It’s been a busy few weeks on The Voice Australia. We’ve sat through a multitude of blind auditions, fallen head-over-heels for the voices of our favourite singers, and watched some of them get cut during The Callbacks.
Now we’re at the Battles, and watching coaches Guy Sebastian, Rita Ora, Jess Mauboy and Keith Urban squirm as they pick among their team of six to decide who will make it to the final rounds.
The cut-throat round sees the teams whittled down to two members, who then go through to the semi-finals.
Thus far, we’ve seen Guy and Keith put their singers through the ringer, with their final two artists selected in last night’s episode.
Team Guy
Guy began the Battles with team members Celestial Utai, Liam Conroy, Emerson Alexander, Jordan Tavita, Cassidy Mackie, and Jas Winter.
He kicked it off by getting Jordan Tavita and Celestial Utai to sing his own song, Art of Love. However, he admittedly only made things harder for himself, asking them to both go through to the final sing-off.
Guy then paired Cassidy and Jas to sing Decode by Paramore, ultimately choosing Cassidy to go forward to the final sing-off.
He then chose Liam Conroy and Emerson Alexander to fight it out, singing John Newman’s Love Me Again, with Emerson just nudging ahead in a performance Guy described as ‘neck and neck’.
Guy decided to choose Cassidy to go straight through to the semi-finals, leaving Celestial, Emerson, and Jordan to sing Dancing On My Own, where Jordan secured the final spot.
Team Keith
After his own tough decisions at The Callbacks, Keith was left with Shaun Wessel, Thando Sikwila, Melanie Cowmeadow, Freddie Bailey, Lane Pittman, and Chriddy Black.
Keith paired his two Tamworth teens, Freddie and Lane, getting them to sing Midnight Sky by Miley Cyrus and Stevie Nicks. Lane was chosen to go ahead, with Keith picking Lane as the winner.
Audiences also had to say goodbye to the gruff-voiced singing sensation Shaun Wessel, who lost his battle to Thando Sikwila when they sang Beggin’ by Maneskin.
It then came down to Chriddy Black and Melanie Cowmeadow, with the latter winning their performance of Justin Bieber’s Ghost.
Keith chose 15-year-old Lane to go straight through to the semi-finals, saying his singing was “storytelling that speaks to me no matter what that song is”. In the final sing off, he then chose Thando to continue on through to the next round.
Team Rita
Coach Rita wasted no time pitting her best artists against each other for the Battles, beginning with Robbie Dolan and singing sisters Ella and Sienna. She gave them Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus, but claimed that Robbie had the edge over them, and declared him the winner.
Next, she paired 17-year-old Xanthe and Liam Keates-Ryley, giving them ‘90s classic Don’t Speak by No Doubt. The alternative version of the song matched Xanthe’s style perfectly, landing her a win.
Finally, she paired two of her most talented – Lachie Gill and Theoni Marks. They sang the modern breakup ballad It’ll Be Okay by Shawn Mendes, with the win – perhaps controversially – going to Lachie.
At the very end, Xanthe was sent straight through to the semi-final, with Lachie and Robbie battling it out one last time.
Finally, Lachie was named the fellow semi-finalist, moving forward alongside Xanthe.
Team Jess
Battle pass winner Faith Sosene was up first, singing Whitney Houston against another powerhouse voice, Emily-Jane Conidi. Faith took out the win, getting herself through to the final battle.
Jess then paired 16-year-old Jael Wena, who made her Voice debut earlier this year on The Voice: Generations, alongside dancer and new-to-singing vocalist, Richard Tanumi. Jael pushed ahead in their rendition of Thriller, and ended up being the one sent straight through to the semi-finals.
Jess’s final battle was between Kaylee Bell and Finnian Johnson, who just won the round with his rendition of Landslide by Stevie Nicks.
Finally, it was Faith versus Finnian in the last sing-off, with Faith and Jael named the final remaining two.
The semi-finals will kick off next week!
You can watch The Voice on Sunday evenings at 7pm on Channel Seven and 7Plus.