'The Voice' Season 2, Episode 12 Recap - 'Live Performances, Week 2'

Before we get to the performances, a quick fashion rundown for the night: Adam Levine got dressed up for the evening wearing another polo buttoned all the way to the top (guess that's his thing now), only this one is all black and he's wearing it with a blazer and a pocket square. So fancy.

Cee Lo outdoes him of course, with a bright red suit and a polka-dot pocket square andvest, along with a black rose on the lapel. His head is sweaty.

Christina Aguilera is dressed down again, cleavage level low, eye glitter level EXTREME.

Blake Shelton dressed down for the evening, a fact that is commented on. I'm not the only one who talks about their ridiculous clothes! He's wearing a shirt and another shirt, and looks like he could be shoveling mud after the show.

Katrina Parker will be the first one up for Team Adam, and will be singing "Tonight, Tonight" by the Smashing Pumpkins, which seems odd for her. It's not a bad performance, but it doesn't have much in terms of a beginning, middle and end. Katrina's vocal power carries her through what might not have been the best song choice.

Christina loves Katrina's voice, but notes some pitchiness and wishes that Katrina could have rocked out a bit more. Cee Lo doesn't love the song choice, saying that there's something "tortured" about Billy Corgan's voice, and this song should connect to that. I think he nailed it, there: it was a little too pretty.

Cheesa, who apparently got some flack on Twitter about beating Angie (I was kind of surprised as well), will be doing "Don't Leave Me This Way." Considering the backlash she got, it's probably pretty safe to write her off before she even starts, right? She wails her way through the song, does some choreography, and flexes the pipes, but doesn't make it very distinctive.

Blake loved it, and calls it "solid gold." Adam thought it was a great performance, but thinks it needs something to make it stand out from the competition. Cee Lo disagrees of course, and thought it was great. Still, it might take Cee Lo's save to keep Cheesa in it tomorrow.

Tony Lucca time, who takes on Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes." Despite some concerns over the falsetto in there, he does a good job with it, although like Cheesa's performance, it doesn't necessarily "pop" so much. What does pop is his bright silver suit. Snazzy.

Of course Carson goes to Tony's fellow former Mouseketeer Christina for comments, and surprisingly she's a little mean. She calls the performance "one dimensional" (might be fair) and hints that Tony might have more fans because fellow Mouseketeers like Justin Timberlake are supporting him. Adam retaliates. The feud is BACK ON!

Kim Yarbrough is next, and they aren't sure what she's going to sing. Then, to my dismay, she says "I like Rolling in the Deep." Yeah, because that's not the most overplayed song of the past year or anything. It doesn't even work all that well for her: she doesn't hit the "all" in the chorus cleanly, and she does too much with her vibrato at the wrong times. For all the belting Adele does in her songs, there's a lot of value in when she pulls it back, too.

Blake thinks it "got better as it went along," but notes she was sharp on the chorus. Yep. Cee Lo says it's a "safe song, a current song, and the comparisons are too close." Also yep. Adam, to his credit, doesn't blindly disagree with them, and concedes that there were "problems." Uh oh.

James Massone, who is wearing a monogrammed tuxedo coat made to look like a letterman jacket, is next. He'll be singing "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones, because Cee Lo sees James as a "ladies man." I've never been impressed by James. His range is impressive, and he has a nice clean tone, but his pitch and control are both kind of a mess. That's only confirmed by this performance, which is very shaky during the falsetto.

Blake says "I almost threw my panties on the stage." Christina likes the new subtle approach, but notes the pitch problems. Cee Lo keeps playing up the "ladies" thing, which I think it probably more a result of the ladies being told that they're supposed to go nuts rather than them all actually going nuts.

Juliet Simms will take the stage now for Team Cee Lo, doing "Roxanne" by The Police. She doesn't want to get "pigeonholed into the classic rock thing." Well, you're pretty good at it, Juliet. Dance with the girl you brought. I notice she has a tattoo of the name Andy on her her arm, so I'm now a fan. The performance is also pretty great, emotional and technically sound.

Adam is pissed, because he didn't get Juliet on his team, and says she had "the best performance thus far." Christina says her voice is "doooooooope." Cee Lo just growls "wow baby, just wowwww." This may have solidified Juliet as a favorite.

Back to Team Adam, where the other favorite, Mathai, will be doing "Ordinary People" by John Legend. Adam says "you're so good, it's like you're from another planet." The performance is indeed pretty great, though the song doesn't do a lot of traveling, and doesn't give her that much room to show off.

Christina loves her voice, but calls it a little "loungey." That's fair, sometimes Mathai is a little too smiley. Blake notes her confidence, which is a good point: she's always so comfortable on stage.

Tony Vincent will be singing "Everbody Wants to Rule the World," which for me will always be tied to Dennis Miller. The staging is cool, with Tony on a giant podium with masked red and black dancers around him, all very evocative of a dictator. You know, the whole "rule the world" thing. But the power that we usually get from Tony seems absent, and the performance doesn't match the spectacle.

Blake didn't like the staging so much. Not surprising. Christina notes that Blake gets "scared of production" and loved the staging herself. She does note vocal restrictions, probably as a result of the song. Cee Lo agrees about the restrictions, but gives a crazy Cee Lo speech about evil and love and ruling the world and whatever.

Karla Davis is up next, singing "Airplanes" by B.O.B., oddly enough. "What happened to Bertha?" asks Adam in rehearsal, referring to Karla's big-voiced alter ego. But during the performance, she's still barely above a whisper. If you can't understand what someone is saying even with a microphone in front of them, they're just not singing enough. The performance is pretty forgettable.

Christina notes that it was too much of a whisper most of the time. Blake thinks the song was too wordy, and didn't allow her enough time to embellish. Adam admits that sometimes there's a disconnect between how someone sounds in a room alone and how they sound on stage in front of a bunch of people.

Erin Martin, the resident model-turned-not-quite-singer, is up next for Team Cee Lo. She is dressed in some kind of Egyptian cabaret costume, because she's doing "Walk Like An Egyptian." Kinda obvious, but okay. When the performance starts, it's clear why this song was chosen: it only has a few notes in it, and doesn't vary much in range. The singing is quiet, and as usual, subpar. The spectacle is there... she is interesting to watch.

Carson goes to Blake, who says "why do you keep talking to me?" in a completely honest and exasperated way. "Again with the male strippers," he complains. Christina thinks Erin needs to "bring it harder" vocally. Cee Lo notes that there was a lot of lyric for her to learn, but agrees that she needed to be more aggressive vocally. Finally Erin is not smiling.

One word: Pip. He's singing The Killers, and for a minute I'm pretty excited, then I find out that he's singing "When You Were Young," which is one of their more boring hits. Still, a good idea for Pip, who needs to show at this point that he can do some of the more rock stuff. He starts off strong, but seems to falter toward the end with some ill-advised runs and a few pitchy moments. It's also a very odd edit of the song.

Christina says "awww Piiiip" in a disappointed way. She thinks it sounded like Pip was trying a little too hard on it, and notes the pitchy moments. Adam defends the surprising song choice, but notes that he wanted Pip to be more dangerous and edgy.

Jamar is the final performance of the night, and his Twitter handle is @jsquidward, clearly his own Twitter handle and not one created for him by the show, a la "American Idol." He's singing "Are You Gonna Go My Way" by Lenny Kravitz. Of course, it's a Lenny Kravitz song, so he could have picked any one of them. It's because they're all the same. That's what I'm saying. Lenny Kravitz sings the same song over and over again.

Okay, so Jamar really wails on this one, and does a lot with it, surprisingly. He looks to be having fun up there, and Cee Lo has given him female guitarists on stilts. Crazy. The crowd goes nuts for a good long while.

Blake didn't like the spectacle, once again. "Jamar is too good for that," he says. Adam gives Jamar praise, telling him "you embody what this show is." Cee Lo and Jamar seem to have a really nice rapport, which is cute.

So, what are the prospects? If you'll remember from last week, the bottom three contestants from each team will have to sing for survival tomorrow, after which Adam and Cee Lo will choose one of their three to save. For Team Cee Lo, Jamar and Juliet are obviously safe, and will probably be joined by James. If that happens, it would be a close call between Erin, Cheesa and Tony Vincent for the save, but my bet would be on Tony.

As for Team Adam, Mathai is most likely home free, and Tony Lucca should have enough fan support to make it as well. The last spot might go to Katrina, only because she's the one remaining contestant on Team Adam who didn't have a disastrous performance. Between Kim, Pip and Karla, it's tough to say with whom Adam will side, but I would bet on Pip.