NBC’s ‘The Voice’ review: Sarah Simmons, Mary Miranda help close battle rounds
The battle rounds on “The Voice” are at an end, and we have to give the producers a round of applause here for this one. While we still think the format is a little bloated, we made it through the round this year without hating it. It ran for long enough that we got to know some of these people, but not so long that it felt like a waste of time. Plus, some of the battles (see Midas Whale last night) were pretty incredible.
There were once again some good battles this time around, as the coaches filled up their teams, and also their capacity for steals for the season. Hopefully, at this point we know enough about these singers that we will remember all of them during the knockout rounds.
Brandon Roush vs. Shawna P. (Team Shakira) – There’s something rather weird about watching two completely different singers from different eras sing “Piece of My Heart” to each other. With that out of the way, let’s just say how killer this performance was. Brandon was rocking the silly red hat, moving around the stage like a man possessed, and Shawna was trying to serenade Adam Levine. The show tends to be harder on older contestants at this stage, so we were happy to see Shawna advance. With that being said, we’re also a little bummed that Brandon was not stolen by anyone. Winner: Shawna.
Duncan Kamakana vs. Sarah Simmons (Team Adam Levine) – When Duncan found out that he was singing with Sarah, there was probably a part of his brain screaming out swear words. Sarah is easily one of the stronger vocalists of the season, and based on that plus his lack of screen time, this one appeared obvious. He actually held his own as well as he could, but still felt more like a member of Sarah’s band. Winner: Sarah.
There was a montage of singers that advanced from here, but the only thing that was particularly notable here was the elimination of the Morgan Twins, who Blake Shelton insisted was not a novelty before going home.
Cathia vs. Selena Gomez Mary Miranda (Shakira) – Perhaps the most entertaining part of this entire battle was watching the fireworks that came out of rehearsals, where these two ladies went back and forth over who was supposed to sing when. There really was not that much when it came to drama from this performance, mostly because you knew that someone was going to be saved by Usher at the end of it thanks to time. Mary was the winner, and we found out that Cathia was the one saved.
Did you like the end of the battle rounds, and who are you pulling for to win from here on out? If you want to read some other highlights from this stage in the competition, be sure to visit the link here.
Photo: Fox