'Thank you for doing my song justice': Khalid amazed by 'Voice' contestants' 'Location' duet

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Sometimes when a Voice contestant performs a celebrity’s song in front of that celebrity, it doesn’t go so well. There was time when Stephanie Skipper auditioned with “Piece by Piece” and Kelly Clarkson didn’t even turn around, for instance, or that face-palm moment when Kawan DeBose flubbed the lyrics to “Love Me Now” and ticked off the usually unflappable John Legend. And just last week, Team Adam’s Ciera Dumas and LB Crew sang Charlie Puth’s “Done for Me” while Adam Levine’s Season 16 adviser Charlie observed, and the contestant were, understandably, nervous wrecks.

But Tuesday, during the final Battle Rounds of this season, when Team Legend’s Kayslin Victoria and Oliv Blu confidently rehearsed five-time Grammy nominee Khalid’s “Location,” adviser Khalid himself was so impressed that he told them, “I literally had to stop to just listen. You guys are so amazing.” He was vibing with the girls so much, in fact, that he started dancing to their grooves and eventually joined them at the mic, transforming this duo into an impromptu trio. By the end he was raving, “Thank you, guys, for doing my song justice.”

It was easy to see, and hear, what all Khalid’s fuss was about. On a night — nay, in a season — when few Battles have truly earned the coaches’ typical hyperbolic praise, 16-year-old powerhouse Kayslin and 21-year-old sultry, funky jazz chanteuse Oliv stood out. Once they got onstage (sans Khalid, of course), it almost felt like I was watching the top two finale during this dynamite performance. The winner’s circle may be the “location” where at least one of these women ends up.

“Location” was admittedly a better fit for Oliv’s laid-back, supercool, scatty style, and Khalid noted, “I can hear the [Erykah] Badu and I can hear the jazz. … I feel like the fact that she’s kind of reinventing something that needs to be more relevant right now is just the best thing about her.” But there was no denying the nearly superhuman power of pint-size Kayslin’s massive voice and massive personality. “Her energy’s just dope. She knows she belongs here. She sounds more confident than just about anybody on my team,” said John.

John “knew this was going to be tough,” and Khalid no doubt was glad he was just serving as an adviser and didn’t have to make this decision. John ultimately went with Kayslin, because she is his only girl pop singer on his team (and frankly, because she could probably win this whole thing), but since this was the season’s final Battle and Blake Shelton still had a Steal left in play, there was no suspense here. I’m not really sure Oliv ended up on the right team — Blake confessed that he doesn’t even know what scatting is, joking, “I may not know jazz, but I do have great jazz hands!” — but I am very glad she’s still in the game for now.

Let’s look at Tuesday’s other Battles, then assess where the teams stand.

Team Adam: Andrew Jannakos vs. Patrick McAloon, “Free Fallin’”

This seemed like a Davey/Goliath setup: Patrick, the 40-year showbiz veteran with the “precise” voice who’s been touring with Pat McGhee for 10 years, and 25-year-old “untamed” Andrew, who’d never performed on any public stage before appearing on The Voice. I figured Patrick’s higher range would better suit this Tom Petty classic (a deceptively tough song because, as Charlie Puth noted, it’s so wide open, with nowhere to hide). But I was surprised how lightweight Patrick sounded during the verses. He did soar on the chorus, and his vocal blend with Andrew was pleasant, but my ear was drawn to Andrew’s resonant, recordable country baritone. Adam called Andrew a “revelation,” and Kelly told Andrew, “You kind of shocked everyone and went even bigger than what we saw in the Blinds.” This element of surprise worked in Andrew’s favor. Well, at least Patrick still has a musical day job.

Winner: Andrew

Team Blake: Cecily Hennigan vs. Selkii, “Head Above Water”

“This performance is gonna come down to whoever’s the most believable. This is a tough lyric that they’ve been handed. I want to believe somebody,” said Blake. Cecily the Todrick Hall copycat and Selkii the South African cruise ship singer/hipper rocker were both self-possessed belters, but 16-year-old Cecily’s rendition of this Avril Lavigne power ballad was just so music-student-y. It was too perfect. There was no grit. Thirty-one-year-old Selkii, in contrast, had grit to spare. I believed her, and so did Blake, who decided to “go with experience.”

Winner: Selkii

Team Blake: Carter Lloyd Horne vs. LiLi Joy, “I Got You Babe”

I’d been looking forward to see LiLi, the bewigged, ukulele-stunning, manic-pixie-dreamcontestant who’d adorably auditioned with “Cool” by Blake’s girlfriend Gwen Stefani. But judging from this very brief montage, LiLi didn’t so such a cool job here. Maybe she shouldn’t have swapped her lucky pink wig for a plainer blond bob. Anyway, I feel like Carter won be default here. And LiLi didn’t even get to go to the Island of Misfit Toys!

Winner: Carter

Team Kelly: Alena D’Amico vs. Karen Galera, “Imagine”

This Ariana Grande cover was also montaged, and I could also see why. It was more like Ariana Short, to borrow a term by The Voice sponsor Starbucks. This performance was just dull. I was bored after the mere five seconds we saw. Kelly said she picked the singer she thought could better handle the competition going forward — indicating that nerves were the issue here.

Winner: Karen

So now it is time to assess the teams, before everyone moves on next week to some crazy new cutthroat round called the “Cross-Battles” that Carson Daly has so far failed to adequately explain.

Team Adam has Andrew Jannakos, Celia Babini, Domenic Haynes, Kalvin Jarvis, Kendra Checketts, LB Crew, Mari, and Rod Stokes. Adam’s probably not winning this season, unless it’s with Domenic.

Team Kelly has Abby Kasch, Betsy Ade, the Bundys, Jej Vinson, Karen Galera, Matthew Johnson, Presley Tennant, and Rebecca Howell. Kelly could go far with Presley or Jej, but she’s hardly guaranteed a threepeat victory.

Team Blake has Andrew Sevener, Carter Lloyd Horne, Dexter Roberts, Gyth Rigdon, Karly Moreno, Kim Cherry, Oliv Blu, and Selkii. If Blake wins a seventh time, it’ll likely be with country singer (and Season 13 top 10 American Idol alumnus) Dexter.

And, finally, Team Legend has Beth Griffith-Manley, Jacob Maxwell, Jimmy Mowery, Julian King, Kayslin Victoria, Lisa Ramey, Maelyn Jarmon, and Shawn Sounds. Kayslin so far seems like the one to beat, so EGOT-winner John may be adding a fist-shaped Voice trophy to his already crowded mantel soon.

See you in the Cross-fire next week!

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