'The Voice' Season 3, Episode 9 Recap - 'The Battles Premiere'

We're back, and the blind auditions are (finally) over... on to the battle rounds! There's a twist this season, though: if a coach lets a contestant go, the other coaches can opt to "steal" that contestant for their team, giving the contestant a second chance at the competition. I'm not sure yet how the numbers are going to balance out later, but I guess we'll see.

The first matchup is Casey Meussigmann vs Terry McDermott for Team Blake. The country singer and the Scottish rocker get "Carry On My Wayward Son" and some guest guidance from Michael Bublé, who tells Casey to be a little more rock, and lauds Terry's clear, 80's-style rock voice. Things are already looking to be in Terry's favor, but Blake warns that the underdog often surprises in the battle rounds.

The two actually start in unison on the song, which is a testament to how good they are with pitch. Terry seems to be a bit better, though, and his range is wider. The song definitely suits Terry better... it's not that Casey is bad, he just doesn't get much of a chance to shine. No surprise as Blake ends up going with Terry. Nobody steals Casey either.

Eliminated: Casey Meussigmann

Bryan Keith and Collin McLoughlin are up next, for Team Adam. Mary J. Blige is Adam's guest mentor for the two, who will be singing "Santeria" by Sublime. Interesting choice... as Adam notes, "it's a dark song." Yeah, it's kinda about beating your cheating girlfriend and killing her lover. Bryan seems to be slightly better suited to the song, but Bryan has a bit of trouble with some sections in rehearsal.

Collin starts things off, and wavers a bit. Bryan certainly seems more comfortable out there, performing the song like he's been there before. There are chunks of the song noticeably missing, particularly the parts about shoving the barrel of a gun down a guy's throat, but both of them do a solid job with what remains. Blake sides with Collin because of his perfect pitch, but Christina and Cee Lo side with Bryan. Adam agrees: he goes with Bryan.

BUT WAIT: during Collin's parting speech to Adam, both Cee Lo and Blake press their buttons for the steal! Immediately Blake goes for the kill against Cee Lo: he notes that Cee Lo just sided with Bryan a couple of minutes ago. That's all Collin needs: he goes with Blake.

Stolen: Collin McLoughlin to Team Blake

Diego Val and JR Aquino will battle for Cee Lo next. If you'll remember, JR was the Alaskan who has a YouTube following, while Diego was the Peruvian who played for kids. Cee Lo's guest mentor is Rob Thomas, which rivals Alanis Morissette for the "huh?" factor. Their song is "Jessie's Girl," adding even more to the "huh?" factor. Diego, being from Peru, is very not familiar with the song, and it doesn't help that English is his second language.

Sure enough, during the performance it's tough to tell if Diego is singing the right words or not. But his voice is great, so it might not matter if he mixes up an article or preposition or two. Adam notes that JR broke his heart when he chose Cee Lo over him... and Christina mentioned that she could maybe steal Diego later. Will we see another steal? Nope: Cee Lo goes with Diego, and the rest of the coaches let JR go.

Eliminated: JR Aquino

From Team Christina, we have De'borah and Nelly's Echo, who will get guest mentorship from Billie Joe of Green Day. De'borah seems really starstruck by Billie Joe, but also doesn't seem to know his name: "Green Day... that's him!" she says. They get "Message in a Bottle" by The Police, and Billie says that Nelly's voice seems "tailor made" for it. De'borah is really unfamiliar with the song, too, and struggles with the notes and the rhythm.

Right off the bat, Nelly goes for some impressive little embellishments in the upper register. His control is pretty great, and he does some great stuff over De'borah's backup. De'borah does some nice stuff with her verse too, and shows off her strong voice. Cee Lo sides with De'borah, as does Blake... and that's who Christina chooses. I'm surprised to see that nobody steals him.

Eliminated: Nelly's Echo

The duo of 2 Steel Girls will face off with Gracia Harrison for Team Blake next. You'll remember Gracia as the yodeler, while 2 Steel Girls was the mother/daughter duo. They get "Sin Wagon" by Dixie Chicks, to fit all their country sensibilities. Gracia seems a little unsure of how the song goes, and since it's such a fast song, everyone has to be careful to keep up.

All three of them are fairly strong during the performance, but there isn't much of 2 Steel Girls singing together without Gracia also in the mix... they take turns singing solo, so they're not so much a duo here. With that, tough to say who won. The daughter seems stronger than the other two, but she's in a duo with her mom, so maybe Gracia takes it. Sure enough, that's who Blake picks. No steal here. No surprise. Adam was hoping he could steal Gracia, but no dice.

Eliminated: 2 Steel Girls

Amanda Brown and Trevin Hunte go head to head for the final battle of the night. This one seems a no brainer, as Trevin brought the house down with his audition... but Amanda gave Adam some regrets about not turning. They get Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love," and it's immediately clear that Amanda is stronger than she let on in the audition. This may have been a mistake on Cee Lo's part, as one way or another he'll be letting a great contestant go, and most likely sending them to another team. Trevin is even having some confidence issues, so she could pull a major upset here.