Blake Shelton Wowed by Manny Keith and Wendy Moten Battle Performance on ‘The Voice’ [Watch]
Blake Shelton had a tough decision to make on Monday night (Oct. 18) when he had to choose between two of his standout competitors on Season 21 of The Voice.
Hopefuls Manny Keith and Wendy Moten competed against each other as part of the Battle Round performances. Turning out a powerful rendition of Sting's "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You," Keith looked dapper in a grey tuxedo and effortlessly flaunted his vibrato. Moten, who wore a brown cape, earned a grin from coach Shelton, showing her powerful voice on low notes before going into the chorus.
Both singers waited near the end of the performance to stun listeners even more with their smooth vocal runs and some high notes, which resulted in Ariana Grande and Kelly Clarkson rising to their feet.
After the performance, Clarkson, Grande, John Legend and Shelton gave their thoughts, coming up with a unified opinion that Moten — who earned a four-chair turn during her Blind Audition — was a tough vocalist to beat.
"From the moment you walked out, your energy was so amazing, Manny. I loved it so much. You have this really unique vibrato that I think is so cool and so uniquely you. I think it’s probably the hardest thing in the world to sing with Wendy,” Grande told Keith, then turning to Moten:
"Oh my god, that voice is one in a zillion! [I’m] obsessed! Goosebumps everywhere, leaving my body and hovering, watching this from an out-of-body experience," she said. "It’s unreal what you can do.”
“Manny, you are almost like the music. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you. I loved your runs and your vibrato. It’s so cool,” Clarkson added. “And, then Wendy, you were the words. You were the message. I’ve done quite a few singing competitions all over the world. I’ve navigated them. And this is literally one of the best things I’ve ever heard.”
“Manny knew what he was up against here,” Shelton added, acknowledging the power in Moten’s voice. “You stood toe-to-toe with Wendy up there, and you sang the hell out of it, and you had challenges. You had problems in rehearsals, and you figured out a way to get through it and get better, so thank you for all of the hard work.”
Even though Keith, who dedicated his portion of the performance to his late mother, gave it his all, Shelton ended up choosing Moten as the winner of the battle. Luckily, though, Grande used her steal to slam on her red button, giving Keith another shot at making it to the finale.
Both Moten and Keith will now advance to the Knockout Rounds of the competition. The Voice returns with a whole new episode on Tuesday (Oct. 19) at 8PM ET on NBC.
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