The Voice. Battle Round 4.

We have finally reached the end of the battle rounds.  Apparently next week we, the viewing public, will weigh in in some way.  Not sure how the voting will happen or how much influence it will have on the outcome.  For now we get to see the last duets and place our bets on which mentor will take it all.

ADAM:  Not much from Adam the sidekick tonight.  He’s definitely the dud of the bunch.

Jeff VS Casey:  Jeff was one of the few to get all four judges to turn around in the blind auditions.  They’re pretty different vocally so this could be a train wreck or awesome.  They both sound good in practice, so it’s more about performance.  They both are confident and ready to throw down.  I love that Adam told Jeff to bring the bravado to a 7.  I’m so not a bravado fan.

The Battle: Jeff’s first notes are beautiful and I immediately know he’s going to win.  They try to make it suspenseful, but it’s not even a contest.  Casey is great, but this song was made for Jeff.  When Reba can’t take her eyes off of you, you know you’re something special.

Moving On:  Jeff, of course.  As Christina says Casey has a great look and she might have a chance out there yet.

BLAKE: We get to hear Reba sing (yay!) and she gave the girls really good advice in the one on one sessions.

Sara VS Xenia (pronounced Sin-ya, not Xen-i-a, warrior princess):  I really liked Xenia’s voice in the blind auditions.  I didn’t really remember Sara.  Blake picked a good song that should be right in their wheelhouses.  I think for this one he needed to build their confidence more than push them like other pairings.  In order to win this competition the “shy girls” are going to have to break out.  He was right to pit them against each other.

The Battle: Sara starts off pretty sleepily.  They both had pitch problems throughout.  Like bad, bad notes. There was very little performance to distract from the bad notes.  I’m not convinced either one is ready for this competition.  Now I’m thinking he should have pitted them against other acts just to get rid of them.  I think Xenia did better but not by much.  I disagree with Adam.  That song is not that hard.  Maybe it was just never meant to be a duet.  Maybe they just aren’t that good.  Whatever it was the whole thing just didn’t work.

Moving On:  Xenia.  Yeah, no one won this, it was just the best of the worst.

CHRISTINA: NOT ENOUGH SIA!  That is all.

Lily VS Cherie:  Wow, hard song.  Kelly gets up there, like, tones only heard by dogs, high.  Lily takes on those high notes and I wince in anticipation of a screech.  Cherie seems intimidated but she rallies at rehearsal to impress Christina.  Cherie is the back up singer who wants to make it on her own.  Most back up singers can out sing the people they work for.  The problem is usually that they don’t have the “it” factor that makes someone a star.  We’ll see if Cherie can perform.

The Battle:  Lily starts out strutting her stuff and bringing out the runs, vocal runs, you sickos.  When Cherie comes in she sounds great.  They both rock out pretty well.  It was really cute seeing Reba get excited to finally meet the girl who wrote her a number one hit.  Sounds like Cherie’s probably raking in some dough without a singing career.

Moving On: Lily.  I was surprised, but I probably shouldn’t have been.  Christina is all about the Xtina clones.  I would have picked Cherie.  Cherie should have picked Blake in the blind auditions.  I think she would have made it to the next round on his team.

CEE LO:  Monica is the one responsible for my favorite part of “Fuck You”.  Who doesn’t pull their worst whiny face and really get into the “why, why, why baabbbyy” part of that song?  Oh, is that just me?

Curtis VS Emily:  We have the inklings of our first showmance, which must be why they’ve been given the plum spot tonight.  Cee Lo’s only country artist goes up against the rocker chick.  Cee Lo is easy on Curtis and picks Lady Antebellum.  You either love the song or are completely sick of it around here.  The radio stations have been playing it nonstop for months.  The first rehearsal is pretty rough, but I’m sure they worked it out while doing the horizontal shuffle later that night.

The Battle: Well, the first notes are rough from both of them.  Maybe they were doing other things instead of practicing?  The song got better when they reached the chorus.  The big notes were really good.  Then they end with a mini makeout session and shock everyone.  The mentors are convinced they’ve been rolling in the hay and I’m pretty sure they’re right.

Moving On:  Curtis.  I’m actually really surprised by this pick.  He didn’t have the greatest performance, but maybe Cee Lo wanted diversity on his team.

The night goes to:  TEAM CEE LO!  Mainly for the showmance/sex talk.  Vocally TEAM ADAM was the best.

Now the teams are assembled for the live rounds.  I’ve placed them in order of strength overall and best performers on each team.

TEAM ADAM: Jeff Jenkins, Javier Colon, Casey Weston, Devon Barley.  He has a very strong team with Jeff and Javier.

TEAM CEE LO: Nakia, Vicci Martinez, The Thompson Twins, Curtis Grimes.  Nakia and Vicci give Cee Lo the number two spot.

TEAM CHRISTINA: Frenchie Davis, Beverly McClellan, Lily Elise, Raquel Castro.  Surprise, surprise Christina ends up with a team full of powerhouse girls.  She goes with what she knows.

TEAM BLAKE: Jared Blake, Dia Frampton, Patrick Thomas,  Xenia.  I don’t know about these guys.  Jared is definitely the best of the bunch and saves Blake from a team full of duds.  Maybe they will surprise us.

Carson actually made a funny with the “one of you is going home tonight, but apparently not alone.” line.  Maybe he isn’t a robot?

Randi will be happy to note that next week The Voice moves to 9/8 central. I feel for all you East/West coasters.  I don’t think I could watch if shows didn’t get over until 11.  I need my beauty sleep!

So, now that we have the teams where do you think they rank?  Does Adam have this on lock or does someone else have a chance of winning?  Will you sign my petition to demand more Sia?  COMMENT!