either. Another one who went off pitch. Even worth, she had a fight with the band a number of times and only barely managed to win out. Not getting the public vote, I wager. Johnny: Good idea to not sing in Spanish tonight. If nothing else, it shows the voters that he can do more than that. Doing an Adele song was a good idea, and he sounded very good. Just a beautiful, clear, unforced tone. Good way to end the night. Well done, Mr. Bliss. Tomorrow, I have no doubt that WILKES we'll get through on the vote, leaving Blake to save either Spensha or Pryor. Austin and Gary are definitely goners. And Jackie F. is crushing the Twitter vote right now, so I pretty much expect her to get through on those roads, leaving Alicia to save either Terrence or Christiana. Kelsea and Johnny are definitely dead in the water. Decent episode.

One more spot will be decided by the fans, while the other will be decided by the coach.

Thoughts on tonight's performances: Alexa: This was a mess. She started out very well, but she very clearly lost control as a song went along. Your voice broke at least twice throughout the song, and she went off key more than once. Definitely not worthy of getting voted through. Kaleb: If Kelly wants any chance of winning with a country artist, this is her guy. It was strong, solid, and just plain beautiful. He might have gone off key at one point, but thankfully, not badly so. He recovered immediately. Nice job, sir. Tish: This was damn near flawless. I'm going to be honest and say that this is the best she's done since she started her journey. She demonstrated her usual power and control without resorting to belting or screaming too much. Excellent work, Tish. Brynn: A Sia song is always a risk, but I think it paid off. Brynn was amazing. It was just as flawless as Tish's performance, if not more so. I was mesmerised the entire time. Well done, Brynn. Dylan: Oh, no, Mr. Hartigan. This was not good. It wasn't bad. Just wasn't good, either. Like Alexa, it actually started very well. But it got away from him as it went along. Definitely going to have to perform again. D.R.: The band drowned him out at numerous times, but on the whole, a good job. He did a decent job on a song no one would ever have expected him to do. Better than Alexa and Dylan, for sure. Perhaps Kaleb, as well. Drew: Michael Jackson is difficult to take on. Drew did a decent job, but for his specific lane, I hated this song choice for him. Still, I think he'll do decently in the tweets. Mia: Okay. Mia does so well for performance to Performance, I wonder what the hell Alicia, Kelly, and Blake were all thinking by passing on her during the blinds. This was gorgeous. Aretha is another hard one to take on, but she did it fabulously. Jackie V.: I didn't like when Kelsea May did this song for her Knockout in season eight. I only liked it slightly more here. She stayed more solid than Kelsie, at least, but there was nothing really mind-blowing about it. Rayshun: This was just bad. I mean . . . bad. Started out well enough, but he went off key so many times. Especially heading into the final twenty to thirty seconds of it. Sharane: This was the best one on the team, and it wasn't even close for me. I got chills just from listening to her. Absolutely strong job the entire way through, and a good contender to get the public vote. Reid: Another fine job. I thought he showed the right blend of power, control, and dynamics the entire way through. He chose the absolute right song for his voice. Also, one of the few who didn't have to fight the band, so that's a bonus. Austin: I thought he did a fair job on this song, but I wouldn't get any hopes up of seeing him advance. Crooners just never seem to be able to do it. He had the smoothness of other crooners like Lowell Oakley and Riley Elmore, but not the overall strength of them. Actually, that's not true. I do think he's stronger than Riley. Just not stronger than Lowell. Pryor: I'm actually kind of stumped as to how he gets so much love. He has good power and decent control, but he has no sense of dynamics at all. He always starts with the volume at ten, and then turns up the dial even higher than that! Nonetheless, Chris Stapleton typically does well, so no wonder he got so many tweets. Kyla: A God song? Is there any doubt whom Blake wants to see get through? In any case, Kyla showed great range in her performance and kept amazing control of her voice. Even her belting wasn't too much. Of course, she then played the card that got Aliyah Moulden (undeservedly) to season twelve's finale: crying near the end of her performance. Good performance. Gary: I thought it started out boring, but he definitely picked it up in the second half. Still, it wasn't that great. Decent, but nothing special. Don't see him getting the votes. Spensha: She did the best job technically, but I just realized my problem with her tonight. Spensha is kind of boring. I try not to say that about my fellow blacks, but unfortunately, she find some way to be so good, yet at the same time, leave me wanting so much more for her. I still think she's more convincing as a black female country artist than Keisha Renee from last season, but that's only mild praise. WILKES: Another God song? Come on, Blake. But he did an overall good job after a rough start. He had to fight with the band, though. Still, solid. Johnny: I greatly appreciate that he and Alicia continue to take advantage of him having the Latin pop lane open. And not surprisingly, he does an amazing job singing in Spanish. Loved his voice, loved the performance, loved his dynamics, loved his control, loved everything. But I have to ask anyone who's watched longer than I have. Is this the first time someone has done a Spanish song in the Lives? Kelsea: Wow! Aside from a tiny part that was off-key, this was pretty much perfect. I was worried about her choice of an Amy Winehouse song, but she did a damn good job on it! Amy Winehouse is no joke, and she did her justice! Certainly worthy of the public vote, if she gets it. Terrence: I thought he gave yet another good performance and again showed why he has such an incredible voice. But he really needs to start performing without the piano, lest he wants to look like a one-trick pony who can't do anything else. For another thing, as solid as his falsetto is, he shouldn't rely on it so much. Jackie F.: Oh, my God. This was incredibly awesome. She was fantastic from start to finish. Kelly and Adam both really goofed by dumping her. Amazing vocals, breathtaking power, commendable control, and an overall powerful performance. Excellent job, Ms. Foster. Christiana: Not the way I would have interpreted "Hey Ya," but an all right job. I might have liked to have her do something more up-tempo, though. All that said, her vocals were strong and solid, as usual. But looking at the tweets, I don't think she's got this vote. Britton: Great way to end the night. Sure, it was cheesy in some parts, but overall, he never let it affect his vocals or his performance, and kudos to for that. What's also interesting about him is that he has incredible stage presence, even when he doesn't move much. I think you'll be the teen heartthrob for this season, because the women and girls go crazy over him before he even opens his mouth. Overall, I was halfway surprised by the results, and halfway not. Team Alicia and Team Kelly we're no surprise to me. Britton and Brynn have been incredibly popular since the beginning of the season, so I was fairly sure they would make it through. However, I thought Terrence could possibly challenge Britton, and Kaleb could challenge Brynn. But Team Adam and Team Blake were huge surprises. I have thought that either Drew or read would be the odds on favorite for Adam and was absolutely stunned when Carson announced that Sharane had gotten through. And I was more than ready to learn that either Pryor, Spensha, or WILKES had won the vote for Blake and was floored to learn that Kyla had. So a good first live episode of only for the shocking results from the two mens' teams. Hoping that Team Alicia and Team Blake perform well tomorrow, and that Team Kelly does the same on Wednesday. Save for Mia and Reid, I don't care that much for Team Adam.

Current team rosters/cheat sheets: Team Adam Sharane Calister (saved by America's vote) (Still Waiting) Mia Boostrom Jackie Verna Rayshun LaMarr Reid Umstattd Drew Cole Team Alicia Britton Buchanan (saved by America's vote) (Still Waiting) Johnny Bliss Terrence Cunningham Kelsea Johnson Christiana Danielle Jackie Foster Team Kelly Brynn Cartelli (saved by America's vote) (Still Waiting) Kaleb Lee D.R. King Alexa Capelli Tish Haynes Keys Dylan Hartigan Team Blake Kyla Jade (saved by America's vote) (Still Waiting) Spensha Baker Pryor Baird WILKES Austin Giorgio Gary Edwards These are the first four of our top twelve. Remaining results to follow on Wednesday.

But you just said you do have a favorite on Adam's team. The second one. According to a recent release, Team Blake and Team Alicia will each have their remaining five artists perform on Tuesday. Team Adam and Team Kelly will each have their remaining five artists perform on Wednesday. But yeah, I don't like this format. NBC really shouldn't have tried to fix a format that wasn't broken. I miss the old one. But I blame them first for trying to force This is Us on the audience, and now Rise.

Contestants, plural? I know that Britton is from NC, but who else is?

Tonight's song choices: Team Adam Drew: "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson Jackie V.: "Tim McGraw" by Taylor Swift Mia: "Baby, I Love You" by Aretha Franklin Rayshun: "Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder Reid: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2 Sharane: "Never Enough" by Loren Allred Team Alicia Britton: "Some Kind of Wonderful" by Grand Funk Railroad Christiana: "Hey Ya" by Outkast Jackie F.: "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS Johnny: "América América" by Nino Bravo Kelsea: "You Know I'm No Good" by Amy Winehouse Terrence: "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" by Prince Team Kelly Alexa: "It Hurts so Bad" by Susan Tedeschi Brynn: "Unstoppable" by Sia D.R.: "Home" by Marc Broussard Dylan: "Come Pick Me Up" by Ryan Adams Kaleb: "You Don't Even Know Who I Am" by Patty Loveless Tish: "Nothing Left for You" by Sam Smith Team Blake Austin: "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" by Dean Martin Gary: "Finesse" by Bruno Mars Kyla: "How Great Thou Art" by Whitney Houston Pryor: "I was Wrong" by Chris Stapleton Spensha: "I Still Believe in You" by Vince Gill WILKES: "Brother" by NEEDTOBREATHE Make of these what you will.

To remind you all, these are the current team rosters/cheat sheets: Team Adam Mia Boostrom Jackie Verna Rayshun Lamar Reid Umstattd Drew Cole Sharane Calister Team Alicia Johnny Bliss Terrence Cunningham Britton Buchanan Kelsea Johnson Christiana Danielle Jackie Foster Team Kelly Kaleb Lee Brynn Cartelli D.R. King Alexa Capelli Tish Haynes Keys Dylan Hartigan Team Blake Kyla Jade Spensha Baker Pryor Baird WILKES Austin Giorgio Gary Edwards This is our top twenty-four.

From TV Guide: Discuss the one-hour third live episode here.

From TV Guide: Discuss the one-hour second live episode here.

From TV Guide: Discuss the first live episode here.

Or see him kidnap a dolphin.

Emily Keener did the song for her Blind in season ten, and it actually sounded pretty good. Very nice, ethereal, and haunting. It was so good, she actually turned all four chairs. So that particular Elton John song can be done well. In the right hands. Unfortunately, Alexa was not a good example of the right hands.

Current team rosters/cheat sheets: Team Adam Mia Boostrom (defeated Jackie Foster) Jackie Verna (defeated Drew Cole) Drew Cole (saved by Team Adam) (Still Waiting) Rayshun LaMarr Reid Umstattd Gary Edwards Jordyn Simone Team Alicia Johnny Bliss (defeated Miya Bass) Terrence Cunningham (defeated Christiana Danielle) Christiana Danielle (saved by Team Alicia) Jackie Foster (stolen from Team Adam) (Still Waiting) Sharane Calister Kelsea Johnson Britton Buchanan Dallas Caroline Team Kelly Kaleb Lee (defeated Justin Kilgore) Brynn Cartelli (defeated Jamella) (Still Waiting) D.R. King Jorge Eduardo Alexa Capelli Tish Haynes Keys Team Blake Kyla Jade (defeated Jaclyn Lovey) Spensha Baker (defeated Austin Giorgio) Pryor Baird (defeated Jaron Strom) Austin Giorgio (saved by Team Blake) (Still Waiting) WILKES Dylan Hartigan Names in bold indicate an artist who has newly won his or her Knockout and stayed on his or team, lost his or her Knockout, but was saved by hsi or her coach, or lost his or Knockout, but was stolen by another coach. An asterisk indicates that this artist's Knockout was montaged.

Current team rosters/cheat sheets: Team Adam Mia Boostrom (defeated Jackie Foster) Jackie Verna (defeated Drew Cole) Drew Cole (saved by Team Adam) (Still Waiting) Rayshun LaMarr Reid Umstattd Gary Edwards Jordyn Simone Team Alicia Johnny Bliss (defeated Miya Bass) Jackie Foster (stolen from Team Adam) (Still Waiting) Sharane Calister Christiana Danielle Kelsea Johnson Britton Buchanan Terrence Cunningham Dallas Caroline Team Kelly Kaleb Lee (defeated Justin Kilgore) (Still Waiting) Brynn Cartelli D.R. King Jorge Eduardo Jamella Alexa Capelli Tish Haynes Keys Team Blake Kyla Jade (defeated Jaclyn Lovey) Spensha Baker (defeated Austin Giorgio) Austin Giorgio (saved by Team Blake) (Still Waiting) Jaron Strom Pryor Baird WILKES Dylan Hartigan Names in bold indicate an artist who has newly won his or her Knockout and stayed on his or team, lost his or her Knockout, but was saved by hsi or her coach, or lost his or Knockout, but was stolen by another coach. An asterisk indicates that this artist's Knockout was montaged.

Interestingly enough, it seems that the Knockout montage has come from Adam's team three seasons in a row. First, it was Mark Isaiah beating Malik Davage in season twelve, Jon Mero beating Dylan Gerard in season thirteen, and now Reid Umstattd beating Jordyn Simone in season fourteen. I wonder if the producers and editors are kind of over him at this point and actually like doing this to him?