'The Voice' recap: The steal steals our hearts

By Amy Reiter

Oct. 9, 2012 12 AM PT

Push your button if you love “the steal.” Yeah, me too. “The Voice’s” new battle round gimmick is the best thing to happen to the show since, well, since I honestly don’t know when.

Any fears that the competition’s new twist would make the show feel drawn-out and dull were instantly scuttled when this season’s battle round began Monday night. As before, each coach would pick two members of his or her team to sing a song of that coach’s choosing, going head to head – toe to toe – on a boxing-ring-like stage. Each coach would rehearse with the contestants, offering guidance to shape the performances with the help of a famous-musician guest mentor: Team Adam had Mary J. Blige; Team Blake, Michael Buble; Team Cee Lo, Matchbox 20’s Rob Thomas; and Team Christina, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, pre-onstage-meltdown and rehab.

In past seasons, after the singers performed, the other coaches would give sort of halfhearted responses and the coach in the hot seat would pick one contestant to keep and one to send home. This year, the other coaches can snap up a contestant who has been sent home by another coach in order to fill two spare slots on each team. If more than one coach wants a discarded contestant, the contestant gets to pick the coach whose team he or she will join, just like in the blind auditions.

Sounds simple enough – and certainly we knew it would feel good to see talented singers given a second chance. But I, personally, hadn’t predicted how much it would juice up the proceedings. While in the past, coaches sometimes seemed to be strategically holding back their praise for other coaches’ team members, now they are motivated to praise talented performers in hopes of “stealing” them for their own team.

That meant we got to see Adam Levine stand on his chair, Cee Lo Green fret and worry that he may have just given away an eventual winner, and all four of the coaches battering the heck out of those poor “steal” buttons. At some point, I think Christina Aguilera even beat hers with a folding fan.

In other words, these battle rounds were unexpectedly exciting. Add to that the elimination of the tedious scenes in which a coach sits around with his or her entire team and pairs team members off one by one, you got one tight and tense two hours.

Here’s who battled:

Team Blake
Pairing: Casey Muessigmann, unflatteringly described as a “former overweight wrestler,” versus Terry McDermott, a veteran musician from Scotland who had some success with the band Driveblind before it broke up
The song: Kansas, “Carry on Wayward Son”
Thoughts going in: Despite the show’s attempt to build suspense by underscoring Muessigmann’s potential for growth and scrappy fighter instinct, it was hard to see how McDermott – by far the more appealing and experienced singer – would not take this round, though I did appreciate Muessigmann’s enthusiastic butt-spank (a habit Shelton said he found most endearing during blind auditions) on the way in.
The performances: Muessigmann gave it his all, and he wasn’t bad, but McDermott looked like a star.
The response: The other coaches praised both contestants, calling Shelton’s decision tough. It really didn’t seem that tough for Shelton, though. McDermott, he said, knew his voice a bit better than Muessigmann and so won the battle.
Winner: Terry McDermott
Steal? Nope.

Team Adam
Pairing: Bryan Keith, offspring of a Grammy-winning musician, versus Collin McLoughlin, NYU grad-school dropout
The song: Sublime, “Santeria”
Thoughts going in: Levine complimented McLoughlin’s “razor-sharp” pitch but noted that he needed more “danger.” The song seemed much more in Keith’s comfort zone.
The performances: The singers were a lesson in contrasts: McLoughlin was all crisp, bouncy enthusiastic and Keith all gritty, laid-back cool.
The response: Shelton, at least, said he would have picked McLoughlin, but Levine preferred Keith’s interpretation.
Winner: Bryan Keith
Steal? Yes! Green and Shelton vied for the steal, but given that Green had named Keith the battle round winner, McLoughlin decided Shelton was the new coach for him.

Team Cee Lo
Pairing: Rough-around-the-edges Peruvian hottie Diego Val versus cute, polished Alaskan YouTube star J.R. Aquino
The song: Rick Springfield, “Jessie’s Girl”
Thoughts going in: Val seemed to have his work cut out for him, struggling to learn a song he’d never heard before in a language that is not his native tongue.
The performances: These guys came ready to battle, psyching each other out and trying to upstage each other. As expected, Aquino was cleaner, but Val had done his homework, arrived ready and was the more interesting performer to watch.
The response: The coaches differed on which contender took it, but Green said he thought Val had more for him to work with and was a truer “extension” of his tastes.
Winner: Diego Val
Steal? No.

Team Christina
Pairing: Church misfit De’Borah versus Nigerian émigré Nelly’s Echo
The song: The Police, “Message in a Bottle”
Thoughts going in: Nelly seemed confident; Armstrong called the song “tailor-made” for him. De’Borah, raised in church, had never heard the song before and seemed a bit overwhelmed and anxious.
The performances: Nelly seemed to have pitched the song too high and sang some strange trills; De’Borah started off strongly and kept building from there, turning in an electrifying performance.
The response: The coaches all gave the round to De’Borah, with Levine maybe hoping to set himself up for a steal by giving her a special shout-out for her struggles. Aguilera wasn’t giving De’Borah away, though; she won the round.
Winner: De’Borah
Steal? No.

Team Blake
Pairing: Mother-daughter duo 2Steel Girls versus yodeling country girl Gracia Harrison
The song: The Dixie Chicks, “Sin Wagon”
Thoughts going in: Why do they even let duos audition for this thing? No matter how talented, they just don’t seem to have a chance.
The performances: Harrison, who had seemed a bit shy and unsure during rehearsals, brought it, and 2Steel Girls, while strong singers, seemed unlikely to scuttle the duo curse.
The response: The coaches were split, but Shelton felt Harrison “brought way more confidence” than the ladies Steel.
Winner: Gracia Harrison
Steal? No.

Team Cee Lo
Pairing: Amanda Brown, Bronx-born backup singer for Adele and Alicia Keys, versus Talented Queens-raised teen Trevin Hunte
The song: Mariah Carey, “Vision of Love”
Thoughts going in: Hunte has been a coach favorite since his audition, but nobody – not even Green – seemed prepared for the power and range Brown brought to rehearsals.
The performances: Brown brought that power and range to the stage, too, though Hunte didn’t falter, either, making for a big blast of a duet that blew away the coaches and the audience.
The response: The audience and the coaches were on their feet (Levine even stood on his chair), and all the other coaches started pounding on their buttons, pledging to take whichever contender Green tossed back. Green seemed to suffer over his decision (would he be tossing another coach an eventual winner?) but eventually picked Hunte, making Brown available for a steal.
Winner: Trevin Hunte
Steal? Yes! All three other coaches made a play for Brown, but Levine’s chair stand paid off. “As a singer and as an artist, I always try to reach outside of the box a little bit, so for that reason, I choose Adam,” Brown said. Levine later noted that he was “a good thief.”

What did you think of the performances? Any favorites so far?

ALSO:

‘The Voice’ recap: The blind auditions wrap up

“The Voice” recap: Cee Lo surges; Blake stagnates

“The Voice” recap: An experienced singer gets dissed