IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Cher upstages Blake Shelton on 'The Voice'

On "The Voice's" Team Blake, one person is in charge — and it isn't Blake Shelton.Guest mentor Cher was running the show when the duo prepped Ray Boudreaux and Monika Leigh for battle Tuesday night."Where have you been my whole 'Voice' career?" Blake asked the pop superstar."I've been working, OK!" retorted Cher, adding this stinger: "I don't just sit on my a** and punch a little button." Total
Cher and Blake Shelton on \"The Voice.\"
Cher and Blake Shelton on \"The Voice.\"Today

On "The Voice's" Team Blake, one person is in charge — and it isn't Blake Shelton.

Guest mentor Cher was running the show when the duo prepped Ray Boudreaux and Monika Leigh for battle Tuesday night.

"Where have you been my whole 'Voice' career?" Blake asked the pop superstar.

"I've been working, OK!" retorted Cher, adding this stinger: "I don't just sit on my a** and punch a little button." 

Totally unfair! Blake also has to hoist those three "Voice" trophies every time he illustrates how often he's won. And that thing he does with his fingers, pointing at himself in a way that magically persuades contestants to pick him at the blinds? Let's see Cher do that!

But Cher was more than a quipster. When Monika asked for advice, she told her she was singing "Some Kind of Wonderful" differently every time. And when Ray wasn't feeling confident about hitting some high notes — mumbling that he just hoped he'd be good enough when the time came — she smacked him back to reality.

"You shouldn't have to worry about to worry about 'On that day, can [I] do it?' " Cher advised. "You should be able to know that you can do it." Otherwise translated as "get back to work until you figure it out."

At their last rehearsal, Cher offered an old-school tip: "If you do a bad note … keep going. Do something great that will make them forget that you were just a little bit off. "

She then turned to Blake. "Don't you think that's a good one? Don't you wish you'd thought of it?"

(Actually, he was probably wondering how he landed the only mentor to upstage their coach.)

"Unfair Advantage!"
Oh, yeah, the battle. When they got onstage for real, Ray sang about as well as he could sing. Leigh did fine work herself — and as a three-chair turn, would have seemed to be the favorite. So there was maximum drama when host Carson Daly asked Blake, "Who is the winner of this battle?"

In the silence that followed, a tiny, piercing voice sprang forth from the crowd.

"Ray!"

Ray laughed, saying, "That's my daughter."

"That's not fair," protested coach Adam Levine. "That's an unfair advantage!" 

And maybe it was, because Ray did win. But CeeLo stole Monika anyway, so neither went home.

Intense Beginning
Christina Aguilera began the night by pitting Matthew Schuler against Jacob Poole for Fall Out Boy's "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light 'Em Up)." Both were sweating bullets by the end of the song, but Matthew was Christina's pick.

Had Jacob sung earlier in the round, he might have been stolen, but alas. All he got was Blake's regretful "I wish I had a steal -- he's definitely someone I would have saved." And that, Coach Shelton, is why we don't spend all of our steals the first day and have to sit forlornly the rest of the round while everyone else pushes their buttons. Perhaps that'll teach him a lesson.

Kat Robichaud knocked off R. Anthony for Team CeeLo, in a battle that wasn't terribly memorable — but at least Anthony got some screen time.

Pity poor Lupe Carroll, Sam Cerniglia and Justin Blake, who were eliminated in an "also moving on" montage. We may have missed out on the winning performances from Cole Vosbury, E.G. Daily or Ashley DuBose, but at least we'll get to see all three in the Knockout Rounds.