Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Of the original 48 cast members on The Voice Season 11, 32 have advanced to the knockout round, which begins Monday night.

Battle round winners and stolen artists talked to the media about their experiences from last week’s episode. Here’s a little of what they had to say.

Nolan Neal and Johnny Rez during their battle round match on The Voice Season 11 (NBC Photo)

Nolan Neal, on his battle round strategy when matched against Johnny Rez:

“I knew that he (Johnny) definitely had the image and I know that he’s got a really cool voice too. My strategy was to just try my best to not look weird standing there without a guitar and to pray that they would cut off of me every time I was not singing.”

Josh Halverson with Carson Daly after his battle round match on The Voice Season 11 (NBC Photo)

Josh Halverson, on being stolen by Miley Cyrus

‘Now that I’ve gotten to talk to Miley, I just feel like she’s my spirit animal. Alicia helped me bring out my spirit and just the reflection of spreading truth and light through songs and helping me to accomplish that better. Miley helps me connect with my inner-awesome. She really is a cool person and she expresses nothing but heart when she talks.”

Austin Allsup and Preston James perform during their battle round match on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Austin Allsup, about getting to perform “Bad Moon Rising” in the battles to earn a spot in the knockout round for Team Blake.

“It’s a great tune. I’ve actually sang it several times over the years playing in clubs and bars. I had another classic, timeless tune to sing. I had ‘Wild Horses’ by the Rolling Stones and ‘Bad Moon Rising’ by Credence Clearwater Revival. So I don’t have a whole lot of room to complain about the song choices yet. So I’m loving it.”

Gabriel Violett and Whitney and Shannon perform during their battle round match on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Shannon of Whitney and Shannon, on the obstacles faces by duets in the battle round:

“I will say we did struggle a little bit because we didn’t want to sound like back-up vocalists for Gabe (Violett). We wanted to make sure that we stood out and so we had to work really hard on just kind of making sure that we had moments where we shined a little bit. There were times we were nervous that we weren’t going to be doing enough to win our battle, but thankfully, I think Alicia was pleased with what we did.”

Karlee Metzger and Darby Walker during their battle round match on The Voice Season 11 (NBC Photo)

Karlee Metzger, about being stolen by Blake Shelton:

“I actually grew up singing country. I sing a lot of Patsy Cline, LeAnn Rimes, and I think that showed through my (battle round) performance. And so I’m super excited to see what he can do with me to kind of bring out more of my country vibe, because I don’t want to just get stuck in an indie box.