“The Voice: Season Nine” Battles continue

Adam, Pharrell, Blake and Gwen pose together before “The Voice: Season Nine” Battle Rounds. (Photo property of NBC & UnitedArtists Media Group)

By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com

Last night, The Voice: Season Nine battles began!

While there were some great moments such as Mark & Celeste’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and Jordan & Regina’s “Like I Can,” the first Battle Rounds also left many viewers scratching their heads with these questions:

“Why would a coach save average talent such as Tim Atlas and Dustin Christensen over future stars like Tyler Dickerson or Celeste Betton?”

“Why is four-time Voice champ Blake Shelton obsessed with trying to find Scotty McCreery wannabes?”

Hopefully, tonight’s episode did not show anymore stupid decisions made by our coaches!

Which artists stepped up to the plate?  Read on to find out….

Up first to face the coaches were Team Adam’s Keith Semple and Manny Cabo.  Both rockers took the stage by storm with a cover of the Who’s iconic “Baba O’Riley.” This is not the first time the Who track was covered by Team Christina’s Beverly McClellan and Justin Grennan way back in Season One. I am glad that Adam told them to be themselves at the final rehearsal, because they really channeled their rock gods and delivered a fiery performance that not only gave me goosies, but also felt that we were at a rock concert! From his first note at the rehearsal, Keith captivated me and I am very glad that Adam picked him to move on to the Knockout Rounds.

Blake surprised Chris Crump and Krista Hughes by giving them Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton’s “When I Get Where I Am Going.” It looked like that Blake took a page out of Adam’s playbook by putting his four-chair powerhouses together. I loved hearing the story behind the song from Brad and it was great to see the former Rising Star judge channel the magic that The Voice brings. Chris’ tender vocals and Krista’s superb songbird-like vocals took us to church and it reminded me of two Dolly classics: “You Can’t Make Old Friends” and “From Here to the Moon and Back.” I think Blake made a good decision keeping Chris in the show, Krista however has a bright future ahead of her.

The final battle of the night belonged to Team Pharrell’s Ivonne Acero and Siahna Im (who might be the next coming of Michelle Chamuel). Pharrell paired them together because they are the youngest members of his teams and wanted them to support each other. The “Get Lucky” singer chose former adviser Diana Ross’ “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” for them to perform. After watching the pre-performance package and hearing the beneficial advice that she gave to both girls, I think that Team Pharrell adviser Missy could be a potential Voice coach in the future.  Both girls took the advice that both Pharrell and Missy gave them and blossomed on stage. I wish the battle was longer because I would have liked to hear more from them. It was a win-win for both girls as Pharrell chose Siahna and Ivonne caught herself in a battle between Gwen and Blake (at the end of the night, Ivonne chose Blake over Gwen).

Jake’s Take also wants to congratulate Kota Wade to moving forward to the Knockout Rounds as a part of Team Gwen. I would have loved to seen her reaction when she was singing one of Gwen’s songs, I am mad that The Voice montaged her!

Next week, “The Voice” Battle Rounds continue!