‘The Voice’ season 25 episode 7 recap: Who is eliminated in ‘The Battles Premiere’? [LIVE BLOG]

John Benutty and Denton Davidson
·8 min read
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Tonight on “The Voice,” the Battle Rounds begin as Chance the Rapper, Dan + Shay, John Legend and Reba McEntire prepare their artists in hopes of advancing to the Knockouts. Each coach has one steal and one “Playoff Pass,” which sends an artist straight to the Playoffs. Follow along with our live blog below.

The four-time Emmy Award-winning musical competition series “The Voice” returns with the strongest vocalists from across the country invited to compete in the show’s newest season, which premiered February 26 on NBC (8pm PT/ET). The show’s innovative format features five stages of competition: Blind Auditions, Battle Rounds, Knockouts, Playoffs and Live Performance Shows. 

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Below, read our minute-by-minute “The Voice” recap of Season 25, Episode 7 to find out what happened Monday, March 18 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite artists on NBC’s long-running reality TV show, which coach you’re rooting for and who you think will ultimately join “The Voice” winners list for this 25th season. Carson Daly hosts the Emmy-winning program.

Keep refreshing/reloading this “The Voice” live blog for the most recent updates.

8:00 p.m. – “Previously on ‘The Voice’!” In episode 6, blind auditions came to a close. Joining Team Reba was L. Rodgers. Joining Team Chance was Val T. Webb. Joining Team Dan + Shay was Kyle Schuesler. Joining Team Legend was Olivia Rubini. Let’s start the battles!

8:03 p.m. – The first battle of the season featured Nathan Chester and Bryan Olesen from Team Legend singing “Rolling in the Deep.” John likes the male voice on the Adele song and paired them together because of their “classic vibe” that comes with power and soulfulness. In rehearsal, John cached them through some harmonies and helped rearrange the song to take on more of a rock feeling. Following their performance, Reba said that their choreography was “flawless” and called Bryan’s style “a little quirky.” Chance said Nathan has a “strong personality to [his] vocal” and was impressed by the range that Bryan showed. Dan thought they were “so locked in” and Shay appreciated that they both performed as individuals with their own time to shine. John said they were “so incredible” and liked the “physical interaction” that they displayed on stage. For his final decision, John gave the win to Nathan because he “couldn’t see him going home.”

8:16 p.m. – Before Bryan could exit the stage both Reba and Dan + Shay hit their one and only steal buttons. As Dan started to tell him that they couldn’t “let a voice or talent like that leave this show,” John said “I’ve had enough” and hit his playoff pass button. John’s decision blocked both of the other coaches because the decision sent him straight to the playoffs still a member of Team Legend. John said that he’s “such a pro” and “such a superstar vocalist” that he couldn’t let him go.

8:18 p.m. – Dan + Shay got their first taste of the battles by pairing Ryan Argast and Karen Waldrup to perform their own song “Save Me the Trouble” because it’s a “perfect blend of rock and country music.” During rehearsal, Dan was impressed with Karen’s confidence and appreciated her higher register moments. Shay urged them to “grab on to the emotion” and to channel it for the song.

8:30 p.m. – Following their battle, John called out the “energy, the passion, the power” between them, but cautioned Ryan to find the balance between “yelling and singing.” He liked Karen much more and advised the guys to select her as the winner. Reba also called Karen “fantastic” and complimented “the growl” in Ryan’s voice. Chance thought their energy levels were “mismatched” because Ryan was “more passionate.” Dan told Ryan his “presence on stage is incredible” and Karen she “rose to the occasion” of doing a guy’s song. In the end, they chose to keep Karen because she “really has the stuff to be able to win this show,” noting her “charisma and stage presence.”

8:42 p.m. – Reba took the stage next with Tae Lewis going against L. Rodgers to “We Don’t Fight Anymore.” In their rehearsal, Reba helped them fix some flat notes and encouraged them to “live in that stillness” because she feels that “less motion shows more pain” that would match the song.

8:53 p.m. – After the duet, Chance said that Tae’s “pitch and control was so there,” but acknowledged that L. was “right there.” Dan called it a “tough song” and thinks L. sang with her “heart on her sleeve.” John added that they’re “both fantastic vocalists,” noting L.’s “dramatic tone” while Tae’s is “more precise.” Reba referred to their “emotion, commitment to the song, and dynamics” as the highlights for both of them. She told them it was a “really really tough” decision, but the one moving on to the knockouts was Tae because she thinks “he can sing anything.” Once again, an attempted steal (this time by Chance) was stopped by Reba’s use of the playoff pass to send L. straight through to the playoffs. She said that L.’s “attitude and stage presence” played into her decision.

9:04 p.m. – For Chance’s first pairing of the night he gave “Over the Rainbow” to his two artists from Hawaii, Kamalei Kawa’a and Gabriel Goes. Chance was happy to give them this song by a Hawaiian artist in order to have “a moment for Hawaii.” During rehearsal, Chance noticed that the original arrangement opened up the “triumphant” and wanted to rearrange it to bring some of the melancholy into it. He felt like his decision would come down to which of the two is “most themselves” on stage.

9:16 p.m. – Shay told them that he loves them and their energy was “amazing” and Dan said there were “great individual moments by both.” John liked that Gabriel adds “charisma and personality” to everything he does, but Kamalei was his favorite because his voice is “graceful” and “inviting.” Reba thought Kamalei “handled it really well” and called his voice “round, smooth, like butter.” Chance acknowledged that everybody likes Gabriel and “really respected how [Kamalei] brought the song to life.” For that reason, Kamalei was declared the winner as the more “dedicated to the lyrics” artist between the two.

9:25 p.m. – OK3 and Zoe Levert were up next for Team Legend with their take on “The Bones” because it’s a song that works for country and pop artists alike. Part of what everyone discussed during their rehearsal process was how they could connect to the song and bring that understanding of the lyric to their performance. John mentioned that he was “a little uncomfortable with the harmonies” and so he worked with them through that with an emphasis on folding Zoe into working with three other vocalists.

9:34 p.m. – Reba opened up comments by telling Zoe that she has a “strong broad-range voice” and loved the harmonies from OK3. Chance thought that OK3 shined further into the song, but struggled at the beginning while Zoe “really surprised” as a lead vocalist. Dan was also blown away by the “intentional” approach from Zoe and Shay agreed with him, but thinks when OK3 sings together it’s “so spot-on.” Ultimately John felt like their interaction as a foursome was “really natural” and because of that Zoe was able to “maximize herself” by working as a solo artist alongside a trio – his winner of the battle was Zoe despite seeing her as the “underdog” originally.

9:45 p.m. – Team Reba also returned to the stage tonight with Alyssa Crosby and Asher HaVon taking on “We Don’t Need Another Hero.” Reba picked that song because it’s “uptempo, forceful, dynamic” and she wanted to see what they could do with it. Reba had to tell Alyssa that she was closing her eyes when she sings and needs to keep them open. She replied to Asher that he doesn’t need to get in his head and instead can step away from the mic if he thinks his voice is going to high too consistently.

9:53 p.m. – After their performance, Chance said Asher’s tone and control is “incredible” and though Alyssa started off shaky he thinks she was able to keep up with Asher. Shay thought Alyssa “really stepped up” considering she was against a “powerhouse vocalist” in Asher. Dan complimented Asher’s “range and dynamics.” John thinks Alyssa is an “artist to be reckoned with” and Asher has “crazy” range. Reba told Alyssa she had “great stage presence” and Asher has a “nice, round, full” voice. Reba’s personal winner and the artist staying on her team for the knockouts was Asher. Before Alyssa could say goodbye, Chance chimed in with his steal to keep her around and bring her over to Team Chance. In her he saw “the qualities of a star.”

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