Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Tonight marks the third of four battle round episodes of The Voice.

We’ll get bow-tie wearing Pip squaring off against artist/singer Nathan Parrett on Team Adam.

We’ll get veteran country artist Gwen Sebastian squaring off against pop-soul acoustic artist Erin Willett on Team Blake.

Plus four other yet-to-be-announced matchups,  so that we’ll end the night with 18 of the 24 singers who will advance to the next round.

First up:  Pip and Nathan Parrett.

You Know I’m No Good (Amy Winehouse):  Both of these young men are trying to get their start in the music business. Both have a background in musical theater.  Pip seemed to have the edge going in.  But Nathan has improved his vocals to the point where coach Adam Levine says that’s not the case anymore.  Pip, trademark bowtie and suspenders in  place, starts off strong.  Nathan sounds good, too, but he’s flat-out overmatched in this battle round.  Pip was spot on throughout and hit a couple of stellar notes.  Blake liked Pip; Cee Lo liked Nathan.  Christina was non-committal.  And Adam says — Pip advances.

What’s Love Got To Do with It (Tina Turner):  In one of the odder matchups we’ll find on The Voice, Cee Lo pairs rockers The Shield Brothers of Virginia against former model Erin Martin of Chicago.  The Shield Brothers immediately notice a clash in styles.  They prefer to be loud and in-your-face.  Erin has a unique tone, but prefers a softer arrangement.  Erin seems pretty dismissive of The Shield Brothers.  The brothers say they know they have to show they’re more than flat-out rockers.   Really bizarre opening from Erin.  What the heck was that squeak?  Erin was flat-out horrible.  At least the Shield Brothers delivered what you’d expect, nothing more, nothing less.  Cee Lo calls it “wonderfully bizarre.”  Cee Lo says:  Erin advances.

No Air (Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown):  Christina pits Jonathas against Ashley De La Rosa.  Ashley’s still in high school, and her Plan B calls for studying for a career with the United Nations.  Jonathas has been performing since he was a teenager and made it to the Vegas round of Idol last year.  Jonathas clearly has the edge, just in terms of experience.   And Ashley is letting herself by psyched out by the fact that he sounds a little like Chris Brown.  As the battle round opens, Ashley looks nervous.  Jonathas looks absolutely natural on stage.  And sounds great.  He hit a couple of very nice notes.  Ashley got much more comfortable as the song went on, but went sharp in a couple of places.  Hmm, all three of the other judges think Ashley took the battle round. Interesting.  I would have picked Jonathas. Christina says: Ashley advances.

Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Car (Billy Ocean):  Blake pits ALyX, who started her audition flat on her back on the stage, against Jermaine Paul, the former background singer for Alicia Keys.  Jermaine gets Kelly Clarkson as his guest mentor.  Blake warns Jermaine not to underestimate ALyX.  Blake and wife Miranda Lambert try to convince ALyX to cut loose on stage.  Wow, you can tell Jermaine’s tired of being in the background.  He’s putting on quite the show.  And did you see the way he flipped his hat into the crowd?  Of course, on top of that, he displayed excellent vocals.  ALyX didn’t do badly; she just had the misfortune of being matched up against one of the show’s better singers.  All the other judges pick Jermaine.  Blake says … Jermaine advances.

“Bleeding Love” (Leona Lewis):  Adam Levine pits Angel Taylor against Katrina Parker.  And right off the bat Adam warns them not to oversing and get wrapped up in vocal aerobics when they should be focused on the emotion and vunerability in the song.  This is a great song.  They’re doing a very nice job with it, too.  Both of them sang very well.  Angel has a tenderness and hurt to her tone that helped sell the song.  But Katrina had command of her performance throughout and seemed the more confident on stage.  She straddled the line between trying to do too much and trying to show off her vocal prowess.  And, clearly, the judges felt she accomplished the latter.  All three of the other judges say Katrina won the battle.  But, of course, the decision rests with Adam.  And Adam says … Katrina advances.

“We Belong” (Pat Benetar):   Interesting song choice.  Gwen Sebastian is a country singer, but covers a little bit of everything with her band.  Erin Willett is a pop-soul singer whose dad is dying from pancreatic cancer.  And her dad takes a turn for the worse prior to her battle round.  But she says her dad wouldn’t want her to give up her opportunity, so she’ll battle on.  Talk about a tough situation. Gwen is convinced showing emotion will win out over the power of Erin’s voice.  Given the circumstances, I’m not so certain.  The battle begins. And Gwen provides a very nice country opening to the song.  But for a power singer, Erin is showing a lot of control on her first verse.  Hey, that was the best performance of the night, folks.  Two very nice vocals.  But Erin managed to display just as much emotion as Gwen. And you can’t help but think it came from the love of her dad and her determination to make him proud. The other judges are split on who should win, 2-1 in favor of Erin.  And Blake says …   Erin advances.  Judging by that tribute at the end, we learn that Erin’s dad lost his battle with cancer.  Erin, a former Marylander, credited him with making sure she grew up around music and giving her the confidence to pursue her dreams in life.