Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Dennis Drummond and Mitchell Lee perform during the battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

The ultimate goal of any battle round on The Voice is for both singers to survive to sing for at least one more round on the show.

Mitchell Lee and Dennis Drummond accomplished that and then some when they performing “Mr. Jones” by Counting Crows during the episode that aired Tuesday night.

Mitchell advanced to the knockout round for Team Blake Shelton. No sooner had that verdict been announced than Adam Levine snatched up Dennis for his team.

The next day, their version of “Mr. Jones” was the only song from night two of the battles to crack the Top 200 on the iTunes singles chart.

Mitchell told Voice Views the secret to their success was quite simple.

“I would say that performance was Dennis and I both kind of going back to the home base where we both used to playing in bands,” he said. “Being up on that stage, both having our guitars in hand, it felt like we were in a band together … It was really just two guys having a great time performing for everyone.”

Mitchell, 29 when he auditioned for the show, played in a South Carolina-based, alt-country band called “Southwood” before heading off to Nashville to pursue a solo career.

Dennis, 27 when he auditioned, formed his first band at age 15. Since moving to Nashville, he’s been mostly playing in bands fronted by other singers, including Voice Season 10 runner-up Adam Wakefield.

As for the battle round, he agreed with Dennis’ assessment. He said the two spent tons of time together, rehearsing and going over the upcoming performance to the point where it felt more like a performance and less like a battle where there would be a winner and loser.

That said, he admitted performing for a television audience, with cameras all around, is quite different than a typical show.

Until you get lost in the moment.

“Whenever you start feeling weird about something, you look over and see your buddy smiling and having fun on stage and you don’t even think about it,” Dennis added. “I couldn’t stop dancing and smiling. That performance, that was a really fun night, a really fun experience.”

And Dennis said he isn’t really worried about switching teams during the competition. He wonders more about the next song he’ll be asked to perform.

“(I did) the Black Crowes for the audition and I did the Counting Crows for this one. So I’m like, ‘Right on, I’m starting to see a trend.’ I was like ‘What’s going to be next, you know?'”

Well, there’s always Sheryl Crow.