Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Selkii and Cecily Hennigan rehearse for their battle round match on The Voice Season 16. (NBC Photo)

Blake Shelton pitted a youth against experience in one of his final battle round matches Tuesday night.

Selkii, 31, of Orlando, Fla., auditioned with “I’ll Try” by Macy Gray and turned two chairs. She hails from South Africa and has been performing for several years.

Cecily Hennigan, 16, of Conway, S.C., auditioned with “Foolish Games” by Jewel to earn her spot on Team Blake. She’s a student at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities who has yet to release music.

Follow the links above to learn more about the singers.

The song: “Head Above Water” by Avril Lavigne
The feedback: Both singers received praise from the coaches. Cecily for her potential, Selkii for performance on that song. None of the coaches offered Blake any advice on which singer to advance.
The outcome: Blake advanced Selkii, saying he had to go with experience. Cecily wasn’t stolen and heads home.
My take: Really nice performance by these two ladies. Cecily hit some killer notes, but I absolutely loved Selkii’s performance. She has style and she’s the singer who showed more angst on a song that called for it. I mean, from those brilliant opening lines Selkii delivered, she owned that song and that stage.