The Voice 4: Battle Rounds Part 1

.. and we are suddenly in the Battle Rounds of Season 4. That's fast no? I must say that this was a pretty entertaining episode. No actual trainwrecks and everyone did pretty good with their duets and surprisingly, the judges made some relatively good choices after each battle performances.

Let's see how everyone did!

Amber Carrington VS Sasha Allen

Try

TEAM ADAM

This, to me, was a pretty even matchup. I did like Amber's take on the Pink song despite being a country singer and her tone and inflections surprisingly worked with the song. Sasha, on the other hand, has lovely rich tone although I'm not really a fan of some of her phrasing choices.

VERDICT

Amber Carrington

STEAL

Sasha Allen (Team Shakira)

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Garrett Gardner VS J'Sun

How You Like Me Now

TEAM SHAKIRA

Eh. Not sure what to think about this. J'Sun's vocals were more on point than Garrett, but somehow, Garrett seemed more compelling between the two. Plus, there's a grit to his tone that was actually interesting. Obviously, this was a performance versus vocals and performance won it.

VERDICT

Garrett Gardner

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Holly Tucker VS Michelle Raitzin

Blown Away

TEAM BLAKE

While Holly did hit a couple of pretty impressive notes, I honestly felt more intrigued by Michelle's vocal choices, which made her interpretation a lot more interesting than Holly's by-the-numbers take on this incredibly hard to sing Carrie Underwood song.

VERDICT

Holly Tucker

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Jess Kellner VS Taylor Beckham

You Know I'm No Good

TEAM USHER

Possibly my least favorite battle this episode. I don't know. I felt like both were really weak competitors. That's not to say they sounded bad, but there's nothing particularly interesting in both of them. Well, Jess has this nice tone, but that's about it. Taylor, on the other hand, has a slightly annoying upper register.

VERDICT

Jess Kelner

STEAL

Taylor Beckham (Team Blake)

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Christian Porter VS Swon Brothers

I Won't Back Down

TEAM BLAKE

I didn't see this one coming! Christian had one of the most hyped blind auditions this season after he stole an arrangement re-arranged Sexy And I Know It, and to see him go this early was a little shocking. Not exactly a fan of both prior to this performance, but they both won me over. I thought they had palpable charisma while performing and I'm not mad at the Swon Brothers advancing. I was hoping a mentor would've stolen Christian though.

VERDICT

Swon Brothers

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Judith Hill VS Karina Iglesias

It's A Man's Man's World

TEAM ADAM

This song again? Based on the hype alone, there's NO WAY they'd eliminate Judith Hill this early. So yes, I was not surprised that she won the battle, but if I'm being honest, this wasn't really an easy call for her as Karina actually made a serious case for herself. Judith showed some stellar phrasing, and Karina had a certain character to her tone that's arresting. Very nice.

VERDICT

Judith Hill

STEAL

Karina Iglesias (Team Shakira)