The Voice: Battle Rounds Part 1

Tonight we got to see what a battle round is in a singing competition. It’s something good, so far anyway.  After choosing eight singers for their teams, the coaches on The Voice now have to pit them against each other in duet pairings then choose only one to survive to the live shows. With this many highly talented singers it was sure to be a true battle of voices. It did not disappoint.

First up was Christina Aguilera’s team. She chose her two powerhouse women singers to face off against each other: Frenchie Davis and Tarralyn Ramsey singing “Single Ladies“ by Beyonce. Tarralyn is a good singer, better than any on American Idol (but that’s most of these guys), but her arrogance was annoying. Frenchie Davis stayed professional and it showed in her singing. Christina chose Frenchie Davis to go on to the live shows.

Next up came Blake Shelton and his duets. With the help of Reba McEntire, Shelton chose Patrick Thomas and Tyler Robinson to battle it out on “Burning Love” by Elvis. It really wasn’t close, I knew Blake would choose the country boy Patrick Thomas no matter what pop sounding Tyler did tonight. Tyler did manage to work in, again, the fact that he’s gay and just coming out (on national TV). Patrick Thomas has the look and deep country vocals that Shelton has to love.

Adam Levine took a different route, pairing a guy against a girl with “Leather and Lace” by Stevie Nicks and Don Henley. It was veteran Tim Mahoney vs. newcomer Casey Weston this round. Young Casey Weston truly does not know how good she is, yet. It was not really even close, Weston’s voice carried the song. She makes me excited to hear her on the live shows. Adam Levine chose her pretty quickly.

Cee-Lo Green had the hardest choice on The Voice tonightCover of Cee-Lo

Cee Lo Green had the hardest choice of all tonight. Pitting two incredible voices together for Pink’s “F*ckin’ Perfect” was magic. When Niki Dawson and Vicci Martinez took the stage magic happened. There are very few times I get chills during these early rounds of singing competitions. This was on of those times. Niki Dawson started the song with feeling and Vicci Martinez added the hunger that infectious. The two just seemed born to sing together on that song and stage. Adam Levine told Cee Lo he was “screwed” when asked who he’d pick of the two. Eventually Cee Lo chose Vicci Martinez to continue on for The Voice. He then told Niki that he would take care of her too. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more from both of these ladies soon.

That was it for round one of the battle rounds on The Voice. Next week four more are cut, one from each team, until we get down to the final 16 contestants who will compete for the big prize, a singing contract. Something tells me most of these artists may wind up with one no matter how they finish on The Voice.

What did you think of the coaches choices this week? Are you going to keep watching  The Voice?

To start getting thousands of TV channels on your computer right now, click here!

 Copyright @ 2008 TV Review