‘The Voice’ Battle Round 2 Recap: Coaches Adopt Different Strategies

Tonight's episode of 'The Voice' (March 12) marked the second week of the heated battle rounds. It's murder on the coaches, who are forced to pit two of their own team members against one another and then choose which one they want to keep and which one they want to send home. It's difficult and they agonize over it. This week, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine chose to send contestants with similarities into battle, while Cee Lo Green shook things up and paired singers that couldn't be more different.

PopCrush is here to provide you with the breakdown of each team's battles, as the live shows inch closer.

Team Blake:

Charlotte Sometimes was pitted against Lex Land for Foster the People's dreamy 'Pumped Up Kicks.' Both have similar tones to their voices, but Charlotte is boisterous and outgoing -- hello, Jersey, and proud of it -- whereas Lex is much more introverted and shy. Shelton acknowledged that the battle would center on the ladies' personalities. Charlotte (who looks like a brunette Ashley Tisdale) worked her skintight mini-dress that showed off miles of legs, while the curvy Lex (who resembles Maggie Gyllenhaal) was a modern flapper. Both girls have breathy, velvety voices, with sexy and airy moments. It was difficult for Papa Blake, who commended Lex on her sultry whispers, to  make a selection. Ultimately, Charlotte is the kind of entertainer that you can't take your eyes off and that's who Blake chose.

Team Christina:

Sera Hill has demonstrated strong execution, solid follow through and buckets of emotion. Her runs were crisp, but her biggest strength is the ability to tell a story with her voice. Geoff McBride showed that he sings with an unrivaled passion. He's an organic soul brother. So when Xtina paired them to sing 'Chain of Fools' by Aretha, it made sense since both have those type of voices. Hill and McBride were well-matched and had cute chemistry. They also brought the house down. Xtina chose Sera because she is so technically proficient. In our opinion, she also likely picked Hill because she is younger, more marketable and downright stunning.

For her team's second battle, the singer switched things up a little. Lee Koch and Lindsey Pavao tackled Nirvana's 'Heart Shaped Box,' which they performed with dark and gothic goodness. It was a little sleepy, but these two have those kinds of laid back, somewhat quiet voices. It was challenging for both of them, since Xtina doesn't traffic in rock. She chose Pavao, which was ultimately a safe choice and what we expected from Coach Christina.

Team Adam:

Levine is a choosy judge, but for his battle, he had Kim Yarbrough and Whitney Myer engage in voice-to-voice combat. It was a true battle of the divas, with the ladies singing Mary J. Blige's 'No More Drama.' Oh the irony, since the drama was brought tenfold. It was an epic showdown between two very powerful voices, but Levine went with Yarbrough because she infused her performance with the kinda soul that makes heads turn. Like 360 degrees, Reagan from 'The Exorcist' style.

Team Cee Lo:

For Team Cee Lo's initial battle, Sarah Golden was pitted against Juliet Simms for Rod Stewart's 'Stay With Me.' Since Simms sounds like the female version of Stewart, she had a distinct advantage. Cee Lo maintained that he believed that Golden's hushed, folky tones could surprise us all, but they didn't. Simms overpowered her in every aspect during the rehearsals and mentoring sessions. It felt sort of unfair. Cee Lo said he wanted to challenge Golden and we respect that, but this battle seemed over before it even started.

His second battle saw soulful Jamar Rogers going up against Jamie Lono for 'I Want to Know What Love Is.' Another odd, questionable pairing but at least this one didn't thumb the scale in favor of one contestant over the other ala Simms vs. Golden. It was two dissimilar voices going up against one another, which is the opposite strategy that his competing coaches employ. He eventually chose Rogers, since sandwich making Lono was a bit too nervous.