Parting is such sweet sorrow!
Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green each had to say goodbye to two of their contestants on the Nov. 8 episode of The Voice.
Viewers selected two of the five hopefuls from each team to move forward, with each mentor selecting the final contestant. “I’ve grown attached to all of them on a personal level, so I’m really not looking forward to seeing two of my people going home,” Aguilera, 31, said.
Levine and Shelton’s teams then joined forces to perform a cover of Kelly Clarkson‘s smash single “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).”
Fans voted to keep Bryan Keith and Amanda Brown in the competition, forcing Levine, 33, to choose between Melanie Martinez, Loren Allred and Joselyn Rivera. “You can yell and scream later. I love you, guys. This is not fun,” the Maroon 5 frontman said. “This is a horrible thing to have to do. No one is better than the other.” In the end, the “One More Night” singer decided to put Martinez through to the next round.
Terry McDermott and Cassadee Pope scored the most viewer votes from Team Blake. Shelton, 36, then turned to remaining team members Michaela Paige, Liz Davis and Julio Cesar Castillo. “Each one has given 100 percent,” the country superstar said. They’ve done everything I asked them to.”
Shelton paused for a moment, then said, “I’m just kind of left where my heart is. I’ve got to go with my heart and emotion. I’ve got to pick Michaela.”
Aguilera and Green’s teams then paired up to sing Train’s “Drive By.” Two of Aguilera’s teammates, Dez Duron and Sylvia Yacoub, earned the highest votes, putting De’borah, Devyn DeLoera and Adriana Louise in jeopardy.
“I think you all know how much I adore and love you and believe in your talents,” Aguilera told the trio. “I’ve had a nauseous pit in my stomach all night. I want to take this opportunity to tell you, please never, ever, let anyone’s opinion define who you are. You guys are so special and so talented. If I’d have allowed people to affect me I wouldn’t be where I am today. I didn’t win a television competition early in my career but that never stopped me. This is just the beginning.”
With that, Aguilera made the “hard” decision to put Louise in the finals.
Finally, it was Team Cee Lo’s turn to learn their fates. Trevin Hunte and Nicholas David learned they were safe, while MacKenzie Bourg, Cody Belew and Diego Val waited anxiously for the “Bright Lights, Bigger City” singer to make a decision.
“I want to say, as always, this experience is so rich and plentiful that no one will be leaving here empty-handed,” Green, 38, said. “I always be with you in spirit. . .I love you guys. I have to pick one and I’m going to pick on the grounds of most improved and go with Cody.”
Us Weekly caught up with the finalists at the House of Blues’ viewing party in West Hollywood later that night. “I’m on top of the world right now,” Belew said. “It’s just insane to be here.”
Echoed Brown, “I feel crazy! I’m excited. This is awesome.”
Louise, on the other hand, was shocked to be in the finals. “I had a feeling that Sylvia and Dez were going to be the America’s saves,” she told Us. “In my mind, I had it that me, Devyn and De’Borah were going to be the bottom three. And I didn’t see Christina saying my name. . . God, strike me down if I’m lying, I really did not see Christina saying my name. So that reaction you saw, was a genuine reaction. I mean I really physically felt it with every fiber of my being.”
The Voice returns with a new episode Monday, Nov. 12, at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.
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