The Voice season seven continued tonight (Oct. 28) with the help of Taylor Swift for night two of the always intense Knockout Rounds. Unlike last night's episode, which was made up largely of bizarre pairings and uneven matches, tonight felt more like a fair fight.
Team Gwen Stefani, Team Adam Levine and Team Pharrell Williams were on hand to sing for their lives. It was indie dude versus indie dude, soul diva versus soul diva and heartfelt male singer versus heartfelt male singer. Finally... a fair fight for everyone.
Check out a rundown of each knockout battle below, and sound off about your favorite performance of the night in the comments!
Taylor John Williams "Mad World" v. Troy Ritchie "Hey Ya": In the battle of the alternative/indie dude singer-songwriter on Team Gwen you had the cold, calm and collected Taylor John Williams with the Gary Jules version of "Mad World" versus the acoustic guitar turned full our pop performance of Outkast's signature hit. Like a few of the knockout performances last night, this was about the small moments and the simplistic yet satisfyingly solid vocals versus the high energy. And, yeah, while Troy was all about bringing his personality to the stage, talk-singing your way through the latter verses of "Hey Ya" is not the best way to show off your range and pure vocal talents on stage. Meanwhile, Taylor was all about the music and less about the show, and it worked for him far better than Troy's goofy karaoke.
Who technically won the knockout? Taylor John Williams will remain on Team Gwen.
Who should have won the knockout? If we're going on pure voice here, Taylor John Williams was the right choice. Even with the high energy, Troy's whole performance just felt like a put-on.
Mia Pfirrman "Human" v. Alessanra Castronovo "Next to Me": The song choice during the knockout rounds of The Voice or really at this stage in any singing competition is what is truly key here. So, against the ballad powerhouse that is Christina Perri's "Human," nothing is going to quite stack up, even an Emeli Sande number. Despite her sharpness, Mia Pfirrman at least had the option to really show off her range and her real emotional toil. Meanwhile, Alessandra Castronovo had the option to show off a happy, glowing side, but her emotions just weren't there in full force, even if she may technically be the more on key, on the road to success singer.
Who technically won the knockout? Mia Pfirrman is sticking strong to Team Adam.
Who should have won the knockout? Even though Mia may have had more emotional capability, her voice just does not gel well with me. Maybe it's the deepness going into a really screeching higher register, but Mia just is not holding a candle to some of the other contestants at this stage. I feel like with more training, Alessandra could have really been something.
Elyjuh Rene "With You" v. Ricky Manning, "Wrecking Ball": Chalk Ricky Manning up for most improved on The Voice season seven. After an incredibly shaky, nervous audition, he's really recovered and grown each week as a performer and singer, both with his confidence and his actual range/ability. It's actually been nice to see. Meanwhile, Elyjuh Rene has been a stunner from the start, with an emotion-filled audition and solid R&B performances ever since. So, in this battle, it was all about who could just perform better at this time and in this moment. Elyjuh pulled it out, as usual, giving a bombastic and dramatic performance of the Chris Brown hit "With You." Meanwhile, Ricky was a little dry in his delivery of "Wrecking Ball" but sang it well, with a sense of confidence.
Who technically won the knockout? Elyjuh Rene will see another day on Team Pharrell.
Who should have won the knockout? Call me a sucker for a good recovery story, but seeing the vast improvement week-to-week in Ricky Manning has really been one of the more pleasurable experiences of this season. For that reason alone, I think he's a more interesting pick than Elyjuh, who is solid but his emotional schtick has sort of worn out its welcome. Lucky for the viewers and Ricky, he was stolen by Team Gwen and will continue on to the live rounds.
