The Voice – Battle Rounds – Night Three

By starrymag | October 20, 2016

Q) Simone, we didn’t get to see your battle so I was hoping you could fill us in on what we missed, you know, how it went , what your biggest challenge was with the song you got to sing, and what type of feedback you got?

 

Simone Gundy: We were definitely for sure battling. I mean JSOUL was amazing. We sang You’re All I Need to Get By, Marvin Gaye and Tammie Terrell. So that was kind of a tall order to begin with, because it’s such a classic.  So I think we were both a little intimidated with that, so some of our coaching sessions were definitely focused on just – but JSOUL familiarizing himself with the song, because he wasn’t familiar in it. For me trying to find some unique combination with his voice.  And my personal challenge was really – JSOUL has a very, very smooth tone that really fit well with that genre of music and that time period. And so my biggest struggle was kind of toning down my power and matching him in that regard and then finding ways and times to choose when to, you know, use that power and it worked in my benefit. It was then for me nerve-racking but, you know, he eventually chose me, Adam chose me, and I’m super, super grateful and they did an amazing job, so it could have gone either way and I’m just – I just thank God and I’m grateful.

 

Q) And anything in particular that you think turned the battle in your favor?

 

Simone Gundy:     One thing that I want to say it was Alicia mentioned that she is aware — like I said — she is aware that I have a powerful voice and that the coaches were aware of that and she really appreciated the fact that I was able to hold back in the beginning and then make those – the calculated choices of when to use it to my advantage.  So I think that – showing that as a unit and making it a good performance as a duet made it – made us shine individually. I think showing that I understood that vocally is what kind of tipped the scales in my favor and that situation.

 

Q) For Sa’Rayah and Karlee. In terms of your battles, Sa’Rayah, Miley said that she can coach more. And with you, Karlee, Miley admitted part of her reasoning is that she went with personality over the vocal delivery. It kind of seems like Kylie (sic) – Miley sort of bases her decisions on personal connections. So I want to get your standpoint on what you girls think about that criteria and whether it’s there when you’re looking for the next voice, and whether or not you felt disappointed or let down by Miley at all?

 

Sa’Rayah:    All right. Well personally I do think that – I don’t necessarily – I think it’s a matter of preference honestly that, you know, causes them to determine who they want to keep around on their team. Because, like, you just stated for some it’s like I can coach this person more and for the others the entire opposite. The other reason why she chose Kylie was the entire opposite of how – why she chose Aaron over me. So I do think it’s a matter of preference and also them balancing out their team. You know, if they already have something similar to one person then – and, you know, they’re most likely to choose somebody else if it’s something that suites them.  And I don’t know, like, I feel like it does have a lot to do with, you know, in my case I feel like I had been feeling the entire time like it was like she probably felt that she couldn’t teach me much. And so she wanted to go with somebody that she could groom and that she could put her work into. And, you know, so that’s understandable, but I do, you know, I do feel like — not that it’s unfair — but I do feel like it’s a matter of preference, you know, it’s strictly a matter of preference and what they desire to keep on their team. I was a little disappointed at first. You know, but I had kind of made up in my mind that however this is supposed to go it will and where I’m supposed to land I will. So at the point that I landed with Alicia Keys I felt – I had began to feel like I was where I needed to be. So – and, you know, I went the route of trying to do something different and trying to take the different route.  And when Alicia Keys had fought so hard for me even on my blind audition I felt like I needed to be with somebody who values me enough to want to work with me that much. So – and me having Alicia Keys as a coach now I do feel like I’m in a place with someone who’s ready and – ready to work with me and she sees something in me that she wants to keep around.

 

Karlee Metzger:    Yes. I agree with Sa’Rayah. I think it is a matter of preference.  A lot of people have told me — and I see it myself — that Darby and I have a lot of similar qualities in our voices and our tones. And I think it was just a matter of – like she said last night who was more unique. And, you know, I struggled with my stage presence before and I’m obviously working on that. But I think, you know, I think Darby and I have a lot of similarities and it just came down to who she felt like she could still coach. And – I don’t know. I’m just super excited to work with Blake. I’m so grateful that he saw me and – yes. And I’m super excited, so…

 

Q) Karlee, I was wondering if you could tell me about some of the challenges of singing that song that Miley gave you?

 

Karlee Metzger:    Okay. Yes. Some of the challenges was just trying to find those harmonies. Darby can answer this as well. We struggled fighting the harmonies at first. That was kind of our big concern. Once we got them down it was, like, exactly what we wanted it to be.  And I think my struggle was mainly trying to, like, let go of my insecurity on – insecurities on stage and just have fun with it, because I — like I said — I struggle with stage presence. So that was the biggest challenge for me was just to kind of let loose and being not only a singer but a performer as well. And I think that was a stepping stone last night for sure.

 

Q)  And in your blind audition Blake tried to get you on his team before and now you are on his team. And how do you go about being on,  his — mostly at country — and what’s the the biggest thing you’ve learned from Blake so far?

 

Karlee Metzger:    Well I’m super excited to be on his team, because I actually grew up singing country. I sing a lot of Patsy Cline, LeAnn Rimes, and I think that showed through my performance last night. And so I’m super excited to see what he can do with me to kind of bring out more of my country vibe, because I don’t want to just, like, stick in an Indie box. I don’t want to limit myself when I can do so much more, you know?  So the thing that I’ve learned from Blake so far just – I mean I’m excited to learn from him and it just means a lot that he – that he believes in me enough to use one of his deals on me.

 

Q) A question for Aaron, Darby, and Josh Gallagher. You all won your battles, but they were very close calls. Like Josh broke his heart and Aaron — Miley noted — your battle was the hardest decision she’s had to make so far. So were the three of you surprised to win and what was going through your mind when you were waiting to hear the big news of whether you had won or not?

 

Josh Gallagher:      It was – yes. It was a pretty close call. I went in to that battle like both of us literally had no idea who Blake was going to pick, because we both had such good parts on that and it was just so close. We had no idea what was going to happen.  And we went out on that stage and just went out and poured our hearts out and literally sang the hell out of that song. And we got done with it and did a little hug thing at the end and I just – I had no idea who’s – who Blake was going to pick. I had no clue. Not a clue at all, because, you know, Blake’s got that – Blake had me worried a little bit. He has that certain register, that certain tone from that voice, got me a little bit scared throughout the whole entire battle. So I was a little bit nervous there.  But it was pretty cool. It was – Blake called my name I was actually – I was actually pretty shocked. I just had no idea what was going to happen. It was such a close battle. It’s – no way of predicting who was going to win that battle.

 

Aaron Gibson:       All right. From – it was definitely didn’t have any idea who was going to win. Sa’Rayah and I, you know, both sing different styles and we both were a good match for the song. And we worked really hard together. And we approached it as a duet and not a battle and so to me it didn’t really – it could have gone either way. And I think her being as good of a singer as she is kind of brought out the best in me and, you know, Miley saw something in that. I would have surprised if, you know, the tables were turned and she’s take her instead. It was such a close call in my opinion and it comes down to personal preference, so…

 

Darby Walker:   Yes. Honestly, building off of  our battle. We approached it more as a duet as well.  Our goal the entire time was to make good music and we stuck by that. So going into it I wasn’t – honestly when I was singing I wasn’t thinking about that. I was more just really in the moment with Karlee and enjoying what we are doing. And afterwards I had no clue which way Miley was going to go, because it could have gone either way. Karlee is unbelievably talented.  And then we – I’m just really grateful that she did chose me and I think it does come down to preference and who they feel like they are connected to or, you know, I don’t know. I’m not in their minds, but I’m really happy that they’ll be on the team and that was one of the best performances I feel like I’ve ever given, so it was a ton of fun.

 

Q) Well, Gabe, I just have a two-part question. What was your strategy going into the knockout round? And, Gabe, how do you think it will stack up into the competition given you’re only 15 years old and do they see your agents an advantage or a disadvantage?

 

Gabe Broussard:   Well I definitely think my age is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Because I feel like I could appeal to some younger audiences, but also a lot of the older people in the competition have many, many years of experience on me.  You know, my strategy going into the battle was just to prepare as best as I could and – I mean me and Christian we just had such a good relationship, I mean, he’s an awesome guy and awesome singer. We were just the best of friends while we were over there, you know, and I mean it just it was so close. And I guess my – just my strategy going into it was just prepare, prepare, prepare, and just show more emotion and get into my performance as much as I could and show the judges what I was feeling in that moment.

 

Q) Josh, I’d just like to hear more about your experience of being stolen now that you’ve had the chance to work with two coaches who do you think is ultimately sort of the better fit for you and how did the advice and guidance differ from both of them?

 

Josh Halverson:     Well I thought it was Alicia, but then now that I’ve gotten to talk to Miley I just feel like she’s my spirit animal. Alicia helped me, because – Alicia helped me bring out my spirit and my – and just the reflection of spreading, like, truth and light through songs and, like, just helping me to accomplish that better. Miley helps me connect with my inner-awesome. She really is, like, a cool person and she expresses nothing but heart when she talks. And so it’s really allowing me to do that and I think with this next round it’s going to help me to express heart, you know, with my words and my song and, you know, kind of like what I did with this last round and projecting – I think me and Kylie projected so much emotion. I mean it was written all over our faces especially in the eyes. But – yes. I’m excited for what’s to come. I really – I love Miley Cyrus and I think she’s a good person. I think she expresses nothing but heart. So I’m looking forward to it.

 

Q)  Well, Nolan, going into the knockout round tell me a little bit about that experience.

 

Nolan Neal:     Yes. Well, you know, I knew that Johnny was  on fire. He’s extremely beautiful male. And so I knew that he definitely had the image and I know that he’s got a really cool voice too.   It’s just my strategy was to just try my best to not look weird standing there without a guitar and to pray that they would cut off of me every time I was not singing. And I – when I went to bed last night I was so grateful that they would cut to Johnny when I wasn’t singing, because you kind of just stand there, you know, don’t know what to do. And then I remember asking during the vocal lessons, “Like, hey do you hear about it, because we had this empty space between (unintelligible) wait (unintelligible) wait.” And I was like, “Can I go (unintelligible)?” and do a big scream right there. And I thought that would maybe be the only moment I could shine, because Adam Levine and Sammy Hagar said that you can’t improvise on this song, because Peter Gabriel already did all the improvising for you.    So it was just like – they basically say make your song – make the song yours, but then they say don’t make the song yours. And it’s like – so, you know, I did the best I could do and I’m grateful that, you know, I made it through. But I still face time with Johnny all the time. He’s my boy. I mean I love that kid. So I expect to see big things happen for him too. (Unintelligible).

 

Q) Belle, since we didn’t get to see your battle I was hoping you could tell us how it went. What your biggest challenge was with the song that you had got to sing? What type of feedback did you get?

 

Belle Jewel:   Right. I honestly had such a blast. It was the most fun ever had on stage. And I feel like the song that Alicia chose was kind of the song that you kind of hear – you hear it a lot and you don’t hear many different things done with it. So Halle and I really wanted to add our own twist to it and I am just really glad that we got to do that. It was a blast. So after we finished the battle a lot of the coaches made comments about how I was able to show my individuality, not only through my voice, but through my performance, which meant a lot to me, because it was something that I was working on a lot and Alicia told me she wanted to see from me. So I feel like it went in my favor that I was able to just show who I am in every aspect of my performance both vocally and on the stage.

 

Q) And is there any advice you’ve gotten from Alicia to this point that you think you will – will help you moving forward both on the show and in your career?

 

Belle Jewel:    Definitely. She told me to be just the loudest version of myself. And to just be me unapologetically and always express who I am at my fullest capacity. And that’s something I will always carry with me.

 

Q)  I’m just wondering what the experiences of being on a TV show and what has the show taught you about music and performance? And what you’ve learned about your whole life, you’ve practiced and stuff, but what has this experience taught you about presence in performance?

 

Belle Jewel:   This experience has taught me so much about how music is really a tool to connect with people. My goal of my battle performance was really just to make a connection to Alicia and show her that I was willing to learn and grow. And I feel like so much is communicated through song and music, even just past the meaning of the lyrics.    So that’s probably what I’ve seen and what I’ve learned the most from the show so far.

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*CONFERENCE CALL*