The four-time winning coach has a moment with his adviser: Meghan Trainor. (Photo property of NBC & UnitedArtists Media Group)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
Last night! The Voice concluded their Season Eight Blind Auditions and went directly into the Battle Rounds.
Superstars Ellie Goulding, Meghan Trainor, Nick Jonas and music legend Lionel Richie joined Adam, Blake, Christina and Pharrell respectively to shape their artists.
Adam kept Tonya Boyd-Cannon and stole Joshua Davis from Team Pharrell. Meanwhile, Blake saved Brian Johnson and Pharrell shocked viewers when he chose Mia Z. Luckily, Christina was able to remedy that situation and saved Ashley Morgan from being eliminated!
Tonight, we have eight battles that could lead to multiple steals, surprising eliminations and shattered dreams! Which artists moved to the Knockouts? Read on to find out…
Up first to tackle the Battle Rounds was Team Pharrell’s Anthony Riley and Travis Ewing. This battle represents a duel between the “Happy” singer’s top male vocalists. They tackled The Temptations’ “Get Ready.” While I noticed that Anthony did have a cocky side, he pushed Travis to the limits. I loved their strategy to sing Queen Xtina, because it made the battle more fun to watch. Anthony stole the show and I stand with both Adam and Xtina with their decision to choose him! I am very happy that Anthony made it on Pharrell’s team and that Travis found a new home on Team Blake.
Christina and Nick Jonas welcomed Ameera Delandro and Sonic to their rehearsal. The “Your Body” singer chose the girls to sing former Voice UK and current Voice Australia coach Jessie J’s current hit: “Masterpiece.” Sonic’s hearing problem caused her to be thrown off and Amara needed to work on breath control. I am glad that Nick Jonas stepped in and asked them to lean on each other.
I thought that Sonic brought it and the harmonies were superb and the other coaches were impressed. Amara was definitely a fighter, but the coaches and Xtina chose Amara as the victor of the battle.
Two of my Team Blake favorites were paired together: rockers Hannah Kirby and Sarah Potenza. I believe that both women can win this show, not only because of their bombastic vocals, but also their amazing personalities. Blake challenged them to tackle the Rolling Stones’ “Gimmie Shelter.” This is one of my all-time favorite rock songs and I hope that Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood were watching this performance, because both Hannah and Sarah took it to church!
All four coaches gave them a standing ovation! Xtina kicked off the comments saying that the girls blew her socks off. Pharrell added that this was the best “duel” of Battle Rounds so far and praised Hannah for standing her ground against the powerhouse known as Sarah. However, Blake kept Sarah and Hannah became subjected of a steal war between Adam and Pharrell. Eventually, Hannah chose Pharrell because of her spiritual connection with the “Get Lucky” singer.
For Adam’s first battle pair of the night, the Maroon 5 singer chose Blaze Johnson and Michael Leier to perform “Rude.” In all honesty, this battle bored me. While I loved the talent, Magic’s “Rude” is not my cup of tea and I do not see both of these performers in the Top 10. For the record, Adam chose Blaze to move on to the Knockout Rounds.
Team Blake’s final battle of the evening paired Cody Wickline and Matt Snook against each other. The four-time champ chose Randy Houser’s “How Country Feels.” While it was awesome to hear Meghan Trainor do a country accent, I loved hearing the men’s harmonies and both of them delivered a great country vocal throwdown. As much as I like Matt, I thought that Cody delivered a better vocal presentation and I am glad that Cody is heading to the Knockout Rounds.
The last battle of the night belonged to Team Pharrell’s Meghan Linsey and Paul Pfau. They covered The Beatles’ iconic track from Let It Be: “Don’t Let Me Down.” I had high expectations for both Meghan and Paul, because I still hold LeRoy Bell’s outstanding cover of the track to the highest regards. While I believe that the duo did the song justice, I thought that Meghan was on the same level that LeRoy was when he performed the track four years ago. Her vocals gave me chills and I thought Pharrell just lost the show with his decision to pick Paul over Meghan! Thank goodness all three coaches wanted to steal Meghan. Blake brought out their past and Adam’s Top 3 blunder! She chose to compete on her old friend’s team.
Next week, the Battles continue!
