‘The Voice’ Season 15, The Battles Premiere, Part 2 Recap
NBC Reading Time: 5 minutes
This season of The Voice has already been fire but it’s about to heat up even more! The Battle Round started last night with three intense head-to-head sing-offs, including two steals. And we’ll continue tonight with more battles as these hopeful artists try to earn a spot in the Knockouts. But there can only be one winner in each one!
Now, we’ll have Adam, Kelly, JHud, and Blake take it away with their battle advisers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhYR63UD-Ao
OneUp vs. Kymberli Joye
The action started right off the bat with Team Kelly’s duo, OneUp, taking on Kymberli Joye. I was definitely excited for this one ever since seeing them all dance together in the Battles preview! And I think it goes without saying these three killed it. The trio sang “Mercy” by Shawn Mendes. The beginning of their performance had OneUp around Kymberli, all harmonizing together and perfectly staged. I’m here for it! While they took turns in the verses, the chorus allowed them all to shine and create some insane harmonies. Then there were the epic high notes in the middle and end of the song from both OneUp AND Kymberli. This was a BATTLE! These three took us to church!
These Battles with duos are always tough though, because the standout tends to be the solo artist. Especially when they can keep up with a duo singing! The duo generally seems to act as a backup singer to the soloist. And that might’ve been the downfall here too. It’s hard to compare two singers to one. All the coaches said it would be a tough decision between the artists but complimented how Kymberli shined with her screams, presumably not wanting to single out either member of OneUp. Kelly decided the winner was…Kymberli Joye! And just like that, the only duo of this season was eliminated. Sad! In my opinion, they deserved a steal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zddmtB_FHI8
Steve Memmolo vs. Anthony Arya
I have to get this out of the way. Adam telling CeeLo that “everyone is so happy to have you back” is a joke, right? He wasn’t a great coach when he was on the show and he’s found himself in a lot of legal trouble ever since. Anyway, for the second battle of the night, Adam paired together two of his less memorable contestants, Steve and Anthony. What an interesting start for Team Adam. And he chose “Amie” by Pure Prairie League for the pair, which is also not ringing any bells for me. But who knows? Maybe I’m alone on this one! This had all the makings of a boring battle.
Despite pitch and energy issues in their rehearsals, the battle was actually pretty solid! It got a weird partial montage treatment when it came to the performance though. In the end, Adam chose to go with Steve. But somehow, Anthony was stolen by JHud? That was the most random steal and very unexpected. Let me just say now that this steal should’ve gone to OneUp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8qTFa51FDI
Tyke James vs. Jarred Matthew
Another Team Adam battle followed, with Hawaiian teenage heartthrob Tyke James taking on astrophysicist Jarred Matthew. They sang “She’s Always a Woman” by Billy Joel. The song choice was perfect for Tyke, who got to show off his unique tone and timeless vocals. After about 30 seconds of their performance aired, Adam gave the win to Tyke James.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1KoCcD2q5E
Chris Kroeze vs. Mercedes Ferreira-Dias
To kick off the second half of the episode, Team Blake and Keith Urban are up! Blake paired together Chris and Mercedes. This was a battle of apples and oranges. Blake chose Steve Winwood’s “Back in the High Life Again” for the pair, which neither of them had heard before this. But they did well with the song they were given! This was more of a decision between vocal styles than ability because both are super talented but very different. Blake decided to go with Chris after their Battle performance. No surprises there!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaQwYHzQJnE
Katrina Cain vs. Rachel Messer
After that was another Team Blake face-off between Katrina and Rachel. Blake’s pairing definitely makes sense here, as they’re both young female vocalists with a similar look and style. But it was country vs. electro-pop (with a little country in there, in Blake’s opinion) here! These two Team Blake artists were given “Angel” by Sarah MacLaughlin. They sounded beautiful on the song, but it isn’t a very exciting one to battle with. It was more of a pillow fight then an all-out brawl. And Katrina came out victorious on this one, remaining on Team Blake for the Knockouts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54ioMbsU-uY
Mike Parker vs. Natasia GreyCloud
Last up we have Mike Parker and Natasia GreyCloud from Jennifer’s team. Side note: I always laugh when these artists talk about the battles advisers because it just sounds like they’re reading their Wikipedia pages. “Halsey is touring around the world right now,” “Halsey has so many songs on the radio,” you get the idea. Back to the Battles! JHud picked John Mayer’s “Gravity” for the battle pair. The song really gave them both chances to shine. Jennifer knows what she’s doing here!
Their performance lived up to all expectations! The coaches all praised the Battle, saying that it was evenly matched and showed off the best of both artists. After a very long time trying to make her decision, Jennifer finally announced it! JHud ended up choosing…Mike Parker for the win. But don’t worry! Natasia was stolen by Kelly, which is actually an amazing fit. Kelly also turned for her in the Blind Auditions.
Teams
Well, that’s it for now. The first week of Battles is over! To recap, here’s where the teams stand.
Team Adam: Tyke James, RADHA, DeAndre Nico, Steve Memmolo, Reagan Strange, Fousheé, Natalie Brady, Jake Wells, Funsho, Emily Hough
Team Kelly: Sarah Grace, Mikele Buck, Claire DeJean, Chevel Shepherd, Delaney Silvernell, Kimberli Joye, Erika Zade, Cody Ray Raymond, Abby Cates, Josh Davis, Natasia GreyCloud
Team JHud: Tyshawn Colquitt, Patrique Fortson, Kennedy Holmes, Franc West, Audri Bartholomew, MaKenzie Thomas, Mike Parker, Zaxai, Lela, Matt Johnson, SandyRedd, Anthony Arya
Team Blake: Kameron Marlowe, Keith Paluso, Michael Lee, Dave Fenley, Chris Kroeze, Kayley Hill, Kirk Jay, Caeland Garner, Katrina Cain, Colton Smith
