Episode 'The Voice' Season 1, Episode 7 - 'Live Show, Quarter-Finals 1' Recap

The auditions are over, the battle rounds are done, and the teams have been narrowed down to just four competitors per coach. Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton watched their teams compete with one another in the battle rounds, and eventually eliminated half of the team members to end up with the chosen ones for the live performances.

The opening shot of Carson Daly is very "American Idol"-esque, but Carson's hosting is considerably more subdued than Seacrest's.

Before we get to the contestants' performances, we're treated to a Queen medley as performed by Adam, Christina, Cee Lo, and Blake. Adam starts it off with "Bohemian Rhapsody." Boy, I can't wait to see Blake Shelton sing some Queen. Oh wait, they're giving Cee Lo and Blake "We Will Rock You."

To remind everyone that he's actually a musician, Adam takes the guitar solor for "We Will Rock You" and...well, rocks it. The men all gesture to center stage, where Christina starts "We Are the Champions." I half expected them to say "Ladies and gentlemen, Christina Aguilera!" Sadly, they didn't.

Somebody needs to turn down Cee Lo's mic, unless we're supposed to hear the harmony over the melody. I don't think we are. Is Carson Daly lisping on Cee Lo's name? He's not Castilian.

A montage reminds us how we got here, and give us a look back at some of the more memorable performances. Blake and Christina's teams will be up first, as Frenchie/Beverly/Raquel/Lily take on Jared/Dia/Xenia/Patrick

Christina and her cleavage think that they have a strong team, and seems confident that they'll win. Blake wonders how people have kids, as he says he has gotten emotionally invested in all of his mentees.

The banter is still pretty good for these live shows, though maybe a little more awkward. Carson seems a little out of his element, but the coaches are having fun taking stabs at each other.

G4 personality Alison Haislip is backstage in "The V Room" with all of the contestants, who are pretending to look interested in their fancy tablet devices.

The cute-as-a-button Raquel Castro is up first. Harsh, considering she's the youngest competitor. We get a little behind the scenes of Raquel's rehearsals, which include choreography. The choreographer's name, by the way, is Hi-Hat. Yeah, she's named after a cymbal. I can wait until Snare Drum shows up.

Raquel's performance of "This Place About to Blow" is strong, although it's nothing short of a miracle that she can move in those huge heels, much less dance. She maybe gets a little out of breath toward the end, and gets a little flat, but the energy of the performance is great. Pretty impressive for someone who's, what, four feet tall? Also impressive considering it's a Ke$ha song. I didn't even know there was singing in any of those.

Cee Lo calls her his "little mama," and Adam says that he's impressed that she can dance while singing (since he admits he can't). Blake admits it was pretty good, and Christina loved it (of course). I have to admit, the girl won me over. Maybe I have a soft spot for short people. Also, if "American Idol" taught us anything, you can't count out the teenage girl vote.

Jared Blake is up next, and he's singing "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. Bold choice, considering that everybody has heard that song about a million times by now. Blake is worried that Jared is unsure about whether he's country or rock. I was never really crazy about this guy, but I have to admit his voice really works for this song. He's maybe getting a little lazy with the slides and scoops, though.

Christina lauds Jared for his stage presence and his ability to command to the crowd. Cee Lo liked it, and Adam notes that it was the perfect song for Jared to do (and I agree, despite it being overplayed).

Beverly McLellan is up next for Christina's team, but there's a problem: she has a cold. On the plus side, she's picked Melissa Ethridge's "I'm The Only One," which is a great choice for her voice and attitude. My god, though, what is she wearing? Is that a kilt and a Nazi jacket?

The performance is predictably strong. Beverly's stage presence and energy was never in question. But it does look like she's gotten better at controlling herself a bit and staying in front of the mic. She's been known to move around a bit too much in the past. When she finishes, the crowd continues cheering for a good long time.

Cee Lo loved it, and says that Beverly is "a natural." Adam says that she's "the one that got away." Blake is very nice and says that she looks "sexy and hot." Christina tries to make a joke about Adam soiling his pants, and totally fails. I guffaw at the awkwardness.

Dia Frampton is the next competitor up, and she chose "Heartless" by Kanye West. Interesting choice, but I think it might really work with Dia's voice. I hope they give her a better outfit for the performance than jeans and suspenders, though.

Nope. She's in a sparkly dress that makes her look like a sequined version of Madeline. Blake convinces her to play the piano during the song in order to deal with her nervous energy and shyness. It seems to work...I doubt she would have gotten through the whole thing out there on stage alone.

Christina says she wants to curl up in a ball with Dia. I concur. Cee Lo thinks it was the greatest rendition of a song he's ever heard. Adam says it was the most refreshing and unique thing that he's seen on the show so far. Blake is thrilled that we all get to see Dia Frampton do what Dia Frampton does.

Before a group performance from Christina's team, we get a look at Christina's dinner with her contestants at Geisha House. Basically it consists of Christina complimenting all of her teammates. None of them even touch the edamame.

Of course, the group performance is "Lady Marmalade." Thankfully, Beverly changed outfits and is now wearing some kind of Sgt. Pepper coat. Raquel looks like a flag girl. Those skirts she's wearing are just asking for a wardrobe malfunction. The five girls totally kill it, and even Beverly seems right at home singing this song.

Carson is speechless, and sends it over to Alison to tell us what Twitter is saying. Hey! Now Dia is wearing a totally normal, classy outfit. What gives?

The very shy Xenia is up next, and is singing a Jessie J song. The rehearsals are all about getting the girl to open up a bit, get loose, and perform a little more. Blake's solution (along with Hi-Hat!) is to give Xenia some arm choreography so that she doesn't wring her hands.

Her vocal quality is really something, but man, the girl is so nervous up there. When she finishes, Blake runs up and gives her a hug, which it looks like she needed. Christina thought the choreography worked, and noted that she was happy to see Xenia smiling up there. Adam agrees, and Cee Lo loved it. Blake says that we're watching a star be born.

Lily Elise will be performing "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie, which features that ridiculous child missing their blanket lyric, but should be a good fit for this pop-centric singer. She'll be fine as long as she doesn't get stabbed by her jacket.

She starts off quiet and builds as the song goes on, just like Christina tells her to. She puts some emotional investment into it, and does some really interesting stuff vocally, some of which works and some of which is a little weird. Cee Lo loved it. Adam notes that he thinks Lily could have done without the dancers, and Blake agrees that the "mimes" were just a distraction. Christina notes about emotionally convincing the performance was.

Back to Alison in the V Room, which as far as I can tell is some kind of sweat shop where they force the contestants to tweet constantly.

Before we see Patrick and Frenchie, we get to see a group performance from Blake's team. Before that, we see Blake invite his team over for lunch at his house. They toast with their plastic cups.

As the performance starts, it's clear that Team Blake will be performing "This Love" by none other than Maroon 5. Adam is totally digging it. Xenia and Patrick start it off, and Xenia still seems a little uncomfortable up there. Jared is having maybe a little too much fun with the "keep her coming every night" line, and Dia is doing a nice job of giving an energetic performance. Blake comes in for the bridge and the team finishes up fine, but it's nothing compared to the Team Christina performance.

Adam thinks it was an excellent song choice, and notes that Blake is bigger than everybody else. Blake drops a "that's what she says," which gets applause from the crowd but an eye roll from Adam.

Patrick Thomas is the last contestant up, and the only true country singer left on Blake's team. Patrick (rather unfortunately) chooses "I Hope You Dance" by LeAnn Womack, which was performed by Lauren Alaina in the top 3 of "American Idol." Patrick is dedicating it to his sister though, which is nice.

Actually, Patrick does a pretty nice job with the song. He gets around the limiting nature of the piece by putting in a key change and taking some liberties at the end to show off a bit. Good move.

Christina says that Patrick is a cutie pie and she's still waiting for him to take off his pants. Cee Lo loves it. Adam congratulates Patrick that Christina wants to totally do him. Blake thinks Patrick came out like a "classy professional" and that country fans now have someone to vote for.

The best part about Alison's segments is when she reads people's ridiculous Twitter handles. What was that? Spaztastic? Awesome.

The last performer of the night is Frenchie Davis, who has chosen "When Love Takes Over." Frenchie is trying to get a little to fancy with the song, and Christina makes it a little more clean and concise. We'll see if that comes across in the performance.

Frenchie's got dancers and lasers! There's a little break in her voice at the beginning, but she recovers. And she totally went with her original run that Christina didn't like. Well, at least she hit it. There's no denying that Frenchie has a strong voice.

Cee Lo loves it. Adam thinks there's "just something so beautiful" about her, and notes that she made him like that song, which he normally doesn't like. Blake notes that she's probably the most powerful singer in the competition. Christina, of course, loved it.

There you go, folks. That's what a live episode of "The Voice" looks like. And hey, no Ford Music Videos or product placement segments! Take that, "American Idol!" The voting is open from now until Monday at 10am, so you can vote for the contestants from each team that you want to save by texting, going to NBC.com, or downloading your favorite artist's song on iTunes.