‘The Voice’ Season 27 Episode 8 recap: Michael and Kelsea close out ‘Battles’ round with final steals

The Voice Season 27 continued the second stage of the competition on Monday with the third installment of "Battles" performances. In this round, each coach enlisted the help of an industry advisor as they counseled pairs of artists set to take the stage in head-to-head battles where only one would emerge victorious. Country group Little Big Town joined Kelsea Ballerini, entertainment icon Kate Hudson supported Adam Levine, R&B songstress Coco Jones was brought on board by John Legend, and Wicked Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo held space with Michael Bublé. Each coach has been refreshed with two advantages to use during the Battles: a Save, to keep a battle loser on their team, and a Steal, to snatch a battle loser from one of the other teams.

In the "Battles Premiere" on March 10, John successfully used both his Save and Steal and Adam used his Save. In "Part 2" of the round on March 17, Adam used his Steal and both Kelsea and Michael used their Saves. That meant that going into the third night of performances, John and Adam had full teams with only a few eliminations left to settle while both Kelsea and Michael still had their Steal button active and waiting to be hit.

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"I know what I want and I know how to get good ratings" — Michael Bublé

Team Kelsea started off the night with Simone Marijic and Iris Herrera taking on "ceilings." Kelsea referred to them as the "free spirits" and made a conscious effort to "emotionally match" these artists for their pairing. During the rehearsal time with Little Big Town, they were advised on working through the specific notes on the harmonies and finding the chemistry of working together.

Iris Herrera and Simone Marijic (Photo: Griffin Nagel/NBC)

Following the performance, Kelsea referred to Simone's voice as a "feather" that can feel "light and fluffy" and "strong and powerful" at different times. She called out the vibrato that Iris uses on some of her notes as a "trademark to her voice." In his critique of their battle, Michael said that they "sang beautiful in those more tender parts." He liked the "little accents" and harmonies that Simone contributed and made a point of not letting anyone in on who he preferred, hoping that Kelsea would leave his pick up for grabs. After Kelsea chose to keep Iris on her team, Michael swiftly scooped up Simone, an artist he turned for in the Blind Auditions, but missed out on then. He based his decision on her work ethic and feels like he picked up a "dark horse" that could win.

"Tinika came in here and made my life hell" — Adam Levine

Kelsea managed to get her Steal in on the last battle of the round from Team Adam. He paired four chair turn Conor James with his Coach Replay artist Tinika Wyatt on "How Deep Is Your Love." In the rehearsal room, Adam wanted them to make the performance feel like it was the first time they've done it, emphasizing the sense of "improvisation" in their approach. Kate's note was for them to "be uninhibited as a performer" through "discipline and skill."

Tinika Wyatt and Conor James (Photo: Griffin Nagel/NBC)

Following the performance, Kelsea called their battle her favorite of the round because it was "contagious to watch." As a four chair turn, Conor was someone Kelsea was interested in based on the Blind Auditions while Tinika was not an artist she had turned her chair for. In this battle, Adam made his decision based on the "unicorn quality" he sees in Conor that he just couldn't let go of. His choice gave Kelsea the opportunity to bring "an element of soul" to her team by giving Tinika her second, second chance of the season.

"That's a perk of the job... this is a concert that I get to go to" — Kelsea Ballerini

By the end of Episode 8, seven other artists made it through to the next round. Michael picked Divighn over Dimitrius Graham after "Leave the Door Open" and Adam David defeated Ricardo Moreno after "Home." Adam chose Trevon Dawson over Tyler Kae on "I'm With You." John kept Renzo instead of Jay Ammo after "Is This Love" and picked Jacquelyn George over Jordan Allen on "Islands in the Stream." Kelsea went with Dan Kiernan instead of Jessica Manalo on "Good Luck, Babe" and Page Mackenzie over Robert Hunter on "Lies Lies Lies."

The updated teams are:

TEAM LEGEND — BD.ii, Bryson Battle, Jacquelyn George, Kolby Cordell, Nell Simmons, Olivia Kuper Harris, Renzo, Tatum Scott

TEAM BUBLÉ — Adam David, Barry Jean Fontenot, Carlos Santiago, Divighn, Jadyn Cree, Kaiya Hamilton, Kameron Jaso, Simone Marijic

TEAM KELSEA — Alanna Lynise, Angie Rey, Dan Kiernan, Hailey Wright, Iris Herrera, Jaelen Johnston, Page Mackenzie, Tinika Wyatt

TEAM ADAM — Ari Camille, Britton Moore, Conor James, Darius J, Ethan Eckenroad, Grace-Miller Moody, Lucia Flores-Wiseman, Trevon Dawson

The four-time Emmy Award-winning musical competition series The Voice is in its 27th season featuring five stages of competition: Blind Auditions, Battle Rounds, Knockouts, Playoffs and Live Performance Shows. In the coaches' chairs, Michael is the defending champion after winning Season 26. He is joined by John, in his 10th season, and Kelsea, competing for the first time. Adam rejoined the panel of coaches for his 17th season after taking a hiatus following Season 16.