Jacob Elyachar
Staff Writer
Out of the 48 artists that were successful with their Blind Auditions, only 32 artists remain!
The Battle Rounds returned with a vengeance. But what makes this segment different from the others? The artists must collaborate with their partner to pick out their song. Once they have done that, they will work with their coach and guest advisor, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, to prepare them for their performance. At the end of the performance, only one contestant will be able to move forward to the Live Rounds.
To make things more interesting, each coach has one final steal they can use in order to build their best team possible.
Who rose to the occasion? Did fan-favorites fall? Which artists were stolen? Read on to find out!
Blake paired Audra McLaughlin and Megan Ruger together. He chose them because they represent the “young powerful singer” category. It was easy for them to pick a song: “The Climb.” After rehearsing with their coach and Chris Martin, they received words of encouragement…and then got ready for battle. I thought Audra stumbled a bit during the beginning, but was able to find her stride in the middle of the song. Megan was pitch perfect, and I enjoyed her performance. However, Blake chose Audra to represent him in the Live Rounds.
It was the Battle of the Soul Singers on Team Usher! T.J. Wilkins took on new member Cierra Mickens on Oleta Adams’ “Get Here.” While they had a good rehearsal, Chris Martin stated, “their voices were amazing, but need to work together a little bit more.” Usher challenged them to take ownership of the song, and both of them delivered. Cierra made the song magical with her vocals, while T.J. channeled his inner Luther. The result gave the audience chills! Even though T.J. won the round, both Shakira and Usher commended Cierra on her professionalism and wished her luck with her future.
Blake’s second battle of the evening was a battle of “Second Chances.” Country crooner Jake Worthington tackled former Team Usher member Tess Boyer with a cover of “Have A Little Faith in Me.” I greatly underestimated Tess’ vocal ability! She rocked it with this battle, while Jake continued to grow and show a little bit of Joe Cocker during the vocals. They earned the first standing ovation of the season! While it was a tough decision to make, Blake stayed loyal to his team and chose Jake. Tess lived to fight another day, as Adam, Shakira, and Usher wanted to steal her. Unlike Will Champlin and Stephanie Anne Johnson, she went with a new coach and chose Shakira.
Adam’s first battle of the night paired Christina Grimmie with Sam Behymer. The girls chose One Republic’s “Counting Stars.” Adam stated it was an odd choice, but he was impressed with the girls’ ambition. During their rehearsals, both Adam and Chris told Christina that she needed to stay in control with her vocals. It was an average battle for me…. But Adam chose Christina Grimmie to move on to the next round.
The “Empire” singer chose her two steals (former Team Adam artists Josh and Patrick Thompson) to duel for her first battle of the night. The guys tackled Bryan Adams’ “Run To You.” While Shakira stated that the song was more in Josh’s wheelhouse, Patrick was able to keep up with him. However, Chris noticed that it was not a natural duet and brought mic stands out. This helped transform Patrick’s performance. It was a dead even match, but I thought Patrick’s raw vocal rifts stole the round and I agreed with Shakira’s decision to keep him in the game.
Two of Adam’s best male vocalists (Delvin Choice and Josh Kaufman) were the final duo to battle it out! They chose Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed and Delivered.” This was one of the best battles in the past four seasons. Both Delvin and Josh had beautiful vocal runs, and their energy was contagious! The coaches were impressed by both of them and gave them high praise. I was very happy that Delvin stayed on Team Adam and that Josh is now a member of Team Usher.
Tomorrow night, the second round of Battle Rounds continue!
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