The Voice Recap: Battle Rounds End, Show Introduces New Cross Battles Round

It was the final night of Battle Rounds on NBC’s The Voice and going into the show, Adam Levine, John Legend, and Kelly Clarkson all had full teams. Coach Blake Shelton still had a steal left, but at the top of the show, he admitted he was waiting for “someone to pour their heart out on stage.”

As intense as Battle Rounds are, they could look like child’s play after next week’s Cross Battles. In standard Battle Rounds, two members of the same team face off to continue in the competition. According to People, in Cross Battles, members from different teams will duke it out and the viewers vote on who gets to move on. The competition will be on Monday night and results will air on Tuesday.

Team Adam was the first into the ring, but before that, Andrew Jannakos and Patrick McAloon hit the rehearsal space with Charlie Puth. There are multiple reasons that these are called the Battle Rounds, but for Andrew and Patrick, the battle was almost as much internal as against each other as they took on the extremely difficult and range Tom Petty smash, “Free Fallin’.”

In rehearsals, Andrew did show some nerves and was a bit intimidated by Patrick’s experience, but both showed up and did a job that left the coaches, including Adam, perplexed over who was the appropriate choice. But in the end, Adam chose Andrew. “He did an incredible job, he really came through in these battles and that’s got to be rewarded,” Adam said.

Blake took his team into battle next with talented and beautiful Cecily Hennigan and Selkii. After they got over the thrill of meeting mentors Brooks & Dunn, Cecily and Selkii buckled down to rehearse Avril Lavigne’s “Head Above Water.” The angst-filled tune challenged both singers to tap into their own emotions to make a connection.

“I had no idea you were 16,” Kelly told Cecily. John added, “I think the cool thing about her is she just sounds like she belongs up there.” However, all of the coaches were on the fence about who Blake should pick, and even he couldn’t decide immediately, so he opted for experience and chose Selkii.

As Cecily left the stage after thanking Blake, both Kelly and John expressed regret saying they would have stolen her if they had a steal left.

Due to time constraints, viewers were unable to see all of the rehearsals and complete performances, but Team Blake’s Carter Lloyd Horne and Lili Joy competed against each other with Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” and Carter came out on top.

Team Kelly’s Alena D’Amico and Karen Galera went toe-to-toe with Ariana Grande’s “Imagine.” Kelly, too, went for the competitor with the greater amount of experience, which meant Karen continues on in the competition.

The final competitors in the Battle Rounds were Team John’s Kayslin Victoria and Oliv Blu who had to rehearse “Location” right in front of the man who sang and co-wrote the tune, their mentor, Khalid. While the singer’s voices complemented each other, they were also different enough for each of them to find a moment to shine in their performance. Khalid told them both to loosen up and “vibe” when they sang and to interact with each other.

In one of the tightest battles in the competition, the coaches were completely on the fence, giving John no help in making his decision. After delaying his decision as long as possible, he selected Kayslin to move forward. “She’s really good at commanding the stage, she’s really confident in her voice, and she hits these notes like it’s nothing to her,” Jon said. “I’m excited to see Kayslin grow, but I think she’s already polished.”

And just as Oliv was getting a farewell hug from John, Blake hit his “steal” button. He explained, “There’s really nobody else in the competition that fill’s Oliv’s lane. It’s really jazzy, but I think there’s more to it than that. I can’t wait to see where it goes.”

Even if you haven’t watched an episode of The Voice yet this season, next week is a great time to tune in as the intensity reaches an all-new high as the Cross Battle rounds begin.