NBC’s ‘The Voice’ review: Nicole Nelson, Devyn DeLoera rule new battles

Welcome back to a shortened version of “The Voice” battle rounds! We are nearing the end of what has been a far-improved part of the show this year, mostly because the coaches don’t feel like they are falling asleep pretty much through the entire show. So were there any major steals or surprises? Read on to find out. (They were not shown very much, but we also should point out that Joe Kirkland and Cassadee Pope advanced, though we barely saw them during the episode.)

Alexis Marceaux vs. Daniel Rosa (Cee Lo Green)  – In the first unusual decision of the evening, Cee Lo decided to actually take Daniel in this battle despite some pretty obvious pitch problems, while no one bothered to save Alexis at all. The performance here was to a song in “Whataya Want From Me” that got Adam Levine in a bit of trouble with Adam Lambert fans two years ago, and he kept his mouth shut about it this time around. We just thought that this was simply epic, and also very entertaining.

Brandon Mahone vs. Nicole Nelson (Adam Levine) – Going into this routine, we really just felt bad for Brandon because it was so obvious to us that Nicole really had this in the bag. Thankfully, Brandon at least did his best to make this a good battle with some charm and some great notes. The biggest issue, though, is that Nicole is just a complete and total powerhouse, and she thus was victorious in the end.

MarissaAnn vs. Devyn DeLoera (Christina Aguilera) – The final battle of the night was between two pop powerhouses from Christina’s team, and the song she gave them was basically the equivalent of five sots of pop power. (Non-alcoholic, since we’re dealing with young folks.) We felt that this was the most evenly-matched of the battle rounds tonight, and the loser deserved to be stolen here. Devyn was the winner, but MarissaAnn was, as well, courtesy of a Blake Shelton steal.

What was your favorite performance from this episode?