Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Fans of The Voice know by now that we don’t get to see all those battle round matches.

At least not in their entirety.

Two we missed last week included a Team Shakira showdown in which Ddendyl advanced over Lindsay Pagano and a Team Blake battle in which Megan Ruger topped Ria Eaton.

Ddendyl and Lindsay Pagano during their mentoring session with Shakira and Miranda Lambert. (NBC Photo)

The battles continue tonight. Check back at 8 p.m. for live blogging.

Meanwhile, I asked Ddendyl and Megan to talk about their battle round victories last week.

Ddendyl is the lounge singer from D.C. who adorably debated the number of cows in her hometown with her dad during the blinds auditions. In the battle round, she admitted she might have had the edge going in because of the song Shakira selected: “I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King.

“I really felt that while Lindsay is an incredible singer and that I respect her so much as an artist, I had the upper hand with that song because it just fit me like a glove.

“What you didn’t see is that Lindsay and I had just a blast singing together,” she added. “And you know, we were dancing around and we were just really showing off everything we could. And it was just a great time.”

Ddendyl said the fact that not everyone advances is one of the toughest parts of The Voice because “we forget sometimes that we’re in a competition and not everyone gets to make it and go through.”

That balance of competition versus camaraderie also makes the battle rounds one of the most challenging aspects of the show.

“It’s really difficult to just really, you know, be in that duet and not try to out-sing each other. Because I think that when you’re out-singing each other it makes a really terrible battle. And it just really doesn’t make it a good show.”

To learn more about Ddendyl, head here. For more on Lindsay, go here.

Megan Ruger and Ria Eaton during pre-battle round mentoring session. (NBC Photo)

Blake Shelton didn’t reach quite that far back into his songbook. He had Megan and Ria sing Avril Lavigne’s “My Happy Ending.”

“Blake said that he had picked it because it went well over a previous season. And it was a cool song because it had a very unique message, you know? I’ve been through relationships and so has Bria, and it was really neat to share it with her and exchange stories before we sang it.”

Blake also indicated he paired the two of them together because they have a bit of an edge in the way they perform, Megan said.

“It was a bummer that you didn’t get to see it because there were a lot of fun moments that Ria and I had. I’m glad that Blake paired us together. She’s like a little sister to me really. We have a lot of things in common – the way that we like to sing.

“All I can say is we went out there and both of us sang our hearts out.”

Megan said the coaches complimented her on the emotion and power she brought to the performance and the way she worked the stage.

“It was a definitely tough thing though because we (she and Ria) really bonded and we’re friends forever and it kind of makes me a little upset, you know, that it comes down to a competition. But we had a blast.”

For more on Megan, head here. And to read more about Ria, head here.