The Voice Recap: Fan Favorite Sent Packing On Night 2 of the Battles
As The Voice continued its Season 23 Battles Tuesday night, three more acts reached the end of the road — including one whose quirky personality had already endeared her to viewers during the Blind Auditions. Who got the chop — and who was sent home along with her? Keep reading.
Team Niall: Ross Clayton (Grade: B+) defeated Laura Littleton (Grade: C) on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” | Paired by their coach because they’re both kinda country — as are Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty on their classic — the contestants sounded fine together. But apart, Ross really shone, taking to heart Niall’s advice to leave himself room to grow and get grittier as the song went on. Laura, on the other hand… I mean, you’ve gotta love her personality. But beyond the constant wobble in her voice — and a little of that goes a long way — I didn’t hear anything in her performance that was as “intoxicating” as the coaches did.
Team Chance: Magnus (Grade: B) defeated Alyssa Lazar (Grade: C+) on “Your Song” | Before rehearsal, Chance explained that he’d pitted these two against one another because he liked the blend of different styles — like Magnus’ soulful one, Alyssa’s rocky one. But on stage… eh. Not sure it entirely worked. Alyssa, who’d already been given short shrift during the Blinds, wasn’t at all bad — and even had some quite good moments (that growl!). She just couldn’t compete with the overall richness of Magnus’ voice. It sounded like “a warm, cozy home,” Blake said. Alyssa, he added, used too much vibrato. Even Chance questioned his team members’ choices on their duet.
Team Kelly: Marcos Covos (Grade: C+?) defeated Sheer Element (Grade: B+?) on “I Could Fall in Love” | Hard to grade this Battle as we heard what, like a single line of it? Anyway, in that snippet, Marcos was serving overwrought lead vocals a la Season 22’s Omar Jose Cardona; Sheer Element, providing heavenly, harmonious backing vocals — which, again, based on a coupla seconds, at least I preferred. Kelly, not so much. (Which means that Season 16 returnee Jej Vinson now holds the distinction of being eliminated from The Voice twice.)
Team Blake: Kylee Dayne (Grade: B-) defeated Mary Kate Connor (Grade: B) on “Anti-Hero” — Mary Kate Playoff Pass’d to the Playoffs | Though both contestants sang prettily enough, they also sang pretty… well, dully. It takes a lot to make this TayTay hit sound listless and limp, but yup, they managed to do it. If one stood out over the other — they were at their best when harmonizing — it was Mary Kate, whose voice is a little sharper (in a good way) and therefore cut through the music to make at least a marginally bigger impression. (A bit flummoxed as to how she warranted a Playoff Pass, but Team Chance’s Mariah Kalia didn’t even get a Steal Monday.)
Did anyone really knock your socks off Tuesday? Even one sock? Pick your favorite in the poll below, then hit the comments.
Ross (A-) vs Laura (C): For me, this battle was all about Ross. His voice is just so muscular and he has an awesome vibe. He reminds me of WILKES from season 14. Laura was fine, but next to Ross, she kind of faded into the background except for when they were harmonizing. To be fair, Stevie Nicks has some pretty big shoes to fill.
Magnus (B-) vx Alyssa (C): Tbh, I’m kinda tired of hearing this song on singing shows, not that the contestants chose this song. Magnus I think does have the better and bigger voice in this matchup, but somehow I think Alyssa is better for the show. Both of them, though, I found to be rather overwrought at times. And tbh, I never really thought either of them would make playoffs.
Marcos vs Sheer Element: Apparently, a source at the tapings said that the battle between these two was pretty bad. Sheer element didn’t have their s— together and that the coaches had some pretty negative things to say. There are other reasons that some contestants get montaged and not others, but in this case I think it was just a battle that wasn’t very strong.
Kylee (B+)- Mary Kate (A): I actually thought this battle was really good! Maybe it’s because I don’t really have any attachment to the original haha. I thought the girls’ transition from chest to head voice was mesmerizing. Mary Kate’s tone has a brightness that I think I somehow missed during her audition. It’s so ear-catching! Especially when harmonizing. She’s definitely shot up the ranks of my favorite contestants this season. As for Kylee, I think her songwriting really came through. I think the small melodic changes she made to the song were really cool/effecting and her phrasing I think was totally rad. Also, is anyone else unable to wrap their head around the fact that the loser of the battle is the one that gets the playoff pass? Also also, the show kinda keeps on pimping the playoff passes like they’re some sort of crazy advantage, and in some ways it is. But when we’re literally not going to hear Menasseh’s voice for another month before the lives, are peope really going to still remember her that well. Guess it doesn’t matter that much since the Playoffs this season (where 12 out of the top 20 got eliminated!!!) are pretaped.
Not doubting you, but when do the coaches ever say anything negative 😂
I’m pretty sure that it is almost a stipulation that the judges are never too harsh on the singers. I think that I read an article once about Mark Burnett and Roma Downey and their conception of the show as a sort of anti-simon cowell/anti-cruelty singing competition. When the judges are even slightly negative on the Voice, that usually means that the singers really tanked.
Actually during the pretaped rounds, coaches actually do give criticism from tome to time, it’s all just edited out of the show. The more you know haha. Even in this one clip (yoi can watch it on youtube) you can kinda see it on Marcos’s face. He is NOT happy when he is announced the winner, and Kelly kinda shaded Sheer Element a liiiiiittle bit. It probably was more obvious shade before they cropped most of it out.
Mary Kate appeals to the precise demographic of white teenage girls who vote a million times each on their phones to choose the winner of this show season after season. Blake knows that. How does the writer of this article not?
Exactly. Blake knows what sells. And Mary Kate has the voice to back it up. She hit a point in that song where I went WOW.
Not surprised Mary Kate got the playoff pass from Blake. He’s just a big Ole Softie when it comes to teenage girls. Magnus was good, but as his coach pointed out, he can sing much better. Ross won the night for me.
-Ross was great!
-I find it amusing that Chance is familiar with Joni Mitchell and Hall & Oates but had never heard “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” before.
-Magnus reminds me of Luther Vandross.
-I think your grading for Mary Kate and Kylee was low. They were both were A+ in my opinion. Mary Kate…WOW! I would have picked her over Kylee but I am glad she is still in it by getting the playoff pass.
Was a so-so night. No standouts though. All B-grade fare–B- to B+. I don’t expect any of this group to run deep. Well, apart from Miss Cute Teen-with-Playoff Pass. Her vocals seem likely just B+ on a good night; but we shall see–if she gets better. Besides, when her ilk get into late rounds, voters have trouble sending ’em home. And then, there is the Blake’s-last-season vote (it already gave him an absurd win last time) which could push a cute teen B+ to the finals & a win. IDK.
Well this season America only gets to vote when it gets to the final 8. All of that was filmed in February
I have to disagree about your assessment of the two teenage girls. I thought they both sounded better than the original.
(Sorry, Tay fans. Swift puts on a good show, she’s just a bit overrated as a singer.)
Ross boring. Magnus boring. I liked both Mary Kate and Kylee, glad they both “won”. Wish we could have seen more of Marcos. Poor Laura got chair turns because of her vibrato, then got sent home because of her vibrato. Did Niall address that in his coaching? I liked her.
Some of you are still hung up on the playoff pass being the loser? It’s not. They can’t exactly use it first or will lessen the excitement. This person is the winner. It’s different but let’s see how it plays out .
Charlie, it was Kelly who first made those remarks about Magnus, Blake just repeated it in jest.
As for Mariah, go back and listen to Blakes words of advice to Chance. He told him to invest a lot of money in her, so yeah the other two coaches will steal her after this?
Think you’re snoozing a little, just like Kelly. She doesn’t look like she’s awake.
Love me some Chance 👍👍
Blake definitely wasted his Playoff Pass. I think because he’s in his last season at this point he’s not too really invested.
Kylee and Mary Kate should have just been MERGED into a duo. I dont think either one will stand on their own in this competition but together, they have a better chance.
That’s actually a very good idea. Something The Voice producers might add next season instead of the stupid play-off pass. The Battles and Knock Outs are my favorite part of the show. I can’t count how many times viewers and coaches have commented on how good the contestants sounded as a duo.