Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Gwen Stafani with her husband and battle round coaching assistant, Gavin Rossdale. (NBC Photo)

And tonight should mark the return of York’s DaNica Shirey to The Voice stage. She’ll be pitted against Team Pharrell colleague Toia Jones for a highly-hyped performance of Beyonce’s “Halo.”

The four-chair turn recipients we’ll see tonight are Blessing Offor of Team Pharrell and Damien Lawson of Team Adam.

Damien will be matched up with Kelli Douglas; Blessing will go head-to-head with Katriz Trinidad.

Tonight’s other battle round matches should feature Jessie Pitts and Ryan Sill of Team Gwen; Ethan Butler and Matt McAndrew of Team Adam and Bree Fondacaro and Taylor Brashears of Team Blake.

For a look at the rest of this week’s pairings, head here. And for bios and pre-Voice videos of each of the singers featured tonight, just follow the links below.

Kelli Douglas

Damien Lawson

Damien Lawson vs. Kelli Douglas: Damien, 35, of Monroe, La., auditioned with Boyz II Men’s “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” and displayed one of the best pure voices we heard during week one of Season 7. He turned all four chairs. Kelli Douglas, 31, of Dallas, Texas, auditioned with “Danny’s Song” by Loggins and Messina and turned three chairs. According to their “sneak peek” video preview, these two have been friends since the blind auditions, which is one reason Damien said he was hoping they wouldn’t be paired against one another. Their battle song will be Otis Redding’s “Knock on Wood.” Adam notes that the song has never been done on this show and he thinks Kelli and Damien could deliver a show-stopping moment. Damien wants to work on stepping up his performance; Stevie Nicks says Kelli needs to focus on her vocals. Kelli admits she’s not used to duets.

Damien clearly has worked on his stage presence. Kelli still seems just a tad nervous and in need of losing herself in the song. But she seems to have mastered the timing issues that were haunting her during the rehearsals. In the end, Damien was solid throughout and delivered several interesting flourishes during the song. Kelli got better as the song progressed and certainly looks like a star. Blake calls them two different types of singers — Damien more explosive; and Kelli delivering a softer smooth tone. My pick: Damien. He provided the most vocal fireworks and seemed sure of himself from the word go. Adam’s pick: Damien. And Kelli does not get stolen, so she’s off the show.

Ryan Sill

Jessie Pitts

Jessie Pitts vs. Ryan Sill: Jessie Pitts, 18, of Birmingham, Ala., auditioned with Brandi Carlile’s “The Story,” showing off a beautiful, delicate and distinctive voice that prompted a pair of chair turns. Ryan Sill, 20, of Sterling, Va., auditioned with OneRepublic’s “Secrets.” He also prompted two coaches to turn their chairs. They’ll sing “I Need Your Love” by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding. In a sneak peek video, Jessie says she’s a big Ellie Goulding fan and “was so stoked” when she learned they’d be performing that song. Gwen says she thinks their voices will go well together, noting they both have pop sensibilities. Their initial performance is so sensitive, it brings tears to Gwen’s eyes. Jessie says their goal is to be so good, one of them just has to be stolen. Gwen says Jessie has a “sparkle” about her. She’s looking for Ryan to show that he’s assured on stage.

Strong start from both of them. Jessie just has such a distinctive voice. Not to mention the emotion to back it up. Vocally, Ryan is spot on, but seems just a tad more mechanical. Really strong ending from both of them. Turns out, they worked together very well, right, Gwen? Adam compliments Ryan for perfect pitch. Blake says he’d give the battle to Jessie for her unique tone. Pharrell says he would give the battle to Ryan for his spot-on vocals. My pick: Jessie. I just think Gwen should keep the more unique voice. Gwen’s pick: Ryan.

But Jessie Pitts stays, too. She’s stolen by Blake Shelton, reducing Jessie to tears. And Blake vows to learn who Ellie Goulding is. He says Jessie is so unique, he thinks she can win The Voice.

Katriz Trinidad

Blessing Offor

Blessing Offor vs. Katriz Trinidad: Blessing Offor, 25, of New York, sat at his keyboard and auditioned with Bill Withers’ “Just the Two of Us.” He turned four chairs. Katriz Trinidad, 15, of San Diego, Calif., turned to an old favorite — Etta James’ “At Last” — for her audition. She turned three chairs, though she indicated in a conference call with the media that Adam Levine’s team might have been full when she auditioned. They’ll be singing “Do I Do” by Stevie Wonder. In a sneak peek video, Blessing says his strategy has always been “not to do Stevie Wonder songs. But then I thought, ‘OK, listen, I’m gonna get the Stevie comparisons anyway, so just do it now and do my thing.'” Katriz said the pairing caught her by surprise because she’s more soul-pop while he’s more soul-country. And she admits during rehearsals that she’s not used to singing Stevie Wonder songs, that her specialty is Latin diva songs. Pharrell wants them to surrender to the moment when they get on stage.

Honestly, this seems like a very odd pairing, and a battle stacked heavily in Blessing’s favor. Blessing might have overdone that opening a bit. A few too many frills for my taste. The song might not be a great fit for Katriz, but she’s certainly getting a chance to show off her stage presence and her big voice. For obvious reasons — Blessing’s blindness — the two of them aren’t working very well together. Gwen compliments Blessing for his “effortless” vocals and Katriz for her big voice. Blake Shelton says he’s impressed that Katriz managed to go toe to toe with Blessing on a song better suited for him. My pick: Katriz. Given the material, her performance was more impressive. Pharrell’s pick: Katriz.

But hold it, there’s another steal on The Voice. Blessing is going to be stolen, by Adam Levine or Gwen Stefani. Adam says he thought Blessing was outstanding from the moment that sound began. Gwen also praises Blessing’s vocals. Blessing’s new team: Team Adam.

Ethan Butler

Matt McAndrew

Matt McAndrew vs. Ethan Butler: Matt McAndrew, 23, of Philadelphia, Pa., auditioned with “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri. The singer-songwriter turned three chairs with his performance. Ethan Butler, 25, of Chicago, Ill., auditioned with Labrinth’s “Beneath Your Beautiful” and turned two chairs. They will be singing “Yellow” by Coldplay. These guys have been roommates on The Voice and Ethan admits in a sneak peek video that he was a little surprised at the matchup because “stylistically, we’re quite different.” But Matt notes that they’re the only two Team Adam members who play guitar while they sing. Adam’s looking for each of them to put their “own stamp” on the song. Stevie Nicks says she’s impressed by Ethan’s “choir-like” voice and by the compassion Matt puts into his performances.

Really like this song choice by Adam. And Ethan starts off very well. Matt follows up with a very nice opening of his own. I really like the crack in his voice. Not sure I’m in love with all the embellishments; this is a simple and lovely song. That said, I understand them. These guys have 90 seconds to show what they can do, so they’re going to try their best to impress. They come together for a very nice ending. Blake says they performed so well, they could be a duo. Pharrell says Ethan “surprised” him, but also praised Matt’s vocals. He calls the performance “a draw.” Gwen says they both did great. She says Ethan did well with a song that wasn’t in his wheelhouse; she says Matt’s voice gave “chills.” My pick: Matt. Like Adam says, there’s just something special about the sincerity in his performances. Adam’s pick: Matt. Ethan does not get stolen.

Bree Fondacaro

Taylor Brashears

Taylor Brashears vs. Bree Fondacaro: Taylor Brashears, 21, of Nashville, Tenn., decided to audition with the Loretta Lynn classic “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man).” She turned three chairs. Bree Fondacaro, 24, of Orange, Calif., sang Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe.” Blake was the only coach to turn around for her performance. I really like Blake’s song choice for these two. He’ll have them singing ‘You’re No Good” by Linda Ronstadt. In a sneak peek video, Taylor calls this one of her “all-time favorite songs.” Blake says Bree and Taylor are absolutely nothing alike and that makes for the best battles. The song is perfect for them because it’s sassy and crosses genre boundaries, he says. After the first run-through, he calls Taylor’s performance “classic” and Bree’s “smoky.” Blake wants Bree to sound angrier; he wants Taylor to sound more sultry.

Dang, very nice a cappella opening ladies. Then Bree unleashes those sultry vocals of hers as she prances around the stage. She certainly has the more distinctive tone of the two. But Taylor’s the more powerful singer. And, yep, she looks and sounds pissed off. She’s also overpowering Bree. In fact, I think she wound up winning that battle. Pharrell says he would have liked to have seen more conviction from Bree, and liked Taylor’s confidence. Gwen wishes they would have stuck to the original melody. Adam also says he’d go with Taylor because of her more “self-assured vibe.” My pick: Taylor. Blake’s pick: Taylor. Bree does not get stolen.

DaNica Shirey

Toia Jones

DaNica Shirey and Toia Jones: DaNica Shirey, 25, of York, Pa., auditioned with Jessie J’s “Big White Room.” She turned three chairs and became York County’s first-ever contestant on the show. Toia Jones, 29, of Montgomery, Ala., auditioned with Adele’s “One and Only.” She turned two chairs with a powerful performance of the song. They’re both soulful singers, so this pairing isn’t a surprise. They’ve been asked to sing Beyonce’s “Halo.” In a sneak peek video, Toia calls that song choice “nerve-wracking.” In the same video, DaNica says they’re taking an unselfish approach to the battle. “We’re here to do this together and make each other sound the best that we can.” Pharrell says he paired them because their voices are similar in tone, but he thinks they can both find different meaning in the lyrics. Turns out both of them think of their fathers when they sing the song. During the rehearsal, Pharrell says they’re acting like background singers, even though they have the talent to be stars. Toia breaks down in tears during the rehearsal. Heading into the battle, Pharrell says they’re very evenly matched and says he’s likely to side with the singer who “unzips” and lets go during the performance.

They saved this battle for last, so I’m expecting a show-stopper. Well, heck, if you saw the preview, you already know it’s a show stopper. DaNica starts off well. Toia threw in a couple of impressive frills on her first lines. Dang, DaNica has a heck of a powerful voice, doesn’t she? Neither one of them is acting like a background singer now. Toia is showing off an awfully big voice too. This is turning into a showdown of glory note after glory note after glory note. That was an amazing performance, ladies. Gwen calls it “crazy” and says both of their voices are so powerful and amazing. Adam says singing a Beyonce song is like slaying a dragon. He calls the performance bonkers. “You slayed the dragon, then slapped it to make sure it knew it was dead.” Blake also had high praise for their performance. Pharrell likes the fact that both of them let go on stage. My pick: DaNica, by the narrowest margin. Pharrell: He picks DaNica. “You just don’t expect that voice out of her,” he says.

But Toia is going to survive as well. Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani are trying to steal her. And she decides to join Team Adam.