‘The Voice’ Blind Auditions, Part 3: Room for Debate

It was a short-and-sweet Voice episode Monday night, to make way for the not-so-short or -sweet Presidential Debate that aired immediately afterwards on NBC. Over the course of Monday’s hour-long Voice installment, we saw just six Blind Auditions, five of which turned at least one chair.

Just as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are a very mismatched pair, Monday’s Voice showcased some odd TV couples — like new coach Miley Cyrus recruiting a bluesy, thirtysomething family man, and Miley’s fellow newbie castmate, Alicia Keys, teaming up with a gruff, Dylanesque cattle rancher. They just did it all with a lot less yelling, interrupting, and Bloomberg fact-checking.

Here’s how it went… debate the outcomes amongst yourselves!

Bindi Liebowitz

Bindi was an enigma, wrapped in a Xanadu headband: a soft-spoken gospel choir singer with purple hair and a fierce sense of style. Jazmine Sullivan’s fiery jilted-girlfriend anthem “Bust Your Windows” was a gutsy song choice, and Bindi belted it effortlessly, with confidence, poise, and just the right amount of sass. Very impressive!

Surprisingly, only Adam Levine and Blake Shelton spun around. Alicia later noted that while she loved Bindi’s “attitude and energy,” she had to take into consideration the other contestants she already had on her team; Miley didn’t explain why she refrained. Adam was gunning hard for this one. “I love you, I need you,” he cooed. Bindi eventually chose Adam, reasoning, “He comes from a background that combines different genres, and I would like to go forward combining genres.” Smart decision, I think. I’m interested to see what Bindi does next.

MEMBER OF: Team Adam

Elia Esparza

This bubbly, boisterous daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, theater kid, and children’s birthday party entertainer seemed to have Team Miley written all over her. What she lacked in vocal prowess – her performance of Selena’s “Como La Flor” was competent, but hardly amazing, and she flubbed the money note at the end — she definitely made up for in enthusiasm and personality. But Miley wasn’t the only coach that turned – so did Adam and Blake. And ultimately, it was Adam’s honesty and non-nonsense approach that won this round as well.

“Thank you for being different,” Adam began, referring to Elia’s risky decision to sing only in Spanish for her audition. “You have a good voice – I do think there were some things that could be better, but you did something that was very refreshing, and I think that should be rewarded.” Elia picked Adam, later explaining, “He really works with the artist and really listens for something specific.” Eli seems humble and eager to learn. Hopefully Adam can bring out her best.

MEMBER OF: Team Adam

Lane Mack

This 30-year-old, Louisiana-born nephew of famous Cajun/zydeco recording artist Roddie Romero had an interesting — though, in my opinion, not entirely successful — take on B.B. King’s “Every Day I Have the Blues.” He gave the song an unexpected swing-dance/big-band, decidedly unswampy vibe, and it was a little corny. But the dude was clearly feeling it, very committed, and Miley was impressed by his enthusiastic growling. She ended up being the only coach who buzzed in. “You’re stuck with me!” she quipped. Lane seemed perfectly delighted with this outcome, however, revealing that he’d wanted to join Team Miley all along.

I’m not sure what Miley saw (or heard) in Lane — she claimed to pick up on a “Jeff Buckley tone,” insanely, but I heard no such thing. Maybe some of her jacket-flowers got lodged in her ears.

However, Miley has proven before that there’s a method to her madness. I mean, people thought she was crazy when she cut off her hair, or rode a wrecking ball in the nude, or collaborated on a free surprise album with the Flaming Lips — and all that worked out wonderfully. I’ll give Miley the benefit of the doubt… for now.

MEMBER OF: Team Miley

Karlee Metzger

This shy indie misfit, who was bullied over her weight as a child, gave a gorgeous, tender performance of Regina Spektor’s “Samson.” While she relied a little bit too much on vocal tricks, she had interesting phrasing, impressive control, and, most importantly, a lot of heart and vulnerability. She felt very authentic, very connected, and she sort of reminded me of Season 9’s Maddie Davis.

For a while it looked like no one was going to turn around, and my heart broke for Karlee a little bit. But then, thankfully, Miley and Blake buzzed in at the very last second. “You executed so well, and actually, you seem like even maybe a little shy… I think I could break you out of that shyness… I feel good on this one. I feel like you and I have a connection… And I think if I could help you in anything, I’d like to work on where you could use those tricks, because I have that too, where I always fall back on these little yodel-y things or riffs. I’d love to help you find those places where you can freestyle and make them your own, without it being too much,” said Miley.

Well, that was a solid argument. I told you Miley had a method to her madness! Blake didn’t stand a chance.

MEMBER OF: Team Miley

Josh Halverson

This free-spirited, 31-year-old, half-Sioux Indian hippie and Texas cattle worker sort of reminded me of a grown-up Sawyer Fredericks (in a Taylor John Williams hat). His trebly cover of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young” had some diction issues, and it took a while to rev up, but he certainly sounded unique.

Josh got a three-chair turn at the last minute (surprisingly, Adam was the lone holdout), and while it seemed like fellow country boy Blake – who attempted to bond with Josh with some farming-related shop talk — was the most obvious choice, Josh picked Alicia, “the one who knows the least about cattle,” in an effort to ditch his country roots.

This may seem like an unexpected pairing, but Josh is clearly a soulful guy, and Alicia appreciated that he’s a “real artist.” So maybe, just maybe, this could work.

MEMBER OF: Team Alicia

And that’s a wrap! So to recap, right now Team Alicia has Josh Halverson and last week’s recruits, We McDonald, Lauren Diaz, Jason Warrior, Dave Moisan, and Christian Cuevas. Team Miley has Lane Mack, Karlee Metzger, and from last week, Sa’Rayah, Sophia Urista, Courtnie Ramirez, Ali Caldwell, and Darby Walker. Team Adam has Bindi Liebowitz, Elia Esparza, Billy Gilman, Andrew DeMuro, Brendan Fletcher, and Riley Elmore. And Blake picked up no one this Monday, so his team still consists of just Ethan Tucker, Dan Shafer, Sundance Head, Gabe Broussard, and Dana Harper. But with a regular two-hour episode airing Tuesday, Blake has plenty of time to catch up.

See you Tuesday night, when NBC returns to its regularly scheduled programming and makes The Voice great again.

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