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Peak Whitney Houston was impossible to beat.

Clearly Andrew Igbokidi and Zach Newbould read the memo when they engaged in a Battle Tuesday night (Oct. 25) for NBC’s The Voice.

The Team Camila singers went to work with Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” steering it into different territory. The pair stripped it down, creating a midtempo number with few clues to the shiny ‘80s original.

“Zach your voice really shined,” enthuses Gwen Stefani. “It was like an alternative sounding voice in a pop song. I like the contrast of that.”

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Igbokidi, she comments, had great range and unexpected runs. “And you are very beautiful, it was stunning when you came out.”

John Legend also picked up on Igbokidi knack for “very cool” unexpected vocal flurries. “You have an interesting approach to music.” His rival, however, is “more consistently on point” with “really lovely” tone. “It was really well executed”

Blake Shelton cut to the chase. Nerves got the better of Igbokidi. “Andrew, almost felt like something was holding you back,” he remarks. “I just think you’re better than what happened here today.” Newbould delivered best in this “tall task,” he admits.

Cabello went deeper on Igbokidi’s stumbles. “I think that your hypercriticism of yourself is keeping you from accessing the freedom and the fun to go to that next level. But the talent is there.”

However, Newbould stepped up under the bright lights. And he did it consistently.

Cabello had a decision to make. Her pick, like Igbokidi’s runs, was most unexpected.

Watch below.

The gloves are off, the Battles round is upon us on NBC’s The Voice, and the remaining contestants are wearing their big boy/girl pants. It’s no time for a slip-up.
On Monday night (Oct. 17), Grace Bello went head-to-head with Reina Ley for a performance of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” a timeless gem that went all the way to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1984.

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Ley, a thirteen-year-old hopeful from San Tan Valley, Arizona, is a member of Team Camila Cabello, catching the Cuba-born pop star’s attention in the Blind Auditions with a mariachi song, “Cielito Lindo”.

Bello, a 21-year-old who raised in Cibolo, Texas, and now based in Lacey, Washington, announced herself on the talent show with an audition of Justin Bieber’s “Ghost,” a performance that was rewarded with a four-chair turn and a spot on Team Cabello.

With the lights a little brighter in the Battles, and the pressure ratcheted up a notch, it was Ley who impressed.

“Reina, your voice is unbelievable,” Gwen Stefani enthuses. “I was shocked. Your tone is so warm and deep and rich, and I could feel you, that you understood what the lyric was doing and saying.”

John Legend remarked on how “secure” and “confident” she was in the melody and the moment. “I was really impressed.”

Blake Shelton cut to the chase. “I wish you could get in your head how super-talented you are,” the country star says. “I just felt like you’ve lost some confidence at some point between the Blind Auditions and right now. You seem scared up there, which, by the way, is ridiculous because you’re so good.”

Whereas Reina, he continues, “she’s 13 and she doesn’t even realize how much pressure this should be… She just came out here and did her thing and owned it and because of that your voice just came through stronger.”

The pressure then fell on Cabello, who had a decision to make. “This is just a sucky situation because I have two really talented people,” she remarks. “I don’t think one was better than the other. If I had a ‘Save,’ neither of you would be going home.”

Just before the axe fell, she added, “I hate this so much. This is the most terrible I’ve felt literally in all of these Battles.”

There could be only one winner, and that was Ley.

Watch below.

https://www.billboard.com/artist/cyndi-lauper/