The Voice continued its twelfth-season "The Battle Round" with a handful of outstanding performances during Monday night's two-hour episode on NBC.
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On the third night of Battles, The Voice coaches Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton selected a total of nine Battle winners: Terry "TSoul" Pinkard from Richmond, VA; Vanessa Ferguson from Greensboro, NC; Johnny Hayes from Mobile, AL; Stephanie Rice from Houston, TX; Malik Davage from Washington, D.C.; Enid Ortiz from Tampa, FL; Hanna Eyre from Laguna Niguel, CA; Troy Ramey from Sea Cliff, NY; and Jack Cassidy from Westlake Village, CA.
When the above artists were declared victorious, the contestants sent home were Josh Hoyer from Lincoln, NE; Julien Martinez from Oxnard, CA; Kawan DeBose from Miami, FL; Valerie Ponzio from El Paso, TX; Sheena Brook from Fort Myers Beach, FL; and Jozy Bernadette from Grand Forks, ND.
During "The Battle Round," a coach pairs two of his or her team members up against one another to sing a duet. The artists attempt to stand out and deliver a better performance than their opponents. In this round, each coach is allowed two "steals," meaning an artist who loses a face-off may be stolen by a different coach so he or she can resume competing on The Voice.
Three lucky artists were stolen in last night's broadcast, and they were Autumn Turner from Montclair, NJ; Caroline Sky from San Anselmo, CA; and Hunter Plake from Baton Rouge, LA.
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The night began with Blake and his team adviser Luke Bryan matching up Josh and TSoul for a Battle in which they had to sing "In The Midnight Hour." Blake said the Battle was so much fun that they made the decision very difficult for him.
The coach told Josh he has amazing stage presence although he's usually behind the piano and TSoul that he does such interesting runs. Although TSoul set the bar so high for himself, he still had a moment in the song. Blake went with his gut and named TSoul the winner, telling cameras afterward he could already envision the artist's voice on the radio.
In another Battle, Alicia -- who is working with DJ Khaled as her team adviser -- matched Autumn and Vanessa for a performance of "Killing Me Softly With His Song."
Alicia felt the girls' sisterhood and commended Vanessa for dropping her walls and letting people in. Alicia also loved Autumn's range. In the end, she named Vanessa the winner; however, both Gwen and Adam opted to steal Autumn, who turned all four chairs during "The Blind Auditions."
Adam was blown away that he even had the opportunity to steal Autumn, and Gwen explained she'd love to bring out the artist's personality, style and story. Autumn ultimately joined Team Adam because she "felt something" in his speech.
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Adam, whose team adviser is John Legend, then paired Johnny H. and Julien for a Battle in which they were asked to sing "Hard to Handle."
Julien rose to the occasion since Johnny is an intimidating singer to perform a duet with. Adam called Johnny "larger than life" and couldn't believe that no coach turned around for him last season when he auditioned. Adam therefore named Johnny the winner of the Battle because it's impossible to look away from him and he's "electric."
Gwen -- who is mentoring artists with Celine Dion as her team adviser -- matched up Caroline and Stephanie for a Battle of "The First Cut Is The Deepest."
Gwen confessed her heart cracked in half when having to choose between these ladies. Gwen was curious about Stephanie, who has a lot of potential and star quality, but Caroline was one of her favorite people to work with of all time since she takes direction so well and sang incredibly.
After Gwen noted that Stephanie had won the Battle because she's all heart and has a very distinct sound and style, Blake decided to steal Caroline for his team because of her amazing voice.
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Adam's team was up next with a Battle between Kawan and Malik. The guys sang "Love Me Now" and did an excellent job after struggling in rehearsal the day prior. The winner ended up being Malik because Adam believes he can work with him best going forward. Adam also wanted to commend Malik for his positive attitude and technical proficiency.
Arguably the most impressive Battle of the night belonged to Hunter and Jake from Team Alicia, who sang "Dancing On My Own."
Alicia called Hunter a "unique" and "intriguing internal individual," saying she'd like to peel back the layers of his mind. Jack, on the other hand, has a brilliant light around him and fills up an entire room with his energy. Alicia also said she'd love to "untame" his voice since he had to hold back vocally a bit for this song. Alicia declared Jack the winner.
However, both Gwen and Adam wanted to steal Hunter. Adam explained Hunter had him at the very first note of the song and is "really special." Adam thought Hunter won the Battle hands down. But Gwen noted she had pressed her button for Hunter in the Blinds and Adam, at the time, wasn't interested. Gwen also complimented Hunter for singing from his heart. Because Gwen fought for Hunter twice, he joined her team.
Several Battles were featured in a montage of brief clips. Enid and Valerie sang "Love Triangle," and Enid won on Blake's team. Hanna and Sheena sang "Try," and Hanna was victorious for Team Adam. Jozy and Troy performed "Angel Eyes" for Gwen's team, and then the coach named Troy the winner.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski