Competition on this season of “The Voice” is heating up as the NBC show enters into its battle round.
In TheWrap’s exclusive clip of Monday’s episode, Team Legend’s Kaylee Shimizu and Elizabeth Evans are paired up in a battle, and the duo wows the coaches as they perform an emotional rendition of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Traitor.”
The contestants score a standing ovation from their own coach, John Legend, as well as new coach Reba McEntire, who shared with the women she was “in awe” during their performance.
“Elizabeth and Kaylee, that was fantastic — unbelievable vocal range and power,” McEntire told the pair. “Elizabeth, when you opened your mouth and hit that big note, I was just in awe. Wow, and Kaylee, your range is just incredible — y’all just really did complement each other — [I] love the harmonies.”
Ahead of Legend’s decision, McEntire disclosed that her pick for the battle was Evans.
Next up to share his thoughts was coach Niall Horan, who told the singers their performance was “the best version of that song [he’s] heard, 100%,” before remarking at Shimizu’s young age of 17 paired with her vocal mastery.
“That’s a ridiculous talent to have, and the control that you have over your runs and the range you’ve got is just phenomenal, and we’ve seen, again, why that was a four-chair turn in the first place,” Horan told Shimizu. “Elizabeth, that was a different beast — your identity as an artist is something that we don’t have a lot of, and you stand out in this competition for me — personally I would lean towards Elizabeth, myself.”
With two votes for Evans, Gwen Stefani breaks down the difficult decision between the two talented vocalists.
“Elizabeth, it’s hard because you’re battling against Kaylee, who has one of the most incredible voices I’ve ever heard,” Stefani said. “The control she has and the little tricks that she can do, it’s masterful but that shouldn’t at all discount your lane, because there’s not a lot of girls that have power and that thing that you have on stage.”
Stefani refrained from sharing her pick, leaving Legend to share his thoughts on the battle, who recalled the performance as “stunning” and complemented Evans for making vocal choices he had never thought of.
“You’re able to be both a little quirky, but also you can just flat-out sing too, and it’s very exciting and interesting to watch,” Legend said. “And then Kaylee, as a vocalist, there’s just very few people on the planet who can sing with the level of ability and the level of gift that you have. You’re just so polished at such a young age, it’s actually stunning to watch.”
“Both of you are ridiculous, I can’t believe I have to make this decision,” Legend said.
To find out who Legend picked as the winner of the battle, tune in to Monday’s episode of “The Voice.”
“The Voice” premieres Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on NBC.
