The Voice season 15 Battle Rounds continue tonight with coaches Adam Levine, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Blake Shelton. Carson Daly returns as host. We’re live blogging all the performances here.
Coaches will pair up team members who will battle for a spot in the Knockouts. The winner advances, the loser is eliminated OR can be stolen by a fellow coach. Each coach has two steals to use during the round.
The coaches have enlisted mentors to assist coaching their teams. Blake has tapped Keith Urban. Kelly has brought in country superstar Thomas Rhett. Jennifer has brought along pop singer Halsey. And Adam brings back former The Voice coach Cee Lo Green.
OneUp vs Kymberli Joye – Team Kelly – Mercy by Shawn Mendes – Kelly calls them her greatest battle. She can’t believe they picked her team. Kymberli is a worship leader. “Now, I can’t stay in the background.” Kelly blocked Jennifer from turning for her. OneUp is two male singers who are also a romantic couple. Kelly calls their rehearsal “insane.” Thomas says “one of the coolest rendition I’ve ever heard.” They don’t have many notes for the trio. Thomas suggests making part of it a’cappella.
It’s a powerhouse trio. The harmonies are beautiful and on point. Kymberli has such a big voice. She wins this matchup–she’s dominating this duo. At one point she oversings–but that’s the danger of these battles. The urge to push has got to be strong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhYR63UD-Ao
Jennifer threw her book. Heh. “You sounded gooood,” she says. Adam says Kymberli crushed it. “No decision will surprise me.” Blake says Kymberli busted through at the end. Yes. The oversigning. Kelly feels that their passion came forward. Kelly Chooses Kymberli Joye OneUp are eliminated
Oh. Look. Cee Lo Green is back. Hm.
Anthony Arya vs Steve Memmolo – Team Adam – Amie by Pure Prairie League – Anthony sang the song on stage in high school. Steve, unsurprisingly, never has. That’s an obscure song pick. Here’s a fun fact: Vince Gill was a member of that band for a bit. Adam notes that while Steve is more polished, Anthony has a more interesting voice. Steve is the Ben Affleck look alike/wedding band singer. Cee Lo–still giving out the weird advice.
At the final rehearsal, Adam gives some additional tips. Ugh. This matchup is weird. And the slowed up arrangement draaags. No surprise the performance is edited down. Can we eliminate them both?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zddmtB_FHI8
Jennifer thought that Anthony held his own against the more experienced singer. Blake notes the song is more in Anthony’s wheelhouse, but he felt that Steve stepped it up. Adam is the most proud of 15 year old Anthony, however Adam Chooses Steve. Good decision. Part of his suckiness could be blamed on the bad song choice and arrangement. Jennifer INEXPLICABLY steals Anthony. I SMELL CANNON FODDER.
Jarred Matthew vs Tyke James – Team Adam – She’s Always A Woman by Billy Joel – And we’re cutting straight to the performance! Jarred is the astrophysicist from California, Tyke is a surfer dude from Hawaii. Both are super foddery. This performance is also charmless. Blake calls them “laid back.” That’s one way to put it. Kelly compares Tyke to Tarzan. Noticeably, she does not mention his vocal. Adam Chooses Tyke. Huh. And it’s back to the lab for Jarred. Jarred is eliminated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8qTFa51FDI
Chris Kroeze vs Mercedes Ferreira-Dias – Team Blake – Back in the High Life Again by Steve Winwood – Chris played a few of Keith’s songs for the troops in the Middle East. Chris didn’t know the song they’re singing. He found a Youtube video of Keith playing it on guitar! Mercedes is the singer that didn’t get a turn on Season 14. Chris’s gravelly voice surprised Keith “I loved it.” He found Mercedes more dramatic–but felt it worked. 17 year old Mercedes was a bit intimidated by Chris.
Blurgh! We got a full mentor session, but only a snip of the performance. Why? What we got sounded good. Their voices do blend surprisingly well. Full performances when possible please.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1KoCcD2q5E
JHud loves Mercedes vibrato. She felt they were both equally great. Blake says Mercedes blew him away. Blake Chooses Chris Kroeze Not surprised. Mercedes is Eliminated.
Katrina Cain vs Rachel Messer – Team Blake – Angel by Sarah McLachlan – Katrina calls herself “electro pop” while Rachel is a yodeler. OK then. Blake thinks “Angel” falls somewhere in the middle of the two of them. Keith calls Katrina “smokey” and Rachel “delicate.” He compares Katrina to Norah Jones. He gives them tips on how to make the performance intimate.
I suppose it’s better to present edited down performances rather than a quicky montage that don’t show the performances at all. But the audience is so excited! I wish we could have seen more. Their crystalline tones are like bells. They sound beautiful. There were some pitchy notes, however.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaQwYHzQJnE
Jennifer felt they internalized the song. Kelly, who has covered this song, felt they both handled the song “gracefully.” Blake Chooses Katrina. Rachel is Eliminated.
Natasia Greycloud vs Mike Parker – Team Jennifer – Gravity by John Mayer – Natasia is a full time musician in Nashville. Mike lost football scholarships due to bad grades. He works in construction. He got a last minute turn from Jennifer. Jennifer wants Mike to hold on to more of his notes. Natasia needs to show off her range. “Don’t turn into back up singers,” she warns. But, Halsey counsels restraint. “Give us a few 5 star moments.” She is correct!
Nastasia is really impressing me tonight. She’s got a great tone and knows her way around an adlib. It’s effortless the way she reaches into her head voice. Mike is a smooth singer with great tone. But Natasia is singing rings around him. Oh well. The loser is going to get stolen, so no worries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54ioMbsU-uY
Kelly says they all sound unbelievable. She calls Mike a star, but is having a hard time choosing. Adam says Nastasia grabbed the song by the horns. He noted some of the cool background things she did. Blake appreciates Nastasia’a attack. He compares her to Kelly. After a lot of hemming and hawing, Jennifer Chooses Mike. Because STRATEGY. Because she thought they were both good. Kelly Steals Nastasia. Sending Nastasia home would have been criminal.
