'The Voice' Recap: Adam Levine Scores Four New Team Members

Judges go head-to-head to win over contestants in the third round of blind auditions.
By John Mitchell

Adam Levine
Photo: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

"The Voice" got down to business in the third round of blind auditions Monday night, and judge Adam Levine came out of the episode the true winner, adding four strong new players to his team. Christina Aguilera, who in the first two eps snagged some of the best vocalists so far in the competition, wasn't so lucky, scoring only two new team members. Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green each nabbed three.

Teams Xtina, Blake and Cee Lo are now half-filled with six members, while the Maroon 5 frontman's team is up to seven.

Team Christina
It took nearly half the episode, but Christina finally found a team member in Geoff McBride, a 51-year-old father of four from Florida who has worn sunglasses since childhood after being injured while kickboxing. McBride's faithful, energetic rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" wowed Xtina and Cee Lo, and even though it seemed like the singer was leaning toward Green, he ultimately went with Xtina.

Aguilera also picked up Moses Stone, the first-ever MC to enter the competition. "Throughout my career, I've worked with so many hip-hop artists. The energy he brought to that stage really moved me," Aguilera said of Stone.

Team Adam
Levine had the most successful night of all the judges, picking up four strong new team members. First up was bow-tie-sporting 19-year-old Pip, whose soulful rendition of "House of the Rising Sun" got all of the judges to turn their chairs. Levine was first, but warring over Pip instigated a bit of a fun back-and-forth between Aguilera and Shelton, who dissed Xtina, saying she might not work as hard as the other coaches. "I've got time and attention," Xtina responded playfully, earning cat calls from the audience. It was all for naught, though, as Levine won simply because he was the first one to recognize Pip's talent.

The Maroon 5 frontman later picked up Katrina Parker, a 34-year-old insurance-company assistant, whom host Carson Daly visited at work to "break her out of the nine-to-five grind" and invite her to the blind auditions. She sang Joan Osborne's " One of Us" as a piano ballad, inspiring Adam (and only Adam) to turn.

Adam also landed Nathan Parrett as well as "smooth" singer Chris Cauley, who tackled Bruno Mars' "Grenade," earning praise from all the judges on having perhaps the best full-song performance of the night. Cauley jokingly asked Cee Lo and Adam to arm wrestle over him, leading Adam to concede that Cee Lo would easily take him, but he won in the end, adding the singer to his team.

Team Blake
One of the night's most poignant moments came from contestant Erin Willett and her "craziest friend as well as biggest mentor," her father, Chuck, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a month before the audition. Willet said the audition was a "such a blessing" and a "wonderful distraction" that gave her family something to be excited about. It was hard to not get tears in your eyes when Chuck said his daughter had "the greatest voice in the world" — something she helped prove with her take on the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back."

In a rare turn of events, Shelton, who is almost never the first judge/mentor to turn his chair, was the lone judge to turn around for Willett. "You have a very powerful voice," Shelton said. "When somebody comes out here and I can't see what's going on and the whole crowd stands up and they're having fun. I like to see people react to music like that."

One of the unique things about "The Voice" is the level of industry speak among the judges when it comes to making their case to the contestants. Going head-to-head to win over Jordis Unga, Christina and Blake got into it over touring schedules and who would be most free to devote time to the singer. Blake was quick to note that while he is indeed on the road, he is touring with his season one runner-up Dia Frampton.

Unga earned a chair turn from three of the four judges with her raspy take on "Maybe I'm Amazed." "That is the voice I've been sitting here waiting to hear," Shelton said. "Your voice makes me want to push myself to be a better singer." She ultimately chose the country crooner, as did Brian Fuente.

Team Cee Lo
The show really played up the fact that it is about vocal talent and not appearances when Sarah Golden stepped onstage. Sarah's face wasn't even shown and her name didn't appear onscreen until after Cee Lo turned his chair. When they finally fully revealed the singer, she had an androgynous look that past music execs had told her didn't work well for the industry. Shelton turned around for Sarah's rendition of "You and I" too, saying her voice was "unique ... you just have an honest sound," but ultimately Golden chose Cee Lo.

Erin Martin, a onetime model, brought her unique voice to an acoustic cover of Plain White T's "Hey There Delilah" that inspired Shelton and Cee Lo to turn around early. "Your voice is so strange and unique and bizarre and great and wonderful," Cee Lo said. "Quite naturally you belong with me, don't you agree?" Ultimately, she did.

James Massone surprised the judges by being ... white. Three of them turned around for the 23-year-old Boston body shop worker caught up in the family business. "This is why I love this show ... I didn't know what I was going to find behind my chair," Xtina declared. "He's white!" Levine proclaimed to a big laugh from the audience, inspiring Aguilera to scream, "You got soul!" All the praise caused Massone to tear up onstage and he was pleased as could be that he got to go with his first choice, Cee Lo.

Three singers were sent packing during episode three, including 19-year-old Elley Duhe, who has been working on her music for years and quit school her senior year of high school to pursue it. Aguilera complimented her attitude, saying she was "humble" and "gracious" after being passed over.

David Grace, 28, from Santa Fe, Texas, played college football and began coaching after college but turned to music a year later. The judges bobbed their heads along to his take on "Sweet Home Alabama" but none ultimately turned around for the singer.

Finally there was Winter Rae, a soul singer with a rocker look who works as a full-time waitress at a Los Angeles bowling alley and is friends with Perez Hilton, who joined her family backstage during her audition. She earned praise but no chair turns for her take on Rihanna's "Take a Bow," and even though the judges didn't choose her, Hilton still declared, "You're a star!"

What did you think of Monday's episode of "The Voice"? Leave your comment below!

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• Adam Levine

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1679229/the-voice-recap-adam-levine.jhtml

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