‘The Voice': Blake Shelton Kicks off First-Ever Live Cross Battles Against Kelly Clarkson
On Monday night (Apr. 15), The Voice ushered in a new feature, the Live Cross Battles. The concept? The coaches (Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and Adam Levine) choose an artist from their team to compete against an artist from an opposing team. The pair of singers face off with their own respective songs, and the decision is left to America's vote as to who wins.
This is something fresh for the reality show, and it's no surprise that the highly victorious Shelton was selected as the first coach to throw one of his team into the ring. The country coach did surprise, however, by putting his dark horse, Kim Cherry, in the ring right off the bat. Cherry is not country and is in fact the contestant that famously noted that she had no idea why she was choosing Shelton as her coach.
To make it even better, Shelton asked Clarkson to be his first rival. Clarkson jumped to the challenge, saying "You brought the rapper, I’m going to bring the rocker," and summoned her team member Betsy Ade to the stage.
Cherry, of course, did not do a country song. She showed off her rap skills with the '90s classic "Poison" from Bel Biv Devoe, bringing it it with a brassy flair (“Ha ha ha, now you know,” she barked) that showed off her rapping skills.
Clarkson did not send Ade without ammo. She matched the vibe with her own '90s classic, Alanis Morissette's venomous 1995 "You Oughta Know." She hit this song with mildly cleaned up lyrics, but all of the bite.
The matchup was admittedly a bit of a draw. "Your singing is unbelievable, sis. Great job," Shelton told Cherry; while Clarkson told Ade, "Betsy, I'm obsessed with you. You're all in it." Levine gave his vote (unsurprisingly) to Ade, while Legend judiciously said he couldn't choose.
We'll find out who makes it to the next round tomorrow, when America's votes are tallied! If your favorite does not make it through, cross your fingers, as each coach has a save and a steal to use.
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