Celia Babini performs on “The Voice”; Tyler Golden/NBCThe battle rounds continued Monday night on The Voice, as teammates went head-to-head for the right to grab spots in the knockouts. It was a night that saw Blake Shelton steal an artist from Adam Levine, and featured the competition’s first double-steal.
Each coach enlisted help from a guest advisor during rehearsals: Charlie Puth for Team Adam; Brooks & Dunn for Team Blake; Khalid for Team John Legend; and Kelsea Ballerini for Team Kelly Clarkson.
Here are the highlights:
NYC native Celia Babini and Orange County’s Karly Moreno are from opposite coasts and have opposite voices. As Adam observed, 18-year-old Celia, who earned a four-chair-turn during the blinds, has a voice that “punches.” Karly, 23, has a softer voice that advisor Charlie Puth compared to Ellie Goulding. They faced off on “Friends” by Marshmello & Anne-Marie, selected for them because of the way the song’s back and forth lyrics contrast their different singing styles.
It seemed to work, as both singers managed to stand out on stage, causing Blake to dub a new term: “Holy crapness.” Ultimately, Adam chose Celia because of her enigmatic persona, but as Karly said her goodbyes, Blake buzzed in to steal her.
Representing Team Legend, explosive singers Julian King and Denton Arnell dueled on the aptly titled “Grenade,” by Bruno Mars, an unrequited love song. Julian, who was floored being advised by Khalid, said that while he personally never wanted to die for love, he understood the need to convey emotion. Denton is well-acquainted with love, having proposed to his girlfriend onstage during his blind audition. John chose Julian in the end, citing the interesting choices he made with the song.
Team Kelly featured two powerhouse vocalists, Presley Tennant and Rizzi Myers. They faced each other on Adam Lambert‘s “Whataya Want from Me.” Kelly said she picked a “fire in the belly” song, but offered her team members a word of caution not to over-dramatize it. After their battle, Kelly lamented her poor decision pairing two powerful female singers, and chose 16-year-old Presley because of the growth she’s shown since her audition.
Next up, Blake and his advisors Brooks & Dunn watched as two country artists, Dexter Roberts from Alabama and Dalton Dover from Georgia, took on the country hit “Hurricane,” by Luke Combs. Blake wanted them to work on the song’s arrangement so that both singers would get their due. They took that advice to heart, Dalton saying at stage rehearsal that they were up until two in the morning perfecting the performance. In the end, Blake chose Dexter because of his energetic voice.
Perhaps the most interesting rehearsal was for Team Adam’s Ciera Dumas and LB Crew, who performed “Done for Me,” a song by their advisor, Charlie Puth. It started off a bit choppy, with Charlie admitting that it’s a difficult song with a high falsetto. LB and Ciera were up to the challenge, switching up the arrangement until they found their groove. Ciera impressed the coaches, but the power and energy in LB’s voice won out. However, Ciera was selected to appear on Bebe Rexha‘s Comeback Stage.
Finally, Kim Cherry and Kendra Checketts, non-country singers representing Team Blake, were nearly flawless together performing “Here,” by Alessia Cara. Kim, a self-described nerd, rapped during her blind audition. At rehearsal, Kendra told Blake that she has a life-size cutout of him in her home that constantly scares her. Blake enjoyed having such an unconventional pairing and said he chose “Here” for its blend of rapping and singing. “I don’t expect to see anybody going home,” he told them at rehearsal.
Blake chose Kim, whom he described as being “in the pocket” of the song. Adam and John disagreed, whispering to each other that they thought Kendra was better. Cue the double-steal, as both coaches slammed their buzzer and made their pitch to Kendra. She chose Adam, who said that his current team doesn’t have enough female singers.
The Voice battles return Monday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
