Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani during the battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

That means we’ll see five contestants head home tonight, and only Gwen Stefani has the ability to save a singer from elimination.

Among tonight’s battles on The Voice: a showdown between a pair of four-chair turn recipients, Beth Spangler and Mia Pfirrman of Team Adam.

Other matchups tonight will pit Allison Bray against Fernanda Bosch and Kensington Moore against Reagan James on Team Blake; Bryana Salaz against Gianna Salvato and Anita Antoinette against Mayra Alvarez on Team Gwen; and Brittany Butler against Ricky Manning on Team Pharrell.

And the action begins …

Ricky Manning

Brittany Butler

Brittany Butler vs. Ricky Manning: Ricky Manning, 19, of Cape Coral, Fla., auditioned with “Love Me Again” and turned two chairs. Brittany Butler, 21, of Boston, Mass., auditioned with the 1960s hit “The Girl from Ipanema” and also turned a pair of chairs with her jazzy performance. They’ll be asked to sing “On Broadway” by George Benson. In a sneak peek video, Brittany says the pairing isn’t surprising since they both grew up listening to a lot of Motown music. Pharrell says he picked the song because it’s about the difficulty of making it in music, and he thinks they can bring two different backgrounds to the song. Pharrell tells Brittany he wants to see her inject her jazz influences into her performance. Alica Keys points out that Ricky is sorta living the song as a struggling singer in New York. Ricky says he has to learn to cut loose, the way Brittany does when she performs.

Ricky opens by displaying a nice tone and crystal clear vocals. And he’s showing off some stage presence. Now the song shifts to Brittany, and it sounds like a completely different number as she gives the tune a very jazzy bent. Hmm, not so sure how much I liked that. Brittany sounded much better on her second part. Then they came together for a very nice ending, featuring some fine scatting by Brittany. Gwen compliments both of them on their stage performance. Adam says he saw a big leap in Ricky’s performance from the blind audition and says he’d award the battle to him. Blake also seemed to think Ricky had the edge. My pick: Ricky. He was solid from the word go and never stumbled. Pharrell’s pick: Ricky. And Brittany does not get stolen.

Kensington Moore

Reagan James

Reagan James vs. Kensington Moore: Reagan James, 15, of Burleson, Texas, auditioned with Ed Sheeran’s “Give Me Love,” turned a pair of chairs and deserved better. Kensington Moore, 16, of Campbellsville, Ken., auditioned with OneRepublic’s “Love Runs Out.” Just Blake turned around for an audition we didn’t get to see. These two youngsters are being asked to sing “Team” by Lorde. In a sneak peek video, Reagan calls Lorde one of her “newer age inspirations.” This is an interesting pairing. I thought Reagan was one of the most under-rated performers during the blind auditions. And Kensington has already released some impressive music. Blake says these two teens take up the same artistic spot on his team, and he has to figure out which one is best. When it comes time to rehearse, Kensington can’t make it because she’s sick. But Kensington makes it back for a rehearsal with Blake. And Blake declares his two singers neck and neck.

Reagan opens the song, and I’m reminded why I was so impressed with her voice in the blind auditions. She’s also showing that she’s comfortable on stage. Kensington is doing fine, but her voice doesn’t strike me as quite as unique as Reagan’s. The first round on harmony didn’t quite fall together as nicely as they probably hoped. But they certainly ended strong. Gwen compliments both singers on their vocals. Adam says he’s impressed by both singers’ raw talent and ability. He also says Reagan performs like she’s been a pop star for 20 years. My pick: Reagan. Blake is clearly torn. He’s not sure who to advance. Blake’s pick: Reagan. And Kensington does not get stolen.

In battles we don’t get to see …

Anita Antoinette defeats Mayra Alvarez on Team Gwen
Allison Bray defeats Fernanda Bosch on Team Blake
Bryana Salaz defeats Gianna Salvato on Team Gwen

Mia Pfirrman

Beth Spangler

Beth Spangler vs. Mia Pfirrman: Beth Spangler, 30, of Aiken, S.C., auditioned with Beyonce’s “Best Thing I Never Had.” She was the last four-chair turn recipient we met in Season 7. Mia Pfirrman, 19, of Temple City, Calif., auditioned with Katy Perry’s “Unconditionally.” She turned four chairs as well. They’ll be singing “I Turn to You” by Christina Aguilera, a song both singers say they’re quite familiar with. Mia says it’s been one of “my favorites since I can remember,” Beth says she’s been singing it for years. Adam says he matched them because “there’s only room for one belter on my team.” Not sure I understand that philosophy. Sorta like Blake deciding he could only keep one male country singer … then advancing two female country singers. Adam says both of these young women have incredible vocal skills; they just need to learn how to use them.

Really nice opening by both of these singers. Again, I’m not sure why Adam matched two of his top female singers against one another. Mia just unleashed a heck of a glory note and held it forever. OK, and Beth just match that with a couple of incredible glory notes of her own. These two young ladies are certainly delivering the power vocal of the night. Wow, and they certainly worked out that ending. Talk about perfect harmony. Blake calls them “a couple of divas, giving it all they have.” He’d give the edge to Mia. Pharrell says he can see tons of potential in both of them, but would give the edge to Beth. Gwen would give a slight edge to Mia. My pick: Beth. I just like her tone a bit better. Adam says the two were so great, he’s going to have a tough time picking a winner. He calls his decision a “coin flip.” Adam’s pick: Mia.

Beth gets stolen by Gwen, of course, because she has a steal, the only one left. And that was one of the more deserved steals during the battle round.