The second round of battles wrapped up Monday on "The Voice," and capped with a single remaining steal courtesy of Team Blake, it gave season six its cast of singers heading into the playoffs Tuesday.
Team Shakira's rock powerhouses Dani Moz and Clarissa Serna kicked off the night with their take on Pink's "Perfect." Despite some struggles with anxiety and with stage presence in rehearsals and at the start of their performance, the pair mostly overcame those challenges by the end. Shakira named Dani the winner.
Next, Team Adam's folk duo Dawn & Hawkes took on rough-voiced rocker Kat Perkins on the KT Tunstall classic "Suddenly I See." Kat's task was to tone down her ferocity so as not to overpower the duo, while Dawn & Hawkes had to work on making their chemistry blend seamlessly into the song.
Kat's approach proved more successful, and Adam picked her the winner. "When you have positivity and confidence and drive, it's a very dangerous cocktail," her proud coach observed.
Team Usher's two powerful R&B singers Melissa Jimenez and Music Box faced off next, on the Alicia Keys anthem "Girl on Fire." Guest mentor Chris Martin of Coldplay counseled them not to oversing the beginning of the song, lest they wear themselves out, and also advised them to sing it as though they'd written it. Though the coaches weren't thrilled with the performance overall, Usher picked Melissa the winner.
A more impressive, and cohesive, performance came next from Team Blake's powerhouse Kaleigh Glanton and soulful folk-rock singer Ryan Whyte Maloney, who took on the Rascal Flatts and Natasha Bedingfield breakup duet "Easy" — in a song choice that struck the coaches as a brave one, given that neither contestant was a country singer.
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Their battle on-stage seemed more like a proper duet, with each of them supporting each other's performances. But Usher remarked that Kaleigh hadn't seemed to sing to her full potential, and all the coaches named Ryan's the more impressive performance. Blake picked him, too, citing his "overall consistency."
Next, two singers who had come to Team Adam by way of Team Usher, Jake Barker and Brittnee Camelle, faced off on none other than a song by their former coach, "Climax." The two both faced pitch problems in rehearsals, and Jake struggled with stage presence — unsurprisingly, given that he'd never performed live before an audience before "The Voice." But when they took to the stage, the coaches preferred Jake's "gravelly falsetto," and so did Adam. He won the battle.
The last contestants to take the "Voice" stage were two of the youngest left in the competition, and two very different members of Team Blake, cocky rock belter Bria Kelly and plaintive-voiced singer Madilyn Paige. With the help of some breathing exercises from Chris Martin, they took on the Pretenders' "I'll Stand by You."
The coaches admitted that neither performance blew them away and that they wanted more. But when Usher picked Bria as the winner, that gave Blake — who's no stranger to shepherding low-key young women through "Voice" finals — his chance to steal Madilyn for his team.
That set the stage for the live playoffs to start Tuesday.
"The Voice" airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/7c.
