Idol Chatter & Voice Views

During a pair of conference calls last week, singers from The Voice shared their thoughts about the battle round experience.

Here are some of the highlights from those two calls.

Also on the calls were three singers who advanced, but had their battle round matches montaged, meaning we saw only a few seconds of the performances. Follow the links to see what Ponciano Seoane, Josette Diaz and Maye Thomas had to say about their battle round duets.

The battle round continues Monday night on The Voice.

Dave Moisan and Michael Sanchez perform during the battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Michael Sanchez and Dave Moisan on taking turns playing the keyboard their Team Alicia performance of “Valerie.” Michael advanced on Team Alicia; Dave was stolen by Adam Levine.

Michael Sanchez: “I remember when she (Alicia) said, ‘OK, let’s do it.’ We were really excited about it, but there was definitely some hesitation in the background — can they do that? Can we kind of pull this off? Dave and I we got a piano at the hotel room and then we just practiced over and over and over so we could get it down.”

Dave Moisan: “So from my standpoint, when Alicia suggested that, that totally took me off guard and I about peed myself on national TV. My face turned bright red because think about it this way: Michael is like the most incredible pianist you’ve ever heard. And so for me, it’s like being asked to step into the ring with Mohammed Ali when it’s like, ‘Hey, I sparred a little bit with my brother; I can maybe take Mohammed Ali.’ But with a lot of work and a lot of practice I had an absolute blast because I love Michael Sanchez.”

Ethan Tucker and Courtney Harrell of The Voice Season 11 perform during the battle round. (NBC Photo)

Courtney Harrell on her battle round match with Ethan Tucker. They performed “Gravity.” Courtney advanced; Ethan was eliminated.

“He (Ethan) has the voice of a lion and so it’s really hard to not hear him, to not feel him, to not just be completely enamored and captivated. So it was the fight of my life, but I also believed in what I had inside of myself, the potential I had inside of myself to set myself apart.”

Lane Mack and Sophia Urista of The Voice Season 11 perform during the battle round. (NBC Photo)

Sophia Urista, on what she learned from her battle round match with Lane Mack that she can carry over into the knockouts. They sang Pink Floyd’s “Money.” Sophia advanced; Lane was eliminated.

“Lane Mack taught me that I need to go out a little more confidently. I’ve been on a lot of stages in my life and every single time I go on stage I’m so nervous. And every time I’ve been on the Voice stage, I totally blacked out. I was watching (Tuesday) night and I was like, ‘I don’t remember hugging him. I don’t remember anything I did.’ Lane is so confident and his fearlessness is really inspiring so I think I learned that and I also learned not to over think.”

Andrew DeMuro and Billy Gilman of The Voice Season 11 perform during the battle round. (NBC Photo)

Billy Gilman on his battle round match with Andrew DeMuro. They sang Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.” Billy advanced; Andrew was eliminated.

“Listen, I was a nervous wreck because — to be honest to God truthful — ‘Man in the Mirror’ was not in my wheelhouse. So, there were nights in the hotel that I would be up until two, three o’clock in the morning doing pocket, you know, rhythms and drum beats and listening to things that are really outside of my comfort zone, because that was not a Billy song, at all, like at all. It would never be in my show. So I had my work cut out for me. But you only work that much harder because when it’s all you are and music encompasses your life, it — really when it chose you instead of you choosing it — you want to make it work.”

Dan Shafer and Sundance Head of The Voice Season 11 (NBC Photo)

Sundance Head on his battle round match with Dan Shafer. They performed Foghat’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love.” Sundance advanced on Team Blake; Dan was eliminated.

“At first, I thought it was kind of weird having two guys sing that song to each other, but it turned out that it was an amazing song. And I think the harmonies turned out really well. Going against Dan, I knew that I really had to bring it because he’s got a lot of experience and a really great voice.”