Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blaine Mitchell and Blind Joe Bommersbach prepare for their battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Blaine Mitchell and Blind Joe Bommersbach admit they had some obstacles to overcome as they prepared for their battle round match on The Voice.

For one thing, Blind Joe’s lack of sight means he’s pretty much immobile on stage. Blaine, whose preferred style of music is alternative rock, likes to move a lot as frontman in a band.

But to say they pulled it off would be an understatement.

Blaine worked the stage as they battled for Team Blake Shelton. Blind Joe played an electric guitar from his lap and ad-libbed throughout in an effort to get the crowd pumped up.

Adam Levine called it rowdy, unruly and awesome.

Their version of “Old Time Rock and Roll” cracked the Top 10 on iTunes’ rock singles chart.

And both survived to sing another day on The Voice. Blind Joe advanced for Team Blake; Blaine was stolen by Adam.

“We had times that we had to troubleshoot some things,” Blaine, 24, of Fort Worth, Texas, said in a conference call with the media this week. “Just because, I was like, ‘Hey, Joe, look at the lyrics.’ And he’s like, ‘I can’t look at the lyrics.’

“But at the same time, he’s such a cool dude and just so fun to be around that we had a lot of laughs and we overcame a lot of stuff. I know that he overcomes a lot of challenges daily. I can’t imagine doing what he does, but he’s a talented dude.

“And so, me, I just had to go into it saying, ‘Hey, this guy, he can’t see anything, so he probably has super hearing — superhuman hearing.’ So I’m just going to have to step up my game and see what I could do.”

For his part, Blind Joe says he was able to feed off Blaine’s energy and came out of the performance feeling much more confident.

“We went into it thinking we both — no matter what happens — want to stay, and we really poured our heart and soul into that performance,” the 32-year-old from Fargo, N.D., said. “And I think it showed and I’m really happy with it.”

Blind Joe went on to say that he hasn’t had a problem with people focusing on his blindness rather than his talent.

“I don’t think there have been a lot of people that have really dwelled on it or made it a big, huge issue,” he said. “With a question about blindness always comes a comment about the raw talent that I have and it doesn’t bother me.

“You need something to set you apart in this business and the blindness part of it helps me with that and so does the fact that I can sing a little bit.”

Well, more than a little bit, according to Blake, who selected Blind Joe to advance to the knockout round.

At that point, Blaine had accepted the fact that his time on The Voice had ended. Until Adam intervened with a steal that means he’ll advance to the knockout round as well.

“As soon as Adam pressed his button, I literally – on film it shows me just falling over. My heart just fell out of my chest. I was freaking out,” he said.

For more on Blind Joe and his pre-Voice music, head here. For more on Blaine and the pre-show music he released with his band, head here.

For more of the stories behind the battles on The Voice, head here.

Blaine Mitchell and Blind Joe perform during the battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Blaine Mitchell performs in the battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Blind Joe performs in the battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)