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Monday kicked off Season 25’s Battles on The Voice, and they did not disappoint. On one hand, we got a few genuinely awesome performances. On the other, we got what might qualify as the first big shocks of the season via the eliminations of one contestant who could easily go by the stage name Mr. Personality and another who — and yes, I’m ready for the hate mail — is a more electrifying rock vocalist than early frontrunner Bryan Olesen. Read on, and we’ll discuss which singers advanced to the Knockouts and whether they really should have.
Team Legend: Nathan Chester (Grade: A) defeated Bryan Olesen (Grade: B+) on “Rolling in the Deep” — Playoff Pass given to Bryan | I know Bryan is probably the contestant with the most buzz surrounding him, at least at this stage of the competition, but for my money note, he was out-sung by Nathan. In part, that might have been because his strong, soulful vocal was just plain better suited than Bryan’s rock one to Adele’s hit. But Nathan also seemed less affected than his teammate, who didn’t really wow me until he slayed that last long note, brought it back from the dead and slayed it again.
Team Dan + Shay: Karen Waldrup (Grade: A) defeated Ryan Argast (Grade: A+) on “Save Me the Trouble” | Holy crap! Now this was a Battle Royale! On their coaches’ song, not only did the teammates harmonize spectacularly, in the process serving up thrilling ’80s-soundtrack-ballad vibes, individually they were downright stunning. Ryan has just an unstoppable rock voice — massive, emotional, exciting. (Bryan who?) Based on her Blind, I wasn’t sure that Karen was gonna be able to keep up, but she gave as good as she got, delivering a powerful reminder that I should never judge a singer by their first cover on The Voice. Couldn’t believe the panel let Ryan go home! First gut punch of the season!
Team Reba: Tae Lewis (Grade: B) defeated L. Rodgers (Grade: A) on “We Don’t Fight Anymore” — Playoff Pass given to L. | Going into this Battle, I assumed that Tae had the edge, what with Reba assigning him and L. Carly Pearce and Chris Stapleton’s duet and country being Tae’s lane. But L. 100-percent came to life on the number, singing with a clarity that eclipsed her teammate’s and a depth of feeling that elevated her performance to a whole other level. Love it when singers I was meh on in the Blinds (see also: Karen) surprise me; L. definitely did that — and earned herself the coveted Playoff Pass in the process.
Team Chance: Kamalei Kawa’a (Grade: B) defeated Gabriel Goes (Grade: C+) on “Over the Rainbow” | Though the Hawaiian contestants were delighted to be given Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s rendition of the Judy Garland classic, only Kamalei really should’ve been pleased. With seeming ease, he demonstrated that he was the superior vocalist. Gabriel sounded swell when he and his teammate were harmonizing, and his breathy singing style isn’t at all unpleasant. But it isn’t nearly as memorable or unique as his winning personality. Plus, as Chance noted, Gabriel hadn’t connected with the lyrics nearly as much as Kamalei had.
Team Legend: Zoe Levert (Grade: B-) defeated OK3 (Grade: B) on “The Bones” | Was it just me, or did you see it, too? After Zoe sounded pitchy out of the gate, OK3 marched forward like, “No prob. We got this.” But if they were confident, it was premature. While their harmonies are top-notch, they aren’t tremendously strong individual singers. What’s more, Zoe did manage to land some genuinely nice moments before their Maren Morris cover was done. She’s as stiff as they come (see also: Season 15 winner Chevel Shepherd), but if the show is trying to manufacture its own Tay Tay, Zoe may be its best bet.
Team Reba: Asher HaVon (Grade: A-) defeated Alyssa Crosby (Grade: A-) on “We Don’t Need Another Hero” — Alyssa stolen by Chance | Oo. At first, I thought Alyssa was totally walking away with this win. Asher has a ginormous voice (and bonus: He knows how to use it), but she was singing with such an ear-catching snarl that I was like, “Damn!” Toward the end of their Tina Turner cover, maybe Asher realized that he was being outshone, too, because he dug deeper into his bag of tricks and made sure that Reba remembered how dynamic his range is as well as how charismatic he can be. Tough call. In Reba’s cowgirl boots, as much as I liked Alyssa, I probably would’ve picked Asher, too; dude has presence.
Whose performance Monday did you think was especially Battle-ready? And I know I’ll be sorry for asking, but is Bryan overrated and Ryan, underrated? Hit the comments.
You need to change your heading for this battle since Asher beat Alyssa:
Team Reba: Alyssa Crosby (Grade: A-) defeated Asher HaVon (Grade: A-) on “We Don’t Need Another Hero” — Alyssa stolen by Chance
Right you are. Fixed. Thanks!
Okay, so I know Kamalei isn’t your favorite, Charlie, but I just adore his tone. Smooth as butter just like Reba said. However, I do agree that Nathan beat Bryan. His voice is amazing. I don’t get your love for Ryan. I agree with John that he sounded like he was yelling not singing. Karen was better. L was incredible and much better than Tae. The battle between the group and wanna be Taylor was forgettable. Asher and Alyssa were equally good, and I was happy to see both of them stay.
Really solid night! Nathan vs Bryan, Karen vs Ryan, and Asher vs Alyssa were all incredible. L vs Tae was really good too. Zoe vs OK3 and Kamalei vs Gabriel were both pretty mediocre (still decent though) but maybe that’s because the other battles were just so good.
Happy about the results but I would have had Ryan be stolen or be given the Playoff Pass. He had a great performance and helped make it a more competitive battle.
I don’t think L Rodgers was good enough to go straight through to the playoffs.
Asher gave me Luther Van dross vibes, smooth as silk. My second favorite is Karen Waldrup & Nathan3rd, Ryan could be 4th great on Joe Cocker type songs, someone just needed to coach him not to be so yelly but I think he did that trying to out sing Karen, I think he thought if Im louder Ill stand out.
IMHO, BOTH Bryan & Ryan are overrated! Way tooo shouty, as John remarked after Ryan’s song. Also agree that Nathan beat Bryan, who didn’t seem to sing with as much feeling as Nathan. Hence, Nathan’s win. OK3 seemed much better to me, even as individual singers, than the stand-in-one-place Zoe. Gabriel & Kamalei were forgettable, & really don’t get some of the other choices. Not all that great.
I hardly know what to say about John legend. Except LIAR LIAR!!!! U won OK 3 with the claim ‘this is what I do…’Blah, blah, blah. U should have let Dan and Shay (an actual ‘group’ ) have them. Maybe they would have known what to do with them. I’m not sure I can watch the rest of the season. Terrible song choice!!!!!! Your forte?!?!?!? I don’t think so!!!