Idol Chatter & Voice Views

For The Voice contestants, the battle rounds are quickly becoming a do-or-die proposition as far as the Season 3 competition is concerned.

That’s because the coaches have used five saves through the first 17 boxing ring match-ups. That means just three saves remain for the remaining 15 duos.

Singers need not look to Cee Lo Green or Adam Levine for a save. Cee Lo’s team is full after he snatched up Caitlin Michele and Terisa Griffin following their battle round losses. Adam’s in the same position after claiming Joselyn Rivera and Amanda Brown.

That leaves Blake with one steal left to use (he already claimed Collin McLoughlin) and Christina with two unused saves.

Battle 1: Liz Davis vs. Nicole Johnson — A pair of country cuties pair off. Liz has been here before. She won P Diddy Starmaker in 2009. Wish I could tell you about her pre-Voice music. But most of it’s been removed from the web. Nicole is an 18-year-old whose family have moved to Nashville so she can focus on her music. She says she’s written more than 150 songs, and you can hear four fine tunes on her website. They’ll be singing “Baggage Claim,” a song recorded by Blake’s wife, Miranda Lambert.

Liz walks on stage with the edge in experience and knows how to handle herself on stage. You can tell that from the P Diddy clips still available on Youtube. But Nicole starts off the song very strong. Liz has clearly dressed to showcase assets other than her voice. But she’s also a very good singer. I don’t know, Nicole is holding her own in terms of attitude. If anything she might be showing more sass than Liz. Wow, folks, that was pretty much a dead heat. My pick: Liz by the narrowest of margins, only because of the experience factor, and the fact that she’s proven she can go deep in a competition like this against singers of other genres.

Blake picks Liz.

Battle 2: Alessandra Guercio vs. Kayla Nevarez — A matchup of 17-year-olds. Kayla is the gal who sleeps on the couch because of the tough times her family has had since her father has suffered from liver disease. She’s also the gal who told Adam “we better win this” after she picked him as her coach. Alessandra is a former Idol contestant who turned in a brilliant Hollywood Week group performance a couple of years ago, alongside Pia Toscano and Brielle Von Hugel. They’ll be singing “Wide Awake.”

They’re both 17, but Alessandra looks much older. That said, I like Kayla’s youthful look and sound. Not to mention her tone. Alessandra has a tendency to go a little sharp from time to time. Though I must say, I loved that final note she pulled off. It’s another close battle round, with Cee Lo the only one to make a clear cut choice, saying he prefers Alessandra. My pick: Kayla, again, by the slimmest of margins.

Adam picks Kayla.

At the very last moment, Christina saves Alessandra.

And now The Voice decides we only need to see snippets of three battles.

Michelle Brooks-Thompson of Team Adam tops 15-year-old Adana Duru.

Laura Vivas of Team Christina tops Beat Frequency.

And Mycle Wastman defeats Ben Taub on Team Cee Lo.

Battle 6: Emily Earle vs. MacKenzie Bourg: Emily Earle is a country singer we barely met during the blind auditions, but she has already released an EP. MacKenzie overcame a virus that put him in a coma and dedicated himself to music after recovering. They’ll be asked to perform “Good Time” by Owl City. MacKenzie worries about performing without a guitar.

I’m having trouble hearing MacKenzie over the background music. No such problem with Emily, and I really like the country flavor she’s lending to this performance. MacKenzie’s vocal was more uneven than Emily’s, who was consistent throughout. Two judges prefer Emily; Christina prefers Emily. My pick: Emily.

Cee Lo picks MacKenzie.