The Voice season seven continued its battle rounds Tuesday night (Oct. 14), with three neck-and-neck performances from singers on Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams' teams. From an '80s Hall & Oates classic to a Rihanna standard, the second battle round was all about small imperfections and just a je ne sais quoi to see who would move on, making for probably the most compelling hour of this season thus far.
There's good news for casual watchers of The Voice (or those who have to brave the show in the background)... the Tuesday night episodes are a fun-sized single hour! And just in time for Halloween, too! During night two of the battle rounds, solid editing and tight races for the better performance made for a quick, enjoyable watch, which is more than can be said for the mega-sized two-hour juggernauts we've previously seen.
It's been pretty clear that Pharrell and Stefani are the stars of this season (coach-wise), and those two got full battles for their team. Meanwhile, poor Team Blake was left for not one but TWO montage performances and fellow old hat coach Team Adam also got pushed aside for a battle.
Since there were only three full battles televised, there's no real use ranking these by good, bad or so-so, as is our typical format. Instead, we'll look at the individual battles and see whether or not the judges made the right call.
Jordy Searcy v. Taylor Phelan, "Breakeven": Taylor Phelan's blind audition performance of "Sweater Weather" was among the best of the best on season seven of The Voice, and Jordy Seacry's audition was... well, montaged. Before this battle even had begun, it was going to be pretty obvious how the scales tipped, right? The Script's "Breakeven" didn't seem like quite the best emotional fit for either Searcy or Phelan, with both struggling to connect emotionally to the song or hit those signature high notes in the chorus. Though the tones of both guys' voices were remarkably similar, it was clear that Phelan is what Searcy could be with a better haircut, more practice and just more raw star power. Though they were both relatively solid, Phelan was the clear bright star here.
Who technically won the battle? Taylor Phelan will stay on Team Pharrell.
Who should have won the battle? Taylor Phelan, by a long shot. He's one of the standout stars of this season, and his performance here was simple, raw and wonderfully pretty.
Alessandra Castronovo v. Joe Kirk, "Stay": Before this battle, we knew a lot about mini-Adam Levine Joe Kirk and pretty much nothing about the stunning Alessandra Castronovo (her audition was montaged). The Rihanna hit "Stay" is such a beautiful starting point and a relatively easy song to nail that both Kirk and Castronovo pulled out emotional performances - Gwen Stefani could be seen tearing up in her judge's chair. While Kirk sold the real power and feelings of the song, Castronovo added a few more vocal flares, making for a sonically compelling performance, even if her eyes looked a little dead. So, what do you go for? The pretty voice on the pretty girl or the guy who sold this performance with everything in him? Adam antagonized over the choice, and his indecision felt real instead of forced acting. (Because, let's be real, Levine is NOT a good actor.)
Who technically won the battle? Alessandra Castronovo keeps her spot on Team Adam.
Who should have won the battle? This one really was hard... but my money would have been on Joe Kirk. Sure, Alessandra Castronovo may have had a few more runs in her, but Kirk had such an unbridled passion that it was difficult to keep your eyes off him... and that is what makes a real star.
Menlik Zergabachew v. Troy Ritchie, "Maneater": As Adam Levine pointed out during the coaches' critiques, it's really hard to look cool while singing a Hall & Oates song, and wow, did Troy Ritchie just look like a dork onstage. The ever-cool reggae singer Menlik Zergabachew was effortless on stage, oozing out casual confidence. The reggae spin Gwen Stefani put on this song during rehearsals made it seem like he should have been a sure thing for this battle round... I mean, Menlik is just SO COOL. However, despite his lol-worthy sways and a VEST, Ritchie managed to show off an impressive range and prove that he's not just a one-trick pony, which may be more than Menlik can say at this point. I mean, he can do reggae, but can he go outside of that niche genre? Eh...
Who technically won the battle? Troy Ritchie gets to stay on Team Gwen, and he really proved himself away from the pack with this one.
Who should have won the battle? This is the hardest one... and despite one of the worst showings on the blind auditions, Menlik Zergabachew just seemed to be much more effortless here, and that's pretty entrancing. Luckily, he was stolen by Adam and Pharrell, and he has a new home on Team Pharrell.
