The Voice: Episode 9 Battle Round Review

It was a double dose of “battle” rounds of The Voice on Saturday 25th May as the coaches reduce their teams from 12 acts to 6.

Acts from the same team are paired together to perform a duet. At the end of the performance their coach decides who will go though to the next round and who will leave the competition.

The new twist for this year is that competing coaches have the opportunity to grab one of the rejected acts for their own team. So far Sir Tom Jones and Jessie J have taken advantage of this.

Ricardo Afonso v Mitchel Emms (Team Danny)

Singing Are You Going To Be My Girl it was an interesting opener. It was an experienced  stage performer versus a rock singer. Danny was in two minds but in the end he went for Mitchel Emms.  There was no steal for Ricardo who presumably would head back to his stage career.

Mike Ward v Emma Jade Garbutt (Team Tom)

It was a battle with a country flavour and a song choice of Fleetwod Mac’s Landslide.  It was a great duet but one of them had to go.  Danny felt the chemistry between the two and felt Mike edged it. Will.i.am said he would go with Emma Jade as she sounded sweet. It was hard one for Sit Tom Jones but he went for Mike Ward. There was no steal for Emma from Danny or Will.i.am.

Letitia Grant Brown v  Alex Buchanan (Team Jessie)

It was clash of the Titans with the 18 year old Letitia versus the experienced stage singer Alex. Singing Family Affair it was another great duet and it was hard to separate the two singers. Will.i.am thought Letitia was a Queen whilst Alex was a ball of energy – he thought Alex’s dancing made his pitch suffer. Jessie chose Letitia and both Danny and Will.i.am went to steal Alex. Alex chose Team Danny.

Joseph Apostol v Diva (Team Tom)

It was shy music student Joseph versus Northern duo Diva singing Elton John and George Michael’s Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.   Diva are a lot to compete with but Joseph certainly stood his ground and shone through the battle. For me their was only one winner, despite Diva performing well, and Sir Tom Jones picked Joseph. Will.i.am thought Diva were pitch perfect and Jessie thought it was a great vocal battle. There was no steal from Will.i.am who was the only coach with a steal left.

Abi Sampa v Laura Oakes (Team Danny)

Singing Heaven it was another interesting battle, with Abi having her Indian style vocals versus Liverpool girl Laura. Abi has such an original and appealing voice and Laura struggled to bring something different to the duet. Sir Tom Jones thought Laura knew where the strong notes were. Jessie was more intrigued by Abi’s voice and she wanted her to be more confident. Danny decided to go with Abi. Will.i.am didn’t use his steal with Laura.

Liam Tamne v John Pritchard (Team Will.i.am)

Phil Collins’ Easy Lover was the song choice for Liam v John. Liam has a background performing in West End musicals whilst John has far less experience. For me it wasn’t the strongest duel technically and the song didn’t particularly suit either of the singers.   Jessie J thought it was flat and that it wasn’t the right song. Danny and Sir Tom Jones both thought the key of the song was a bit too high. Will.i.am decided to go with John which shocked Jessie J. Since none of the coaches has a steal it was goodbye to Liam. He was a little unlucky and I did feel Will.i.am chose John for shock value.  Danny thought Will.i.am was an idiot and Jessie J got upset so Will.i.am got his reaction.

Trevor Francis v Lemuel Knights (Team Jessie)

Soul Man by Sam and Dave was the song choice for this battle.  Lemuel thought he was the underdog but as Jessie’s number one fan he was going to give it his best shot. Trevor wanted to improve his stage presence to make the break with his previous career as a backing singer.  It was a well put together duet with great musical interaction between the two singers. Danny thought they were both fantastic and Will.i.am said it was hard to choose between them. Sir Tom Jones also sat on the fence. Jessie J chose Trevor.

Alys Williams v Lareena Mitchell (Team Tom)

The song Rambling Man by Laura Marling was chosen for this battle. It was the girl from the valleys versus the Adele tribute act.  Their voices complemented each other well but you could also feel the edge of competition as they sang. Lareena had the stronger voice which tended to dominate Alys’s. Lareena was technically stronger according to both Will.i.am and Jessie. Sir Tom Jones chose Alys who probably had a lovely tone to her voice. There were no steals available for Lareena.

Sean Rumsey v Paul Carden (Team Danny)

I’m A Man by The Spencer Davies Group was the song choice for this battle. It was chilled out Sean vs rocker Paul. Paul has a gravelly singing voice whilst Sean is a much cleaner singer. For me Sean edged it, even though the song was probably better suited to Paul’s voice. Will.i.am highlighted Sean’s falsetto voice and Paul’s authentic growl. He would have picked Paul as would Sir Tom Jones. Danny went for Sean which for me was the right choice, although Paul Carden performed well.

Emily Worton v Moni Tivony (Team Will.i.am)

The song choice was Little Talks by Of Monsters And Men. Emily chose to play the guitar as well as sing, which I think is a big mistake as it does make it more difficult to perform perfectly on vocals.  Not that it seemed to effect her performance. Jessie J again thought the song choice was unusual and that she didn’t hear enough of Emily. Danny thought Moni was the better singer but Emily was the better artist. Will.i.am chose Moni Tivony and it was goodbye to Emily Worton.

Ragsy v Colin Chisholm (Team Tom)

Starlight by Muse was the song choice for the battle between chef Ragsy and aged rocker Colin. Colin has a strong voice but Ragsy had something different and great tone. A great battle. Will.i.am thought it was a great job from both of them and mischievously said he would pick Colin so that he could have a drink with him. Jessie thought Ragsy made the song his own.  Sir Tom Jones chose Ragsy.

Karl Michael v Nadeem Leigh (Team Danny)

The song for the final battle was Red by Daniel Merriweather. Two good singers, both with interesting voices. For me Nadeem has the richer voice but it was difficult to separate them.  Jessie J loved the duet and favoured Karl. Will.i.am described Nadeem’s voice as like a saxophone. Danny chose Karl Michael as the winner.

So the coaches now all have teams of seven to take into the knock-out rounds where they choose their 3 strongest acts to take to the live shows.

See full results by week.