Jacob Elyachar
Staff Writer
This is it!
The first round of the Battle Rounds concluded tonight!
Who won their battles? Who was the lucky artist that received Usher’s final steal? Read on to find out….
Of all the battles that occurred during this season, Adam’s second to last battle was the weakest. The Maroon 5 singer paired country singer Cary Laine with indie artist Sam Behymer. Throughout the first and final rehearsal, it seemed that both ladies represented at the opposite spectrum as Cary embodied power, while Sam denoted emotion. However, Cary was able to deliver the emotion in Ed Sheeran’s “Give Me Love.” Adam made a bad decision in choosing Sam over Cary.
Blake chose Kaleigh Glanton and Noah Lis to duel against each other. While “Everything” by Michael Buble was in Noah’s wheelhouse, Kaleigh brought out some powerful bits on her vocal. During the final rehearsal, Blake stated it was a dead-even tie. At the battle, Noah just stole the song from the first note and I could not take my eyes off of him. However, I liked Kaleigh’s jazzy licks and she complemented the crooner. While Adam and Usher were divided on whom to choose, the three-time Voice winner had chosen Kaleigh to go to the next round. (Good luck with your career, Noah!)
During the recap segment, Blake chose Vegas rocker Ryan Whyte Maloney over legacy artist Cali Tucker. Meanwhile, Adam kept his frontrunner Christina Grimmie on his team and Shakira chose Kristen Merlin to move forward to next week’s second round of Battle Rounds.
The final vocal duel of the night belonged to Team Shakira’s Emily B and Cierra Mickens. Both of these women are two of my favorite contestants of this group. In all of Shakira’s battles, this was one of my favorites! During the first rehearsal, Emily B had volume issues and Miranda Lambert suggested building it up. Cierra needed to watch her pitch.
The two friends put on an incredible show for the crowd as they covered Sara Bareilles’s “Brave.” This was not a battle; it was a gorgeous showing of artistry. I loved their vocal harmonies and both of them could be forces to be reckoned with the Live Rounds. However, both of them would be on opposite teams. Emily stayed on Team Shakira, while Usher finally activated his steal and enlisted Cierra to round out his team.
Next week, the second Battle Rounds begin as Coldplay’s Chris Martin mentors everyone!
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