The Voice 23 Recap: Battle Rounds 2 Live Blog (Video)

The Voice 23 Recap: More Epic Battles, a Coach Uses Their Playoff Pass

Ross Clayton, Laura Littleton - The Voice 23 Battle Rounds
Pictured: (l-r) Ross Clayton, Laura Littleton — (Photo by: Tyler Golden/NBC)

The Voice 23 Battle Rounds feature the Top 40 artists vying for a spot in the Knockout round. Coaches Chance the Rapper, Kelly Clarkson, Niall Horan and Blake Shelton each coach teams of 10, pairing them up for unforgettable duets.

After the performance, their respective coach chooses a winner to move on to the Knockouts. The loser is eliminated, unless a fellow coach uses their one steal to nab them, or the coach saves the artist with a one time “Playoffs Pass.” The new twist allows the artist to skip the Knockouts and move straight to the playoffs.

The Voice 2023: Full Season 23 Schedule
The Voice 23 Spoilers: Top 8 Semifinal Artists Playoffs Results
The Voice 23 Spoilers: Battle and Knockout Round Results
The Voice 23 Contestant List and Guide: Meet the Artists!

So far, only Chance has used his “Playoffs Pass,” while Niall and Kelly have used their Steals.

Ross Clayton vs Laura Littleton – Team Niall – Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around by Tom Petty & Stevie Nicks

Laura is from Dixon Tennessee. But when her missionary plans to Africa fell through, she fell into a depression and gained weight. Her friends helped her recovery. Kelly used her block on Blake, but Laura picked Niall anyway. Ross had given up performing to focus on his family. Now that his kids are older, he’s back to making music again. Ross was a 4-chair turn. Niall suggests that Ross pare back the grit to make the song more dynamic. He warns Laura to watch her pitch.

Niall paired these two together because he felt they both had country influences. It’s obvious the singers have affection for each other. They play off each other really well. Laura’s vibrato is warbly and fast and pitchy in spots. She seems nervous. Ross on the other hand seems confident. His vocals pop. I would give him the win. Overall, the two have great harmonies and chemistry.

Chance admits that he doesn’t know the song! He may be worse than Blake when it comes to knowing songs outside his genre. Kelly can’t believe it. The pair’s harmonies and chemistry made the performance strong, Chance remarks. Kelly calls Laura’s vibrato “intoxicating.” But she feels that Ross’s vocals “cut through” in a way that made him stand out. Blake calls Laura a “free spirit” while Ross is “stoic” but “rock solid.” He would also choose Ross. Niall swears he’s making a “gut” choice. He picks Ross. The correct choice.

Niall chooses Ross, Laura is eliminated.

Magnus vs Alyssa Lazar – Team Chance – Your Song by Elton John

Magnus and Alyssa come from soul and pop genres, respectively, but Chance loves putting together different musical styles and tones. Both singers were one chair turns. Alyssa is thrilled to sing a piano driven song, as she learned the instrument at a young age. She moved to Nashville from Scranton after high school. Magnus is helping raise his girlfriend’s daughter. Chance advises both singers to “Stay in your texture…let yourself shine through in the performance.” Chance calls Alyssa the most improved from the room to studio rehearsals, but he’s a little worried that Magnus is phoning it in.

Both singer’s vocals boast interesting and unique textures. Alyssa also has a quavery vibrato, but unlike Laura it seems to be an organic part of her style. She’s a quieter singer than Magnus, who performs with a booming soulful baritone. He really punctuates the song in all the right places. Laura’s dynamics aren’t quite as compelling. But her tone is beautiful.

Kelly appreciates the pair’s stylistic differences, calling Alyssa’s tone “piercing” and Magnus’ sound “full” and “round bodied.” She compares Magnus to a wine. “It sounds cozy, and it sounds like home.” Oddly, she criticizes both singer’s use of vibrator “distracting.” This after complimenting Laura’s nervous staccato. She leans to Magnus. After making fun of Kelly’s wine analogies, Blake also criticizes Alyssa’s vibrato, saying “I don’t know how to handle it.” Niall, on the other hand, would go for Alyssa’s “singer-songwriter” style. Although Chance still didn’t seem entirely satisfied with Magnus’ performance, he chooses him and sends Alyssa home. Magnus certainly turned in the “bigger” performance of the two. Chance believes he has the potential to go farthest in the competition.

Chance chooses Magnus, Alyssa is eliminated

Marcos Covos vs Sheer Element – Team Kelly I Could Fall in Love by Selena

Sheer Element features former Team Kelly solo singer Vig Jensen. His stint as the very first chair turner to return to the show as a contestant again is short lived, as Kelly picked the Latin singer Marcos to move on to the Knockouts. Adding insult to injury, the Battle is montaged. Only a small snippet of the performance is highlighted. Kelly calls them all “really powerful singers” and apparently Marcos did not sing in Spanish, and Kelly missed it. Still, she chose him to move on to the Knockouts. She felt he delivered passion, not just power.

Kelly chooses Marcos, Sheer Element are eliminated.

Kylee Dayne vs Mary Kate Connor – Team Blake – Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift

The pairing is bittersweet for the artists, as they became good friends during the blinds. NBC dropped a preview of this Battle earlier today. Oh. So Mary Kate is friends with season 19 winner Carter Rubin. The two did a live together with his coach Gwen Stefani and Blake popped in. Kylee got three chairs to turn in the Blinds. The former med student left college to pursue music. Everybody is nervous that the song is too new and currently popular. Mary Kate relates to the song through her struggles with anxiety. Blake advises Kylee to watch her breath control when switching into her head voice. Other than that, Blake has few notes!

The singers begin the performance back to back, holding hands, before separating to different parts of the stage. The singers created the blocking and arrangements themselves. The song is well rehearsed. Their vocals soar on the harmonies. Mary Kate’s voice is sweet and clear as a bell, while Kylee’s is deeper and more mature. They both bring something special to the stage.

“Holy moly!” exclaims Niall. “That was honestly one of my favorite ones…it’s not easy to come out and sing a current song that’s huge…you’ve made it completely your own.” Niall would choose Mary Kate. He felt her voice “pierced through.” On the other hand, Chance would go with Kylie. He believes she could win it all. Kelly thinks Kylee’s voice “has this thing that singers get jealous of,” but that Mary Kate has “this passion that’s really breathtakingly beautiful.” Blake admits that he’s been dreading this particular decision. “It makes it extra tough because I can see how close you guys have grown together.” 

Blake uses his Playoff Pass!

So, instead of sending one home, Blake sends Kylee to the Knockouts. But before host Carson Daly could even finish pitching Mary Kate for a steal, Blake hits his Playoffs Pass button. Down comes the confetti! The pass means that Mary Kate will skip the Knockouts all together, which is actually the better deal. “She’s going to go deep in the competition,” Blake predicts. “You watch.”

About mj santilli 34828 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!