In a Voice first, they’ve crammed some blind auditions and some battles together in one episode, just to make things exciting.
After getting a few last blind auditions out of the way, The Voice coaches had their teams all loaded up and ready to proceed to the battle rounds, so they could start breaking them back down again. Guest mentors Lionel Ritchie, Ellie Goulding, Meghan Trainor, and Nick Jonas are on hand to mentor Pharrell’s, Adam’s, Blake’s, and Christina’s teams, respectively (though we didn’t get to see Nick in action tonight.)
Blind Audition Standouts
Nathan Hermida
Nathan Hermida comes from a Filipino family that is big on karaoke. Nathan is an adorable nerd, and loves biology, but is choosing to follow his music dreams. His performance of Miguel’s “Sure Thing” turned Adam and Christina’s chairs, and both were surprised to see Nathan as the person behind the soulful voice they heard. Christina thought he was a perfect choice for her team, because he was interested in pop and R&B, but he decided to join Team Adam instead, completing Adam’s team for season 8.
Paul Pfau
Paul Pfau has been a Maroon 5 fan for years, and chickened out of an opportunity to give Adam his demo CD a few years ago. Unfortunately, Adam had already filled his team by the time Paul took the stage with his jazzy performance of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to The Moon,” but Adam tried his darndest to turn his chair anyway. It ended up as a battle between Blake and Pharrell, which Pharrell won, but Paul still took the long-awaited chance to give his demo to Adam.
Vance Smith
Vance Smith grew up in a tough Detroit neighborhood, and saw a lot of trouble around him, but made the choice to stick to the straight and narrow, and stayed out of trouble. Now a diesel mechanic in Georgia, he basically lives and breathes music. His performance of The Four Tops’ “Reach Out I’ll Be There” didn’t get much of a reaction from the coaches, but one last-ditch effort caused both Christina and Pharrell to turn their chairs at the last moment. Christina was impressed by his fun personality, and he chose to join her team, becoming the last member of Team Christina.
Caitlin Caporale
Caitlin Caporale is a die-hard Christina Aguilera fan, even having sung for Christina before. However, her blind audition performance of Christina’s “Impossible” was too little too late, as Christina’s team was already full. But Blake and Pharrell wasted no time in turning for Caitlin’s show-stopping performance. After she chose Team Pharrell, Christina invited Caitlin to sing “Impossible” with her, right then and there, and Caitlin more than held her own against the diva herself.
Battles
Ashley Morgan vs. Mia Z
The first battle of season 8 was between Team Pharrell’s Ashley Morgan and Mia Z. He paired the girls because they both sing with an interesting twist, and he chose ZZ Ward’s bluesy “Put the Gun Down” to suit both performers. In rehearsals, Mia struggled to control her vibrato, and Ashley struggled to loosen up and not be so technical. But in their last rehearsal, both girls brought it, having taken every note they were given.
The battle performance was awesome, proving just how perfect Pharrell’s song choice was. Both girls were sassy, with voices that were out of this world. But in a battle of pancakes versus waffles, Pharrell chose Mia. All the other coaches prefer pancakes, apparently, and hit their buttons to steal Ashley, and Ashley chose Team Christina.
James McNeiece vs. Tonya Boyd-Cannon
Adam paired James McNeiece and Tonya Boyd-Cannon for his first battle of the season, because he felt both performers were cut from the same cloth, and would have great energy in their performance of Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).” Plus, they’d get to sing the word “tenderoni.” Tonya’s obviously a very powerful vocalist, but James was smart enough not to compete with that. He worked in his own falsetto runs, instead of trying to out-belt her. Tonya needed to work on being more percussive, which she struggles with, because of her lisp. Adam was so into their duet, that he played along on the drums during their rehearsal.
Their battle absolutely took it to another level, because not only do they each have their own incredible voices, but they were so much fun, and their performance was a delight to watch. Though James made it a tough choice for Adam, in the end he chose to keep Tonya.
Brian Johnson vs. Joshua Davis
Team Blake’s first battle of the season paired Brian Johnson and Joshua Davis. Because they both auditioned with a classic song, Blake felt they would do well performing a classic song for their battle, and gave them Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” Blake and guest mentor Meghan Trainor commended both men on their voices, saying Joshua’s tone is ridiculous, and Brian’s soul is outstanding. In spite of this, both men struggled with confidence in their beautiful acoustic performance in rehearsals. But they managed to bring Meghan to tears, so they were obviously doing something right.
The battle performance was just as emotional, and even brought tears to the eyes of at least one audience member (okay, it was Joshua’s infant son). It was such a difficult choice for Blake, because he really thought they both had excellent voices, and unique sounds. He chose Brian for his team, but the other coaches wasted no time in hitting their buttons to steal Joshua. Adam barely gave anyone a chance before running up onstage and claiming Joshua for himself.
Tune in for more blind auditions Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on NBC!