Team Chance’s Sorelle and Manasseh Samone deliver a historic performance on the first night of The Voice Season 23 Battle Rounds. (Photo: NBC)
After 23 seasons of The Voice — which starred soon-retiring OG coach Blake Shelton — it seems like everyone’s been there that did and that “I’m on Blake’s last team and All I Got” Was this lousy t-shirt” t-shirt. Let’s face it: it’s hard to keep things fresh after 12 years on the air! But as the Season 23 Battle Rounds began on Monday, there was a renewed sense of excitement — not just for a new “groundbreaking” twist, but also for new trainer Chance the Rapper and his much-needed “production ability.”
First the twist. This season, there’s something called the “playoff pass,” which is kind of like a save on steroids. It allows each coach, once per season, not only to keep the losing competitor of a battle in contention, but also to have that competitor bypass the knockout rounds and go straight to the live shows. So in these cases, the loser is actually the real winner.
And that brings us to Monday’s standout battle between harmonious sister trio Sorelle and returning season 22 diva Manasseh Samone. Even without the playoff pass, it really would have been a historic achievement.
Back during the blind auditions, Chance commissioned Sorelle to sing a few a cappella lines of The Wiz’s “What Would I Do”, which they did wonderfully, so this week I was hoping for “A Brand New Day” or maybe even “Calm down in the street.” Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and when I found out he’d assigned Sorelle and Manasseh a completely over-the-top Adele cover “Someone Like You” instead, I was disappointed. But then… something magical happened when Chance donned his (“3”-embossed) producer hat and created an intricate, utterly unique arrangement that resulted in a standing ovation and a performance unlike anything The Voice has ever seen.
“When the singing started separately, I thought, ‘How is this ever going to merge?’ And now I never want you guys not to sing together,” Blake said.
“Nobody has ever heard this song like this; that was really cool,” marveled Kelly Clarkson. Blake thought the sisters, whom Chance called a “trained wall of sound,” were so perfect and flawless and “sang with such attack and sang so closely together” that it was “almost hard to believe it was live!” Niall Horan agreed enthusiastically, “I can’t believe what I just heard. … It sounds like a record. You would have a hard time getting a record that even mixes that well!”
The story goes on
Manasseh certainly had the mighty whistles to handle this massive Adele ballad (Kelly said singers like her are “the reason this show exists,” and Niall called Manasseh’s voice “goosebump stuff”). But Sorelle had something different, something that hadn’t been heard in all the 12 years of the series… “something this competition needs,” as her coach put it. Chance said it would be his toughest decision of the season, but he eventually made the right decision – choosing Sorelle and then using his playoff pass against Manasseh.
Technically, I would have given the pass to Sorelle, who still needs to survive the upcoming knockouts to get to the Lives. But for now, I’m happy that both candidates are still in the game… and I’m still hoping for The Wiz song. Until then, the rest of Monday’s battles went as follows:
TEAM BLAKE: Tasha Jessen vs. EJ Michels, “Tracks of My Tears”
Blake said these two power singers had “individual superpowers,” but in the fight ring, EJ was just a little bit more, well, awesome. His voice was so clear, so fresh, and so clean that it swept through the room. “EJ, you came out of here and I was scared of it [Tasha]’ Kelly admitted. The two vocals blended beautifully, resulting in what Chance called a “show-level performance with awards,” but as Blake put it, “EJ came in with panache.” Blake said he’s “never been so shocked by anyone” at the blind auditions…which made it all the more shocking when he decided to go with Tasha instead. (He claimed he considered using his playoff pass against EJ, but refrained.) Luckily, both Chance and Niall rushed in to steal EJ, and to another surprise, EJ went with the coach, who turned didn’t turn for him in the blinds. To quote the universally quotable chance, that was a decision.
WINNER: Tasha Jessen / STOLEN: EJ Michels joins Team Niall
TEAM CHANCE: Mariah Kalia vs. Jamar Langley, “Gravity”
Chance once again used his production talent to work on this battle pairing, explaining that while Mariah and Jamar are 20 years old, they’re both “very soulful people.” Jamar, who gave a James Brown-esque showman performance for his blind audition, this week revealed a very different “artist-artist” side of himself by pulling out an electric guitar for this bluesy John Mayer cover . The song assignment definitely seemed better suited to him, and while Niall said 17-year-old Mariah had “this cheek you can’t teach,” Jamar still had the edge from his “years of gigs.” Chance said both singers are “fire.” (And apparently Chance is the new Voice drinking game with the phrase “Award Show Performance” as he exclaimed, “We’re going to win an Emmy! That’s crazy!”) But in the end, all the more prime-time ready Jamar was the winner of this fight, Emmy winner or not.
WINNER: Jamar Langley
TEAM NIALL: Gina Miles vs. Kala Banham, “Skinny Love”
Inspired more by the Birdy remake than the Bon Iver original, Kelly called this song choice “smart,” which it was. But Niall wasn’t smart enough to bring his “two beautiful storytellers with two soft and smooth voices” together — a silly decision to have “shot myself right in the foot” that reportedly caused Niall “many ‘sleepless nights’.” Gina sounded as gorgeous as I remembered, with her rich and round tone, but as Blake noted, this Battle was “about as balanced as can be”. Well, Kelly — who was prevented from recruiting Kala in the blinds and actually gasped, “Oh my god!” midway through that duet — finally got her girl and settled on the theft. I’m glad both beautiful singers are still in competition.
WINNER: Gina Miles / STOLEN: Kala Banham joins Team Kelly
TEAM KELLY: Allie Keck vs. Cait Martin, “It Must Have Been Love”
I swooned as this Roxette duet began all tender and broken and vulnerable, with the two ladies being very generous and deadlocked duet partners – “what a battle ought to be,” as Niall put it. But towards the end they pushed it too hard to show off and show emotion and it was shrill and sharp and just too much. (“I almost got pinned in my seat,” Niall laughed, although he meant that as a good thing. It wasn’t.) Blake said four-chair Blinds contestant Cait had more “finesse” and rock Chick Allie had “more of an attack,” and Kelly said these “incredible powerhouses” both “rose to the occasion in different ways” — so it really all came down to a matter of choice. And ultimately, I think Kelly did the right thing.
WINNER: Cait Martin
TEAM BLAKE: Kason Lester vs. Walker Wilson, “Here Without You”
Blake called this “the easiest cinch I’ve ever put together”: two classic-rock longhairs, both inexplicable one-chair turns, who looked like they could be brothers. (“You’re exactly the same person,” Chance quipped.) Those two probably would have split the public vote if they’d both advanced to the live playoffs, so I get Blake’s logic here. But while Kason and Walker seem to share the same taste in hairdressing and music (I’ve never seen two Voice contestants get as “pumped” by a Battle Song assignment as these brothers were by their 3 Doors Down Power ballad), they were they vocally very different. Kason had a pack-a-day rasp, while — as Niall put it — Walker’s “voice just pierced” with “a light tone but also a nice grain.” I have a feeling this was also one of Blake’s easiest decisions.
WINNER: Walker Wilson
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