The Season 11 Battle Rounds begin on “The Voice”

By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com

The Blind Auditions are over! Let the Battle Rounds commence!

Throughout the past few weeks, our coaches (Adam Levine, Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton, and Miley Cyrus) have assembled the best undiscovered artists in the country.

Before we continue, here are the team rosters:

Adam Levine: Natasha Bure, Andrew DeMuro, Riley Elmore, Ella Esparaza, Brendan Fletcher, Billy Gilman, Nolan Neal, Johnny Rez, Ponciano Seoane, Simone Grundy, JSoul & Bindi Liebowitz

Miley Cyrus: Charity Bowden, Ali Caldwell, Josette Diaz, Aaron Gibson, Khaliya Kimberlie, Lane Mack, Karlee Metzger, Courtnie Ramirez, Sa’Rayah, Maye Thomas, Sophia Urista & Darby Walker

Alicia Keys: Christian Cuevas, Lauren Diaz, Josh Halverson, Belle Jewel, We McDonald, Dave Moisan, Whitney & Shannon, Jason Warrior, Gabriel Violett, Halle Tomlinson, Michael Sanche & Kylie Rothfield

Blake Shelton: Austin Allsup, Sundance Head, Gabe Broussard, Dan Shafer, Ethan Tucker, Courtney Harrell, Dana Harper, Josh Gallagher, Blaine Long, Tarra Layne, Preston James & Christian Fermin

To prepare their teams to go to battle, the coaches called on several of music’s biggest names to be their guest advisors! The four-time Voice champ called on Bette Midler to help Team Blake, while his longtime frenemy enlisted Sammy Hagar to advise Team Adam. The newbie coaches called upon Top 40 favorite Charlie Puth (Team Alicia) and rock legend Joan Jett (Team Miley) respectively.

Which artists secured a spot in the Knockouts? Whose dreams were crushed? Plus, which singers were stolen? Read on to find out!

The first battle of Season 11 was between Team Alicia’s Christian Cuevas and Jason Warrior! The “If I Ain’t Got You” singer-songwriter gave them a monster of a song for their battle: Adele’s “Hello.” It was difficult for me to divorce myself from my friend of the blog, Clark Beckham’s excellent cover but I think it was a tall order to sing the song. While the guys had wonderfully blended harmony, I believe that Christian won this battle. His vocal growls put him on the same tier as past Voice greats Jamar Rogers, Will Champlin, Matthew Schuler, and Sawyer Fredericks.  It turned out that I was right and Christian moved onto the next round. Luckily, Adam stole Jason Warrior from Alicia!

Former Van Halen front man Sammy Hagar welcomed Natasha Bure and Riley Elmore to rehearsal. Both artists come from different musical worlds, Riley is a crooner, while Natasha is more indie pop. Adam chose Michael Buble’s “Cry Me a River” for the duo to sing. I loved the chemistry between both Natasha and Riley and the additional rehearsal footage proved that they had a bright future in the music industry. Riley’s vocals reminded me of a mixture of Sal Valentinetti and friend of the blog and Season Two finalist Chris Mann. Meanwhile, Natasha impressed me, and I have no doubt that she will step out of her famous mother’s shadows.  However, Riley would be moving forward to the next round.

As The View co-host comforted her daughter, Miley hoped that her first battle pairing would deliver one of the best battles in show history. Ali Caldwell and Courtnie Ramirez were tasked by the “Wrecking Ball” singer to perform Voice UK coach Sir Tom Jones’ version of Odetta’s “Hit or Miss.” Based on the pre-performance package, the viewers were all in for a treat that even Joan Jett stated that “their voices were crazy.” Both ladies killed it, but once Ali opened up her mouth, I thought that she won this battle. Thank goodness, Miley agreed with me. If they play their cards right, Ali could be in the semifinals! Before Courtnie left the stage, she was awarded a double steal by both Alicia and Blake! Blake told her that she was entertaining, while Adam reminded Courtnie that Alicia initially turned around for her during the Blind Auditions. Alicia added that she wanted to continue to nurture her on her journey. Courtnie chose to become the newest member of Team Alicia.

Entertainment icon Bette Midler joined Team Blake as his Battle Round advisor. He paired two of my favorites, Dan Shafer and Sundance Head, together. Blake chose Bad Company’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love.” The four-time champion gave the gentlemen this track because the song brought their respective elements out of them. Bette also gave the guys some excellent advice and the guys did not disappoint. The two made me smile during their performance, and they had some amazing moments. Dan gave a superb case of showmanship, while Sundance’s upper register gave me chills. This was the first four coach standing ovation of the Battle Rounds, and I was impressed with both men. However, Blake decided that Sundance was going to move in the next round. It is a shame that we had to lose Dan this early on this season.

Adam’s second pairing paired two of my favorite performers together: my fellow Billy Joel aficionado, Andrew DeMuro, and Grammy-nominated artist Billy Gilman. The new dad and Maroon 5 frontman chose Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” for them to sing. Billy was familiar with the MJ songbook, because he performed “Ben” for Michael 15 years ago at his 30^th Anniversary Celebration, while Andrew had an edge with the high notes.  At the end of the final rehearsal, Sammy stated that both Andrew and Billy could win this season. While I did not like the audience’s annoying background clapping, I believed that both gentlemen made the King of Pop proud with their performance. I had to agree with Blake; it was an even match.  However, the final decision came down to Adam, who chose Billy to move on to the next round. It is such a shame that we had also to lose Andrew as well.

While I spent the commercial break thinking of why The Voice should add a fifth coach for Season 12, it was time for the last pairing of the night: Team Alicia’s two dominant power players: Lauren Diaz & We McDonald. I believe that both artists could be in the Season 11 semifinals. Alicia chose Janis Joplin’s “Maybe” for the soulful women. Earlier, I went on Twitter and predicted that this battle would be the performance of the night and I was right. Both ladies showcased their golden pipes in one of the best moments of Season 11 and these talented women threw their names in the hat for the title of “Season 11 frontrunner.” I knew that Alicia would choose We, but I did not know which coach would be the lucky one to grab Lauren.  In the steal battle of the night, it came down to Miley versus Adam! Lauren decided to become the latest member of Team Miley!

Tomorrow night, “The Voice: Season 11” Battle Rounds continue!