After 23 seasons ofto voice- all starring soon-to-retire OG coach Blake Shelton - seems like everyone's been there, done that and got the "I'm on Blake's last team and all I got was this disgusting jersey."T-shirt. Let's be real: it'sstopto keep things fresh after 12 years on the air! But when the season 23 battle rounds kicked off on Monday, there was a new sense of excitement, not just for a new "game-changing" twist, but for new coach Chance the Rapper and his much-needed "production chops." ".
First, the twist. This season, there's something called "Playoff Pass," which is like a lifesaver on steroids. It allows each trainer, once per season, to not only prevent the losing contestant from entering a battle in the competition, but also have the contestant skip the knockout rounds and go directly to the live shows. So in those cases, the loser is actually the real winner.
And that brings us to Monday's featured battle between harmonica sister trio Sorelle and returning Season 22 diva Manasseh Samone. Even without the Playoff Pass, this truly would have been a landmark performance.
During the blind auditions, Chance tasked Sorelle with singing a few lines a cappella from "What Would I Do" byor magician, which they did beautifully, so this week I was looking forward to "A Brand New Day" or maybe even "Ease on Down the Road." That didn't happen, unfortunately, and when I found out he'd assigned Sorelle and Manasseh a totally over-the-top cover of Adele's "Someone Like You," I was disappointed. But then...somethingmagicalit happened, when Chance donned his producer hat (“3” stamped) and created an intricate and completely unique arrangement, which resulted in a standing ovation and a performance like no other.to voicebefore.
“When the singing started, separately, I thought, 'How is this going to mix?' And now I never want youNosing together," Blake said.
“No one has ever heard this song like that; that wasIn factcool,” Kelly Clarkson marveled. Blake thought that the sisters, whom Chance described as a "trained wall of sound", were so perfect and pure and "sang with such attack and bonded together" that it was "almost hard to believe it was live!" Niall Horan enthusiastically agreed: “I can't believe what I just heard. ... It looks like a disk. how would you do it?struggleget a mixing disk so good!
Manasseh certainly had the mighty flute to handle this massive Adele ballad (Kelly said singers like her are "the reason this show exists," and Niall called Manasseh's voice "the creepy thing"). But Sorelle had somethingdifferent, something never heard in the 12 years of the series... "something that this competition needs", as his coach said. Chance said this would be his toughest decision of the season, but he ended up making the right decision: picking Sorelle andsousing your Playoff Pass in Manasseh.
Technically, he would have given the Pass to Sorelle, who will still have to survive the next few Knockouts to make it to the Lives. But for now, I'm glad both contestants are still in the game... and I'm still looking forward to that.or magiciansong. Until then, here's how the rest of Monday's battles played out:
EQUIPO BLAKE: Tasha Jessen contra EJ Michels, “Tracks of My Tears”
Blake said that these two powerful singers possessed "individual superpowers," but in the battle ring, EJ was a bit more, well,super. Her voice was so clear, so fresh and so clean, that she pierced throughGOODacross the room. “EJ, you came here and I was scared for [Tasha],” Kelly admitted. The two voices meshed beautifully, resulting in what Chance called an "awards-level performance," but, as Blake put it, EJ "came into the swing." Blake said that he's never "been so surprised by anyone" at the blind auditions... which made it even more shocking when he chose to go with Tasha. (He claimed that he considered using his Playoff Pass on EJ, but refrained.) Fortunately, both Chance and Niall went in to rob EJ, and in another surprise, EJ walked off with the trainer heNoturn to him on the blinds. To quote the ever-quotable Chance, this was adecision.
WINNER: Tasha Jessen / STOLEN: EJ Michels moves to Team Niall
CHANCE DE EQUIPE: Mariah Kalia x Jamar Langley, “Gravity”
Chance put his production prowess to work again on this Battle pairing, explaining that while Mariah and Jamar are 20 years apart, they are both "people with a lot of soul." Jamar, who gave a James Brown-esque showman performance for his Blind Audition, revealed a very different "artist" side to himself this week, strumming an electric guitar for this John Mayer version. The song attribution definitely seemed more suited to him, and while Niall said the 17-year-old Mariah had "this sass that you can't teach," Jamar still had the advantage of her "years and years of concerts." Chance said that the two singers were "fire". (And apparently Chance using the phrase "award performance" is the newVoicedrinking game, while exclaiming: “We are going to win an Emmy! This is crazy!”) But in the end, the most primetime-ready Jamar was the winner of this Battle, Emmy winner or not.
WINNER: Jamar Langley
EQUIPE NIALL: Gina Miles contra Kala Banham, “Skinny Love”
Kelly called this song choice, more inspired by the Birdy remake than the Bon Iver original, "clever," and it was. but niallwas notso clever in pairing his “two beautiful storytellers with two soft, supple voices,” a foolish decision to “shoot himself in the foot” that reportedly caused Niall “many” sleepless nights.” Gina, with her rich, rounded tone, she looked just as gorgeous as he remembered, but as Blake noted, this battle was "as close as it gets. Well, Kelly, who got knocked out recruiting Kala in the blinds and actually gasped, 'Oh my gosh!God!” in the middle of this duo-he finally got the girl from him, heading to the Steal. I'm glad that both beautiful singers are still in the competition.
WINNER: Gina Miles / STOLEN: Kala Banham moves to Team Kelly
TEAM KELLY: Allie Keck vs. Cait Martin, “It Must Have Been Love”
I swooned when this Roxette duo started off all tender, broken and vulnerable, with both women being so generous and duo partners – “what a battle it should be”, as Niall put it. But in the end, they pushed too hard in an attempt to show off and get excited, and it was creaky, crunchy, and way too much. (“I almost got stuck in my seat,” Niall laughed, though she meant it as a good thing. It wasn't.) than an attack," and Kelly said that these "incredible powerhouses" both "rose to the occasion in a different way," so it really came down to a matter of choice. And ultimately, I think Kelly made the right decision.
WINNER: Cait Martin
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TEAM BLAKE: Kason Lester vs. Walker Wilson, "Here Without You"
Blake called it "the easiest, most obvious battle I've ever mounted": two long-haired classic rockers, both inexplicably in a chair, who appeared to be brothers. ("You're the exact same person," Chance quipped.) These two probably would have split the public vote had they both advanced to the Playoffs live, so I get Blake's logic here. But even though Kason and Walker apparently share hair and musical tastes (I've never seen either of them).VoiceCompetitors as pumped up with a Battle song assignment as these niggas were with their power ballad 3 Doors Down), they were very different vocally. Kason had the hoarseness of a pack a day, while, as Niall put it, Walker's "voice just punched", with "brilliant tone, but good value too". I have a feeling this was also one of Blake's easier and more obvious decisions.
WINNER: Walker Wilson
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