‘The Voice’ Recap: Blake Shelton Uses His Final Steal

The Voice Blake Shelton New PR Image - P 2012

Colleen Hayes/NBC

With today’s announcement that the first week of live shows for The Voice will involve five hours of broadcast, we’re ready to lower down these teams and get moving towards the Top 12. But alas, we’re still making our way through the battle rounds and – with the new addition of “The Steal” – there’s still the “knockout round” to get through next.

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The final week of the battle rounds began on Monday, Oct. 22, with an episode that was cut short by an hour because of the final presidential debate. Only coaches Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton have one more steal each. Adam Levine and Cee Lo Green have both used up their steals.

Teem Cee Lo’s Alexis Marceaux vs. Daniel Rosa
The two indie singers took on Adam Lambert’s “What Do You Want From Me?” Daniel is much, much more emotional in his performance than Alexis. Aguilera says she wished that Daniel would have engaged the audience a bit more. Green, a fan of his misfit toys, decides to keep Daniel. Backstage, Daniel adorably can’t stop crying, and Green comes up and surprises him.

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Team Adam’s Brandon Mahone vs. Nicole Nelson
Levine assigns this duo one of the most famous duets of all time, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” While Brandon has good stage presence, there’s something to be said for experience, and Nicole has got that grace and confidence down. Levine decides to keep Nicole.

Montage Time! (Is anyone else confused why we spend so much time on certain artists and then are forced to rush through others at this point in the competition?)

We quickly learn the following results:

Team Adam’s Loren Allred vs. Brian Scartocci
Winner: Loren Allred

Team Blake’s Ryan Jirovec vs. Cassadee Pope
Winner: Cassadee Pope

Team Adam’s Joe Kirkland vs. Samuel Mouton
Winner: Joe Kirkland

Team Christina’s Devyn DeLoera vs. MarissaAnn
Aguilera gives them a very diva-friendly song with “Free Your Mind.” “This is a rock song. If you accidentally spit on us, that’s OK,” says mentor Billy Joe Armstrong. During the battle, both the women – wearing skin-tight outfits – show off their powerhouse vocals. Green praises MarissaAnn’s mature vocals for her age, while Levine says it was a very evenly matched battle. Aguilera goes with Devyn. But Shelton decides to steal MarissaAnn for his team.

Tuesday’s show will wrap up the battle rounds, and we’ll move into the knockout rounds next week.

Rebecca Ford