Jackie Foster on “The Voice”; Tyler Golden/NBC(LOS ANGELES) — On Monday night’s The Voice, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Alicia Keys and Kelly Clarkson continued trying to add to their teams. The show ended with Alicia using her voice to nab the biggest artist of the night.
Also back on Monday was “The Block,” which gives the coaches one chance each to block one of their rival coaches from getting an artist.
Here are the highlights of Monday night’s episode:
Christiana Danielle, a 22-year-old Fort Wayne, Indiana native, had a scare as a teen when she nearly lost her voice due to throat infection. Her slow, jazzy take on Drake’s “Hotline Bling” got Adam, Kelly and Alicia to turn their chairs around. Levine called Christiana “one of the greatest gifts we have been given on this show. “You just turned this cool song into a way cooler song, declared Clarkson. Keys said the singer “blessed Drake” with her voice, adding “I get you.” Alicia got her girl, as Christiana picked her as a coach.
Jackie Foster, a Massachusetts resident by way of San Diego, set off a two-way battle between Kelly and Alicia, who couldn’t resist the classically trained singer’s powerful rendition of Pink’s “What About Us.” The two coaches fought hard for the Jackie, with Clarkson praising the versatility of her voice, as well as her range, and Keys complimenting Foster’s her “accurate” tone. Kelly won the battle.
Reid Umstaddt temporarily gave up music to spend more time with his wife, but after three years of working at his father-in-law’s bar, he felt the itch to return to the stage. His version of “Take Me to the Pilot,” by Elton John touched off an intense battle between Adam and Alicia, with Levine declaring Reid had a “killer voice, killer range” and “soul for days.” Alicia described Umstaddt’s voice as “powerful and fun.” When the two coaches finished trying to one-up each other, Adam came out victorious.
Austin Giorgio, 21, is a jazz singer, whose influences include Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. He also threw in a few Michael Jackson moves as he crooned Marvin Gaye’s Motown classic “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” Blake and Kelly hit their buttons, touching off a fierce battle in which Kelly flaunted her American Idol victory, explaining that she understands the strategy that goes into winning a singing competition. Blake admitted that a country singer didn’t seem like the likely choice for Austin, but noted his friendship with Michael Bublé. It was a winning pitch, as Giorgio picked Blake, explaining afterwards that the Bublé connection, combined with Shelton’s track record on The Voice, would be a good fit.
The last performer of the evening was New York karaoke host Johnny Bliss. The singer, who’s part Dominican, hopes to be a crossover artist who sings in Spanish and English. He got all four coaches to turn around with his take on Marc Anthony’s “Precioso,” but Adam blocked Kelly, taking her out of the competition. Levine said there are rare moments when he “feels something so incredible and overwhelming” and he experienced one of them with Johnny. However, Alicia dashed any hopes the other coaches had of snaring Bliss when she revealed that she was named after her Puerto Rican godmother and sang to him in Spanish. Bliss is now part of Team Alicia.
The blind auditions continue with a one-hour The Voice episode airing Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
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