Blake Shelton often comes across as a laid-back dude who stopped by “The Voice” stage on a lark and is just hangin’ out, listening to music and trading insults with friends before going home to drink some beers on his porch. But as Tuesday night showed, even he can lose his cool when he finally gets bored with the back-and-forth barbs.
It all started when "The Voice" coaches were trying to say nice things about C. Perkins to give him a faint bit of hope to cling to in the final moments before Usher kicked him off the show. Blake asked him what the “C” stood for.
Adam Levine responded, “It’s C because it sounds cool, man. It’s like if your name was B, you’d be so much cooler than Blake. ‘I’m B. Shelton. What’s up?’ ”
The audience laughed, and Adam pressed on. “Maybe you should try that. You need to try something.”
“Kiss my (expletive), Adam,” Blake retorted. And the crowd “Ooooooooooohed.”
“That’s a lot of smart talk for a guy whose initials are B.S.,” Adam shot back once the noise subsided.
Host Carson Daly put an end to that spat by interrupting. “We’re wondering who won that knockout round,” he said, killing the moment but reminding everyone that, you know, two actual singers were onstage awaiting their verdict, and maybe everyone should move things along so “Grimm” could start on time.
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It seemed like a random thing for Blake to get snippy about, but that wasn’t the first or only dig Adam sent his way Tuesday as the country star and Usher conducted their knockout rounds and selected their singers for the live shows. Adam had earlier called Blake an "idiot" for sending Luke Edgemon home instead of Holly Tucker.
“He’s a whole unique thing. He’s original. He’s different,” Adam said of Luke.
Sure, but the hopeful decided to sing “Teenage Dream” and sounded too much like a lounge singer. And – more to the point – Luke’s not a country singer.
Blake is. So are Holly, Danielle Bradbery, Justin Rivers and The Swon Brothers, the four acts Blake is bringing to the next round. Sensing a theme here? Much like “Adam’s Angels,” the four women who advanced on Mr. Levine’s team Monday night, Blake clearly had a vision of what he wanted his team to look like, and that’s what he’ll take into next week’s live shows.
Usher went in the opposite direction. With Michelle Chaumel, Cathia, Vedo and Josiah Hawley, he’s got a little bit of everything on his squad. Michelle is super entertaining and has the whole nerd-power thing going for her. Vedo’s a quality R&B performer. Cathia, who Usher stole from Shakira, has a big voice in two languages. And Josiah ... well, he’s a good-looking dude who can sing a little bit, and those kind of folks have been known to do well in singing competitions.
We’ll see how Usher and fellow newcomer Shakira fare once the voters start having a say.