The Voice 8 Recap Battle Round #4 Live Blog and VIDEOS

The Voice 8 Battle Rounds continue tonight! We’re live blogging all the performances right here. One hour episode tonight…six more battles and a STEAL!

The stats: FOUR steals from Pharrell (Two to Blake, Two to Christina). THREE steals from Blake (TWO to Pharrell, ONE to Adam) and ONE from Christina (to Adam). NONE of Adam’s contestants were stolen, because his team was weak sauce.

It’s the last we’ll see the Battle Round advisers, Meghan Trainor (Team Blake Shelton), Lionel Richie (Team Pharrell Williams), Ellie Goulding (Team Adam Levine) and Nick Jonas (Team Christina Aguilera). Pharrell still has a pretty strong team, and Adam’s is still pretty weak. It’s hard to imagine Adam pulling off a win this year. Team Christina has India Carney on her team, whom I consider a frontrunner at this point. We’ll see if some other talents emerge as the competition rolls on.

Jeremy Gaynor vs Rob Taylor – “Animals” by Maroon 5 – Team Christina Battle – Nick Jonas mentors

Mentoring Session: Jeremy is the leader of the West Point army band. Rob gave up a Berklee scholarship to take care of his sick mother. Christina decided to give them a rock pop hit rather than R&B song, to see how they would fare outside of their genre. Nick advises them to pay attention to the inflections on each word–that’s what makes the song cool. Don’t over-enunciate. Nick wants them to bring this pop hit to CHURCH. Soul it up, says Christina. At the last rehearsal, Nick is impressed. He feels both singers did their homework. The two singers are pushing each other to be better. No dead space, says Christina.

Performance: I’m not super impressed with this battle. Actually, I’m not sure it’s the greatest song choice for these two church singers. They both had pitch problems, too. But, I’d give it to Jeremy. I love his tone and he’s a better performer. Christina got pretty excited when Rob executed a few crazy runs, though. Pharrell liked the song choice for Rob, especially, because the genre gave him room to be eclectic. Adam admits it’s a hard song to sing. He’s impressed with their performance. Adam would give it to Jeremy. Intense, Blake says. He’d pick either. Christina likes Jeremy’s accuracy and presence, but Rob goes to unexpected places. She chooses Rob. Rob wins the battle.

https://youtu.be/aJgbY9ioc-g

Noelle Bybee vs Sawyer Fredericks – “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” – Team Pharrell Battle – Lionel Richie mentors.

Mentoring Session: Noelle is a 17 year old high school student. Sawyer is a 15 year old farm boy with an old soul. The song Pharrell chose is a classic. He’s expecting then both to make it new. Lionel notes the two unique styles. He advises Noelle to sing louder, turn down the sweetness. Sawyer on the other hand, loves to sing strong. Pharrell encourages Noelle to explore the different colors of her voice. She’s teary talking about the challenge. She seems so nervous! Harmonies are not Sawyer’s specialty, he admits. He’s a little nervous, because Noelle has competed in singing competitions before, but Sawyer never has.

Performance: This is a nice duet. Wouldn’t call it much of a “battle” though. What we’ve got here are two very polite singers. Nobody is in it to win it! Both singers have their merits. Sawyer, however, is uniquely talented and the clear winner. Even the song, from one of Sawyer’s favorite bands, seemed designed to favor his gift. “You guys were singing together,” says Adam, marvelling at the teen’s cooperation. He’d pick Sawyer, of course. Blake compliments their hair. Ha. He loves Noelle’s trembly voice. No more steals for him, unfortunately. Christina loves the kindness in her voice. “There’s no teaching what you do,” says Christina about Sawyer. Pharrell commends them both. He’s amazed by Sawyer’s generosity and lack of ego. He could afford to be kind, because he had that battle in the bag. Pharrell chooses Sawyer. Sawyer wins the Battle. Poor little sacrificial lamb, Noelle!

https://youtu.be/MPftOACAhXA

Montages are next! Christina paired Koryn Hawthorne vs Vance Smith singing “Love me Harder”. Koryn Won the Battle. Blake paired Bay Brooks vs Brooke Adee singing “Style”. Brooke Wins the Battle. Adam Levine paired Bren’nae DeBarge vs Lexi Davila singing “Unwritten”. Lexi won the Battle

https://youtu.be/BwpGynOvXpo

Jacob Rummell vs Corey Kent White – “I Want Crazy” – Team Blake Shelton – Meghan Trainor mentors

Mentoring Session: Cory is a college student looking for his big break. Jacob is adopted into a multi-racial family. Blake chose a pop country song, somewhere in between their styles. Meghan works with Cory on his breathing. Jacob is very nervous. Meghen shares that she played All About the Bass for LA Reid on a ukulele when she auditioned for her record deal, and was terrible. Cory is an eye closer! Don’t lose your contact with the crowd, she says. Next time, he gives Meghan heart eyes as he sings. She squees! They love Jacob’s falsetto, but he’s having intonation problems. He had issues during his audition too, which is one of the reasons I wasn’t fully on board with him.

Performance: Both are pretty adorable in different ways. Jacob is cute nerdy, and Cory is boyband cute. Both are having a such a good time up there, it’s hard to hate. I don’t remember being terribly impressed with either audition, but this is a good performance. Jacob has a clear, beautiful tenor, and is staying on pitch. Cory’s tone isn’t nearly as pretty, but he has charisma to make up for it. I’d pick Jacob, just for that sweet, high voice. Christina is impressed with Jacob’s range and versatility. Christina thinks Blake should pick Cory. It’s obvious Pharrell is gonna steal him. Adam is so impressed with Jacob’s versatility. So am I! Blake notes that the song really DOESN’T fall in the brand of country that Cory sings. So it wasn’t necessarily easy for him. Blake chooses Cory. Pharrell Steals Jacob. Aw. Cory is so happy that Jacob was stolen. Buds!

https://youtu.be/iRYdBlyuK40

Nate Ruess from Fun. will advise all the contestants for the upcoming Knockout rounds. And for the first time in VOICE HISTORY, THREE contestants may sing against each other in ONE Knockout round! The contestants pick their own songs.

https://youtu.be/qMpEoMJWXaQ

The Voice 8 Top 32

Team Adam