The Voice's Battle Round commenced and featured eight artists surviving the cut during Monday night's Season 16 broadcast on NBC.

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The artists who advanced by winning their respective Battles were Celia Babini, an 18-year-old from New York, NY; Julian King, a 25-year-old from Philadelphia, PA; Presley Tennant, a 16-year-old from Norco, CA; Dexter Roberts, a 27-year-old from Fayette, AL; LB Crew, a 30-year-old from El Dorado, AR; and Kim Cherry, a 30-year-old from Boston, MA.

The Battle Round continued on Monday night with coaches Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, and John Legend narrowing down their teams through a series of team-member faceoffs.

In each Battle, a coach pairs two of his or her team members up at a time and chooses a song for them to sing together. While the duo must blend their different sounds in a duet, the goal is to out-perform the other for only one spot on the team moving forward.

However, Adam, John, Kelly, and Blake are each allowed two "Steals" during this round, which means he or she may select two losing artists from opposing coaches' Battles to join his or her own team for the upcoming "Knockout Round" and potentially beyond.

The artists who lost their respective Battles but were stolen by other coaches in last night's episode were Karly Moreno, a 23-year-old from Mission Viejo, CA, and Kendra Checketts, a 19-year-old from San Diego, CA.

For the Battles this season, Charlie Puth is serving as Adam's team advisor, Kelsea Ballerini is working with Kelly's team, Khalid is helping out John's team, and Brooks & Dunn is mentoring Blake's team.

For "Team Adam," the first Battle pairing of the night was Karly Moreno against Celia Babini.

The girls sang "Friends" by Marshmello & Anne-Marie.

Blake advised Celia to do enough of her own thing; however, he said her restraint didn't take away from "the holy crapness" about her and the performance.

Blake also didn't expect Karly to perform the way she did, saying she exuded confidence and stepped up to the plate.

Kelly called Celia a "rad" vocalist but did not want to discount what Karly did. Kelly loved Karly's presence on the stage.

John complimented the ladies on bringing the song together and giving him a chill vibe.

"I think that you're both world class and I think you both could go very far in this, if not win it. I really do," Adam explained.

Adam said Karly shocked him and he wants to learn more about her, but Celia was a four-chair turn who is always interesting, shiny and sparkling.

Adam named Celia the winner of the Battle because there's something about her that's "unbelievably special," but Blake decided to steal Karly for his own team.

Blake loved the warmth in Karly's voice and said she's "hypnotic."

John's team was up next with a Battle between Julian King and Denton Arnell, a 32-year-old from Chicago, IL.

John asked the guys to perform a duet of "Grenade" by Bruno Mars.

Adam thought the men were "really, really, really even" but Julian was a fraction more consistent.

Blake said a run Julian did separated the two artists and so it gave him the edge, and Kelly agreed.

John was proud of his team members and thought they both sounded great.

Making a decision was tough, but John ultimately named Julian the winner of the Battle because of his range, tone, and the dynamics in his voice.

Kelly then matched up Rizzi Myers, a 29-year-old from Kansas City, MO, with Presley Tennant for a Battle.

The girls were required to sing "Whataya Want From Me" by Adam Lambert.

Kelly admitted she "screwed up" by pairing the ladies together, and John agreed, saying they were "outstanding" and both vibed on the stage.

John said he'd pick Presley because her high notes were exciting, but Adam thought Rizzi showed she's ready to compete on the show right now.

Blake suggested Presley should be the winner, but Kelly was confused and didn't know which name to say.

"I could not have made a poorer decision in putting you two females together because you are both incredible!" Kelly gushed. "I could say either of your names right now."

Kelly decided to declare Presley the winner of the Battle because she's grown tremendously and hasn't launched yet as a 16-year-old artist.

While Rizzi was one of Kelly's favorites, she admitted Presley had just "shocked the hell out of me."

Blake's team was up next, and a Battle between Dexter Roberts and Dalton Dover, a 21-year-old from Aragaon, GA, was featured.

Blake had the men perform "Hurricane" by Luke Combs.

Kelly loved the soulfulness of Dalton's sound but noted Dexter has "a straight up country sound." Kelly would have gone with Dexter if the artists were on her team.

John liked Dalton's voice and pronunciation better but said Dexter showed more skill.

Adam agreed, saying Dalton had a raw approach to the song that he loved while Dexter seemed more technically proficient.

Blake ultimately named Dexter the winner of the Battle because he showed more control and is an energetic vocalist.

Next up was a "Team Adam" Battle: Ciera Dumas, a 22-year-old from Kernersville, NC, and LB Crew.

The pair sang "Done For Me" by Charlie Puth and both Ciera and LB admitted it was a very difficult song melodically to execute.

Blake thought LB "sang the crap out of the song" and appeared to have a blast, while Ciera went for big notes and he loved how her voice shredded.

Kelly was surprised by Ciera because she came across passionate and sexy.

John said they looked and sounded cool but LB's tone was right up his alley stylistically.

Adam said this Battle had been messing with him for a while because they both did a beautiful job. The coach had to choose between them, however, and he chose to go with LB.

The last Battle of the night belonged to "Team Blake," who matched up Kendra Checketts with Kim Cherry.

The ladies took the stage with "Here" by Alessia Cara.

Kelly gushed about how they brought so much sass. She leaned towards Kim, however, because the song was catered to her vibe.

John insisted the girls "nailed" the song and it was "a flawless performance."

Adam said Kendra has more volume, but the decision all came down to Blake, who said his artists were talented and brought perfect pitch and personality.

Blake made his decision based on "a gut feeling" and chose to advance Kim because her presence is infectious.

But since Kendra gave "the performance of a lifetime," both John and Adam wanted to steal her.

Adam admitted Kendra had won the Battle in his mind and she's amazing. He said she brought an effortless power and consistency to the song.

But John argued Kendra belongs on his team with so many other great singers. He then added she'd be one of the best singers on his team moving forward.

"I don't have many female singers on my team and I think you would thrive and I think you could go all the way," Adam noted.

In the end, Kendra chose to join Adam's team.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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