Team Christina vs. Team Blake on The Voice

I love the way the producers have handled The Voice in comparison to the sloppiness that is American Idol.  With American Idol you feel like the show drags on, and on, and on.  

So this is how the performances work this week....

To start out, the live show is only one night a week, not two nights like American Idol, thank God! Carson Daly informed us last night that each of the contestants would sing a solo performance, and then later in the evening, perform as a group. Little did we know, their group performance also included their judge, which I truly believe was a creative idea on their part.  

Only one person from each of the teams will be able to advance depending on the viewers votes, but another one will advance solely on the judge's discretion.  What does all this mean?  It means Christina will lose half of her team and Blake will lose half of his team.  I'm loving this already.  Can you imagine having to wait for each contestant to be voted off one by one?  Not in The Voice's case, they got it together, it seems like.

Before the contestants sang for their lives, the judges belted out a few of Queen's hits, which was quite entertaining.  And another thing great about the show, is the judges' willingness to know their team.  Not only do they provide the one-on-on coaching the contestants desperately need, they spend a good amount of time together, going out to dinner and such.  I thought that was impressive.

Okay, so before we get started on the performances, let me reiterate.  Each judge will lose half of their team, one contestant chosen by the viewers and one contestant chosen by their judge will advance.  Next week Christina will only have 2 people on her team, and the same goes for Blake.  Adam Levine and Cee Lo Green's teams will be performing next week, and the same rules will apply.

Watch the performances, and my reviews after the jump...

TEAM CHRISTINA was up first, and the first contestant, was little Raquel Castro.  Unfortunately for her, it wasn't her best performance, and I blame Ke$ha for the hot mess of a song she released, "Blow."  I thought Raquel was trying a little too hard to make this performance spectacular, but it wasn't. You be the judge, view her performance below and tell me what you think.  She probably would have been better off without the dancers, but I could be wrong.

Beverly McClellan sang, "I'm The Only One" by Melissa Etheridge, and boy she was.  I felt Beverly was the best on Christina's team last night.  She truly has the voice to sing Melissa.

Lily Elise sang, "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie, but apparently, big boys do.  I 'bout ripped my ears off last night after listening to this hot mess.  I don't know what happened to her, she was pitchy, and she couldn't catch a tune.  I told Christina last week she should have gone with Cherie, but did she listen?  Hell No!

Frenchie Davis sang, "When Love Takes Over" by Kelly Rowland, and the love was there.  She wasn't up to par, and it wasn't her best performance, but she did give it her all.  There were a few breaks here and there, but overall it was good.

Who's Advancing on Team Christina?  I'm going with Beverly McClellan and Frenchie Davis.

I'm going out on a limb here, but I felt Team Blake blew Team Christina out of the water. His team truly surprised me last night, I honestly believed it was going to be the other way around.  Not one contestant on his team disappointed me last night.

First up, was Jared Blake. He sang, "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon.  He truly is a talented artist - he has a powerful voice. And I also believe that as a country singer, he could do great things.

Dia Frampton sang, "Heartless" by Kanye West,  and boy was she the opposite of that.  She was full of heart when she sang that song.  Her version was actually better than an American Idol contestant who won two years ago. Can't remember his name, go figure.  The piano, the fog, everything was perfect.

Xenia Martinez sang, "Price Tag" by Jessie J, and you can't put one on her.  She may not be at the top of her game, but she definitely has a very unique voice.  I told Ryan last night, that there is something about her that I like so much.  She could do so much more with that voice, because it's so different than all the other contestants.  She was nervous, but I believe she's getting better each week.

Patrick Thomas sang, "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack, and boy was Christina hoping his pants would dance off.  She wanted him to take his pants off, and made it known several times.  Thank goodness she didn't have him on her team, otherwise, we'd be hearing about another scandal in the news.  The other male country singer of the night, Patrick did a great job.  I don't see him going anywhere next week - I'm thinking he stays.

Who's Advancing on Team Blake?  I'm going with Dia Frampton and Patrick Thomas, but I wish all of them could go through.