Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Dustin Christensen (left) and Barrett Baber prepare for their battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

It was a Team Blake Shelton battle round showdown that lived up to its billing.

Dustin Christensen squared off against Barrett Baber. Both had turned all four coaches’ chairs in the Season 9 blind auditions.

For the battle round, they performed “Walking in Memphis,” and it turned out to be the week’s most popular download on The Voice.

The song hit number one on iTunes’ rock chart. Friday night, four days after their battle aired, it was still clinging to a spot among iTunes’ Top 200 singles, the only battle round song to do so.

What’s more, both singers avoided eliminated. Barrett was named the battle round victor; both Gwen Stefani and Adam Levine tried to steal Dustin. He opted to go with Adam.

During a conference call with the media this week, Barrett said he thinks he’s definitely improved as a singer thanks to The Voice experience.

“I have really noticed, especially in the few live shows that I have gotten to play since the taping of the auditions, that vocally I’m really in a new place as far as my ability and what I am capable of — whether I’m just playing with my guitar or with my band,” the 35-year-old from Fayetteville, Ark., said.

“I attribute that to not only being coached by a guy like Blake Shelton but working around the clock, for weeks at a time on singing a song and really dialing in on a minute and a half of one song and really focusing on every line and giving every single note its opportunity to shine.

“And that’s not necessarily something that I would have done before this process,” Barrett added.

He also credits part of his early success on the show to his love for performing.

“For whatever reason, when it’s time to go out and sing and perform there’s just some sort of switch in my head — or in my heart even — that just sort of flips and I lose myself in a moment.”

A love of performing and singing is why Dustin is on The Voice at age 35. After all, the guy from Orem, Utah, has an MBA and has had a publishing deal as a songwriter. He said friends told him that if he wanted to continue pushing himself as a recording artist “you really need to think about one of these shows.”

“I love business and I could be in a day job,” he said. “I would never be fully happy doing it. And so there is, you know, something inside of you that just has to make music work in whatever facet you can make it work.”

As for why he chose to join Team Adam, Dustin jokingly admits that’s really difficult to explain.

“They had been talking for a long time and I just knew I had to make a decision fast, and Adam just came out of my mouth,” he said. “And I really would have been happy with either of them. In fact, when I went to go give Gwen a hug after I had chosen Adam I think I said to her something like ‘I have no idea what I’m doing.’

“I mean, I’m purely in the camp of — every single one of those coaches up there, I would be lucky to be on their team. And it’s a win-win. I can’t lose whoever I pick with. And so, you know, Adam was just who I chose in the moment.”

Both Dustin and Barrett have released lots of pre-show music. For more on Barrett, head here. For more on Dustin, head here.

Check back Monday and Tuesday for live blogs as the battles continue on The Voice.

Barrett Baber and Dustin Christensen perform during the battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Barrett Baber performs during the battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Dustin Christensen performs during the battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)