Spoiler alert! This story discusses the second night of Battles on The Voice Season 27. If you’re not caught up, episodes can be streamed with a Peacock subscription.
The Battle rounds are underway on Season 27 of The Voice, and I can’t imagine how hard it is for the coaches to start pitting members of their teams against each other. I’ve actually always wondered how much the coaches play favorites during this round by choosing which of their singers they’ll send through before seeing the two perform on stage. That exact topic came up on the March 17 episode of the 2025 TV schedule, and I was fascinated to hear Adam Levine, Michael Bublé and the others talk strategy.
The topic of Battle strategy came up after Michael Bublé’s artists Kaiya Hamilton and Barry Jean Fontenot faced off with the song “Cry to Me.” Hamilton took celebrity mentor Cynthia Erivo’s words to heart and sang the hell out of the song in a way that Bublé was not expecting. He ended up giving her the win but using his Save to also keep Fontenot on his team. Apparently that’s not how he’d planned for things to go, as The Voice coaches talked backstage:
- John Legend: Has anybody made some unexpected decisions today?
- Michael Bublé: I did. I was like, ‘Barry no matter what.’ But Kaiya was so good. I couldn’t not pick her.
- Adam Levine: It’s surprising. We said at the beginning we were all gonna be surprised. I think we all were.
- John: And you gotta let the performance move you, and don’t be stuck in what you thought you were gonna do.
- Adam: It’s a tough thing.
This literal peek behind the curtain is so fascinating to me. Michael Bublé admitted that he went into that Battle knowing Barry Jean Fontenot was advancing to the Knockouts. However, he allowed himself to be swayed by the strength of Kaiya Hamilton’s performance.
Adam Levine — in his 17th season and as one of few coaches to have won multiple times — suggested that kind of thing happens all the time, and while maybe they do know who’s likely to have an edge going into the duet, all of the coaches have been surprised.
I was really happy to hear John Legend emphasize that they make an effort to not let any preconceived favoritism overrule an unexpected performance, and I’m sure that’s reassuring for contestants to hear too. You can see the Battle that caused Michael Bublé to change his mind below:
While I’m happy to hear that the coaches are keeping an open mind during the Battles, I’m not upset to hear that they choose their early favorites. They are in a competition, after all (despite what Adam Levine may say). I’m also not surprised, as it’s definitely not unusual to hear the mentors say things like, “I thought I knew what I was going to do, but …” when trying to make their cuts.
In Michael Bublé’s case it worked out, because he was able to keep both of the artists he wanted, but when those Saves and Steals run out, that’s when things get really heartbreaking. That’s the point in the Battles we’re getting close to, so tune into NBC at 8 p.m. ET next Monday, March 24, and streaming the next day on Peacock as this round continues.
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