Trae Patton/NBCThe Voice coaches got their team members out of their comfort zones in the third week of the battle rounds Monday night. And while Blake Shelton bided his time, Kelly Clarkson and John Legend used their final steals to poach promising artists.
Each coach enlisted help from a guest advisor during rehearsals: Charlie Puth for Team Adam Levine; Brooks & Dunn for Team Blake; Khalid for Team Legend; and Kelsea Ballerini for Team Kelly.
Here are the night’s highlights:
Team Legend started off the night with Lisa Ramsey and Betsy Ade. They squared off on “The Joke,” by Brandi Carlile, a song about a girl stuck in a boy’s world. Betsy, a former athlete, could relate to the premise. During rehearsal, Khalid encouraged them to be persistent, saying, “This is your moment.”
Their moment proved to be a tough decision for John. Lisa, for whom John was the only coach to turn his chair during the blinds, won out, but for Betsy the persistence still paid off. Kelly used her final steal for her, calling Betsy a “natural storyteller.”
Two Floridians, Anthony Ortiz and Mari, rehearsed with coach Adam and adviser Charlie Puth on the song “I Like Me Better,” by Lauv. Mari put Charlie Puth in mind of jazz singer Esperanza Spalding and Adam coached her to adjust to the song and make the vocals suit her own style because of the song’s low, male key. After their performance, Adam chose Mari over Anthony, whose nerves got the better of him.
Next up, Blake and advisers Brooks & Dunn watched as Hannah Kay and Andrew Sevener, singers who profess to be strongly influenced by old school country, faced off on the modern country hit “Tequila,” by Dan + Shay. Brooks & Dunn called it “a great challenge” for the contestants. Blake confirmed as much, saying he wanted to challenge the pair with a song not in their wheelhouse. “It forces people to step up to the plate,” said Blake, with fellow coach Kelly impressed by his intention. Blake chose Andrew at the end because of the way he owned the song on stage.
Team Kelly contestants Jackson Marlow and Abby Kasch took on the Jo Dee Messina & Tim McGraw duet “Bring on the Rain.” During rehearsal, Jackson said he struggled with the song, having never sung harmony. Kelsea Ballerini tried to ease his worry, telling him she’d never done it either at the start of her career. But Kelly picked Abby following their performance due to her passion and love of the stage.
Jacob Maxwell and Talon Cardon have a lot in common: the Team Legend singers work as waiters and both have dads who are police officers. But the one key difference between the two is their voices. Jacob’s is more sullen, while Talon has a thinner, higher range. John chose The Police song “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” saying he wanted an uptempo song that would push them out of their comfort zone. After Adam and Kelly compared Jacob’s look to Jake Gyllenhaal and model Cara Delevingne, John declared Jacob the winner.
Next came Team Kelly singers David Owens and Rebecca Howell. David is a soul singer with a tone Kelly compared to “smoky butter,” while country singer Rebecca has a voice that reminded Kelly of Linda Ronstadt and Crystal Gayle. To blend their two styles, they performed the Leann Rimes version of the pop classic “Unchained Melody,” a soulful song with country roots. Kelly had a tough decision on her hands but picked Rebecca who, she said, added elements to her performance that weren’t present at rehearsal.
The coaches were sure that Blake would use his last steal on David, but he refrained, saying his team already had artists “in that lane.” Fortunately for David, he got chosen for Bebe Rexha‘s Comeback Stage, the third artist to be so chosen this season.
Finally, Jimmy Mowery and Kalvin Jarvis, representing Team Adam, battled on “U Got It Bad,” by former The Voice coach Usher. Jimmy, who performed a Charlie Puth song for his blind audition, impressed Adam and Charlie with his emotive voice. Adam also liked the way the pair harmonized, respectful of each other in a way that made them both stand out. It made their duet the performance of the night, which even included a tip of the hat ad-lib to Kelly. Adam selected Kalvin as the winner, noting his consistency. Then John used his final steal to add Jimmy, for whom he’d previously turned his chair during the blinds.
The Voice battles return Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
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