Last week on The Voice Comeback Stage, it was Ayanna Joni vs Madison Cain battling it out for a spot on the live shows! In the end, it was Ayanna, a single mom from New York, who impressed fifth coach, Kelsea Ballerini with a performance of Ariana Grande’s “Dangerous Woman.” It was enough to earn her a spot in the Comeback Stage Knockouts.
Part 2 of the Comeback Stage Battles features a match up between folk singer Sam Robbins and aspiring doctor, Wyatt Rivers.
In his Blind audition, Sam delivered a sweet rendition of Jim Croce’s 70’s classic, “Time in the Bottle.” But the coaches felt that the young singer needed to show more range to earn a button push. Pitch problems during Wyatt’s version of “Take Me to Your River” by Leon Bridges kept all four coaches from turning their chairs.
For his Battle, Sam chose to perform the soulful Temptations song “Ain’t too Proud to Beg,” while Wyatt picked Charlie Puth’s “Superman.”
Wyatt owned the “hot guy” singer songwriter spot during the Blinds–so much that coach Kelly Clarkson had a little crush! Sam is a little intimidated. But after hearing Sam sing in rehearsal, Wyatt feels a little uneasy performing second.
After rehearsal, Kelsea shares her thoughts on each singer. Sam needs to be in the song, and not over do it, she believes. Wyatt, on the other hand, needs to open up his performance, rather than keeping it inside.
Sam’s acoustic guitar driven version of the Motown classic still suffers the same problems as his audition–it lacks dynamics. He continues to hold back. Maybe some vocal lessons would help? Maybe he should take a theater class. He’s got a nice tone, but doesn’t project.
Wyatt is next, and his performance is dynamic in a way that Sam’s just was not. The pitch problems that plagued him during the Blinds are mostly gone. Overall, a solid performance from Wyatt.
Kelsea compliments Sam’s confidence. “You know what you’re doing,” she says. But although Wyatt is newer to performing, Kelsea believes he has shown massive improvement from rehearsal to performance.
In the end Kelsea chooses Wyatt. While I disagreed with her choice last time. This time, it was definitely the way to go. Wyatt has rough edges to be sure, but he’s got natural presence and charisma.
However, the reason Kelsea gave for choosing him is more or less what she said drove her to choose Ayanna over Madison: “Something about the way your voice sounds recorded–it’s magical. As a recording artist that matters how you sound on record.”
There’s one more Battle to be decided, and then it’s on to the Comeback Stage Knockouts!
Check out the Comeback Stage Battle between Sam Robbins and Wyatt Rivers below.
https://youtu.be/GY_iZJ4uCy0
