'The Voice' Season 2, Episode 7 Recap - 'The Battles, Week 2'

We're back with the next round of battles, more exciting and/or disastrous duets, and more speaking in cliches from our lovely contestants. You'll be happy and/or horrified to know that Christina is still wearing her ridiculously low-cut dress and sequined dinner plate hat.

Team Christina is up first, and it's going to be Geoff McBride and Sera HIll, the latter of whom was the lucky girl who got to sing on stage with Christina. The two soul singers get to sing "Chain of Fools," and are both good so far. Geoff has a majorly strong voice, at least in volume, and blows Lionel Richie away. Sera is also strong, and has some attitude going. Christina calls her runs "crispy." Yum?

The performance is fun to watch, as the two of them are both good singers and play off each other well. They act it out too, and really make it a performance. Geoff is predictably loud, but he gets just a little pitchy on the higher notes. Sera doesn't seem to make any errors, but gets a little annoying at the end when she adds in a run after the song is clearly done.

Cee Lo and Adam side with Geoff, mostly because of how he told a story, while Blake sides with Sera, probably out of pity. Christina sides with...(commerical break)...Sera! That's probably the right choice, as she'll end up pulling more votes than Geoff.

Winner: Sera Hill

Team Blake time, and he puts Lex Land and Charlotte Sometimes together. Oddly enough, he gives them "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People, which I guess officially kills this song. Besides that, it's a song about school shootings, so... maybe not the greatest choice.

Charlotte could not be more annoying, and poor Lex is clearly not so happy with having to deal with her. Blake and Kelly Clarkson keep describing her with words like "comedic" and "over the top." "Attention-starved" is more like it. Lex is quiet and shy, but Miranda Lambert makes a good point: dark and quiet might really work as an approach for this song.

Lex pretends to drive a Kia and gets a voice message from Miranda. Buy a Kia, everyone.

Would it be mean to say that I want Charlotte to have her jaw disease again so she'll shut up? That would be mean, right? Okay, good thing I didn't say it. I don't even like her singing, she's trying to hard. Lex is much nicer to listen to, but lacks a good sense of phrasing.

Christina loves Lex's "sexy tone," and gives positive feedback to Charlotte's "sassy pronunciations." Cee Lo sides with Charlotte, and Adam sides with Lex. Blake notes that Lex had "one little pitchy thing," but Charlotte was in control throughout. He sides with Charlotte, and I guess we have to deal with her a little longer.

Winner: Charlotte Sometimes

The Team Cee Lo room looks like a gathering of vampires. Cee Lo pairs rockers Sarah Golden and Juliet Simms, who get "Stay with Me" by Rod Stewart, which should fit them both pretty well. It becomes clear that Juliet has the upper hand here, as she has a little more power and grit.

Sure enough, during the performance, Juliet sounds right at home. There might even be too much grit, but I still like the sound of it. Sarah is nice and clear, but doesn't have enough about her that's interesting to pull her through, especially when put up against Juliet. It's almost as if Sarah is singing backup.

Adam is biased and loves Juliet. Blake says he hears a great ear and thinks she would be good to keep, but Christina thinks it was Juliet, no-brainer. Cee Lo agonizes for a bit, and though Sarah is all smiles and Juliet looks like her puppy just died, Cee Lo goes with Juliet. Then we get to see Juliet's boyfriend, who is beyond description. I think his hair is girlier than Juliet's.

Winner: Juliet Simms

Team Adam time, and he chooses powerhouse singers Whitney Myer and Kim Yarbrough, though Whitney admits that Kim's "house" is bigger than hers. The age gap is a big talking point here: Kim is an older lady, but Whitney notes that she loved Alanis Morrissette since she was nine years old.

Whitney gets mostly technical notes, while Kim gets notes about emotion and connection to the song. Ultimately, the song is good on both sides, but less flashy than you would expect from these two. Still, strong performances from both. Blake doesn't know who to side with, so he picks Carson. Christina liked Kim. Cee Lo goes with Kim, pretty much based on seniority. Adam surprisingly goes with Kim as well, despite having told Whitney that she could win the whole thing.

Winner: Kim Yarbrough

Back to Team Christina, who pairs Lindsey Pavao with Lee Koch, and it's pretty obvious that Lee is doomed from the start. Their song, "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana, is one of Lindsey's favorites, while Lee says he hasn't heard it in ten years. Jewel has a pained look on her face while Lee sings, and notes that he's not pronouncing the words enough. Lindsey mostly gets notes from Richie about stage presence and connection to the audience.

I like Lindsey, but this song is being truly slaughtered on stage. The lifts and falls in this melody are part of what makes the song so great, and Lindsey seems to think it's a good idea to "make it her own" but not sticking to the melody AT ALL. I understand taking a few moments to stray from the original, but it just sounds like she's meandering. I hate it. All of it. Stop it.

Cee Lo sides with Lee, and so does Adam, and I'm a little confused why. Blake says he's never heard that song before, eliciting a proper reaction from the judges, which amounts to "WHAT?!" Christina agonizes shortly, but of course sides with Lindsey.

Winner: Lindsey Pavao

Cee Lo pairs Jamar Rogers with Jamie Lono, which is going to be a tough matchup. Jamie is interesting and charming, but Jamar is a strong vocalist and has one hell of a backstory: he's a former meth addict who is HIV-positive. Jamie seems doomed from the start, as his voice cracks during rehearsals, twice.

During the performance, Jamie is definitely weak, but at least his voice doesn't crack. Basically, Jamar sings circles around him. Blake is nice enough to give Jamie is vote, but it's pretty clear whom Cee Lo is going to choose... sure enough, it's Jamar.

Both singers are in tears backstage, and Jamie says "maybe the reason I'm here is to let Jamar go on... he's an awesome person." Aww. So that's why they decided to end with this one.

Winner: Jamar Rogers

That concludes the second round, tune in next week to find out who else makes it through.