The Voice 24 Battles Part 3: Rachele Nguyen and Mac Royals Feel The “Love” with a Steal
Night 3 of The Voice season 24 Battles were underwhelming, featuring uber talented singers, but song choices that either didn’t fit the vocalists or were simply too challenging. Regardless, the night still culminated in a steal involving a Team Reba McEntire battle between Vietnamese teen singer Rachele Nguyen and R&B singer Mac Royals from Arkansas. Reba assigned the pair the classic 70’s hit “How Deep is Your Love” by The Bee Gees. (Read our Recap)
Mac and Rachele connect from the first moment they find out they are paired with each other. Reba explains that she paired them together “because they are in the R&B” space. She thinks they can play off each other’s soft moments. Mac connects to the song saying, “people need to feel that love” which he tries to carry through in his busking where at times he earns a lot and other times he makes change. Rachele says she wants to prove she deserves to be here even though she is a minor who some people “may feel sympathy” towards.
“I didn’t feel like you were hearing the beat”
Reba in rehearsal tells Mac, “I didn’t feel like you were hearing the beat.” Mac wants to vary from the melody and put his own stamp on it, but she tells him they pick the songs based on their “familiarity.” It is refreshing to hear coaches on the show be more critical, but I’m not sure I fully agree with Reba’s advice here as singers should be able to show their artistry by putting stamps on songs as long as the song remains recognizable. Reba advises Rachele to “hone in on somebody” when she opens her eyes. Closing her eyes is a habit, admits Rachele, but she plans on opening them for the battle round. She loves the way their voices blend in rehearsal, but she wants them to connect more with the audience. She says, “the battle will come down to how they touch [her] heart.”
Mac sounds unsure of his runs, while Rachele seems more comfortable
Mac has a very nice tone that thrives on the soulful low notes of this song, and he starts strong but at times as the song continues, he appears to be unsure of his runs in this performance compared to his audition where he sounded so comfortable. Rachele has a fantastic bright pop tone and her transitions from her chest to head voice are super clean. She seems more comfortable with the song. She does have some pitch issues when she lands phrases, but her vocal shows growth from her audition. Rachele was overall the more confident vocalist in this pairing and therefore deserves the win. The two singers aren’t always great individually in this performance, but what matters is that their harmonies are well-executed and they sound fantastic when they come together.
All four coaches stand for the two singers. Niall Horan calls them “fantastic,” saying Mac had some pitch issues but notes the difficulty of him going “in and out” with Rachele “singing in a completely different octave.” He believes Rachele was “so much better” than her initial audition, telling her, “it was so beautiful to be your age at 17 and to have that composure and the will to be like ‘give me the biggest song you’ve got’.” For that reason, he would pick Rachele. Gwen Stefani calls Mac’s voice “warm and buttery” and describes Rachele’s “instincts” as “magical.” John Legend describes Mac’s voice as having “richness and character” and loved it regardless of pitch issues. He tells Rachele that she was “doing so many exciting things.” He prefers Mac’s tone, so he would lean towards him.
Reba is surprisingly critical of Mac, criticizing him for changing up the melody. In the end she picks Rachele, but then comes a steal
Reba loved Rachele’s “enthusiasm” and critiques Mac’s deviation from the Bee Gees original melody, and says, “maybe that was the pitch thing you guys were talking about” referring to other coaches critiques. In the end, Reba picks Rachele. She says “Rachele, man she just blew me away. She’s got a great package all the way around”. John instantly steals Mac, stating that Mac is a natural fit on Team Legend and right in his “wheelhouse.”
Based on auditions this steal makes sense, as Mac had one of the better blind auditions. It seems like potential is a theme of the battles this season, including Team Niall’s Nini Iris who also won her battle on Tuesday, but didn’t have quite as strong a showing as her blind audition.
