NBC’s ‘The Voice’ review: De’borah, Terry McDermott help close out knockouts

It’s been a long time coming, but after a month and a half of various rounds on “The Voice,” we have finally made it to the portion of the show where the live shows are just around the corner. After watching Teams Adam Levine and Cee Lo Green be narrowed down to their top contestants Monday, this time around Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera were in the spotlight.

We’re going to kick things off here with Christina, and at the bottom of the article, be sure to share some of your picks as to who are the current frontrunners. Save for Trevin Hunte, we’re not sure that there really is a favorite to win this season.

Devyn DeLoera vs. Laura Vivas – We vaguely remember Laura on the show at all, but Devyn has been a genuine pop revelation all season. Christina made the right decision here in picking one of the few people who could be a genuine pop star, even if Devyn did sing the most overdone song in recent music history in Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing.”

Adriana Louise vs. Celica Westbrook – This was at least a battle between two singers that we know rather well, even if it did have a result that we did not really agree with. Even though Celica picked a song in “Never Say Never” that does not allow for many vocal tricks, it is still better than Adriana’s questionable choice of Kelly Clarkson’s “Never Gone.” Nonetheless, Adriana won.

Alessandra Guercio vs. Dez Duron – This was actually a good battle between two different singers, mostly because they each brought something good to the table. While we know that Christina did the right thing musically by picking Dez, she also did the right thing when it came to securing votes. After all, Dez is a good-looking guy.

Chevonne vs. De’borah – Chevonne really had no chance in this battle, but you at least have to give her credit for trying to do just about everything she could to make this performance interesting. She danced around the stage, rocked out, but De’borah is just sublime with what she does. We don’t know how she will do in the lives, but she is a personal favorite.

Aquile vs. Sylvia Yacoub – The biggest issue with Aquile is simply that he does not really pop off the screen, and this probably hurt him in what was the least interesting of Christina’s battles. Even though Sylvia lasted here, we would be shocked if her final three is anyone other than Devyn, Dez, and De’borah.

Team Blake Shelton

Gracia Harrison vs. Liz Davis – Blake starts off his knockout round with the craziest decision of the season: not taking the best country singer in the competition. Gracia did make a mistake in her song choice in “I Don’t Want a Miss a Thing,” but even this we still think she has more potential. Sadly, Blake went with Liz, who chose a song by his wife Miranda Lambert.

Rudy Parris vs. Terry McDermott – When it comes to bad song choices, Rudy made one even more puzzling in Chris Brown’s “Forever.” He’s just not the sort of artist to take on a song that young, and it was awkward. Meanwhile, Terry continued to dominate this competition with “Baby, I’m Amazed.” The guy’s not current, but he is awesome and should make it very far in this competition.

Collin McLoughlin vs. Michaela Paige – This battle was rather easy to call. Collin is pretty talented, but he was up against someone in Michaela who is a revelation vocally and stylistically. She could go far, at least if she continues to bring the same energy.

Julio Cesar Castillo vs. MarissaAnn – In going down the risky song choice road again, Julio sang Justin Bieber’s “Somebody to Love,” and tried a little too hard in most of it. Meanwhile, MarissaAnn took on a great song in “Lady Marmalade” with the intention of showing Christina that she made a mistake in not picking her in the battle rounds. She totally brought it, but Blake made a silly choice in not picking a 15-year old with great talent.

Cassadee Pope vs. Suzanna Choffel – This was by far the toughest battle of Blake’s team, mostly since two were just so different from each other, and they each bring something cool to the show. Suzanna took a Bob Marley song that was above the vibe, and Cassadee tackled Maroon 5’s “Payphone.” While there were some pitch problems, this was overall still easily strong enough to merit her staying on over Suzanna.

Did some of your favorites advance to the live shows?