Queen Latifah gave two of her team members quite the challenge on The Voice. During the show’s Battle Round, the rookie coach tasked Marcus Ladden Jr. and Chari with covering Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald’s song, “On My Own.”
As if that wasn’t a big enough ask, LaBelle herself served as Team Queen’s Battle Advisor, meaning that the contestants had to perform the song in front of her.
“I’m not a good person for doing that,” Queen Latifah told the cameras ahead of rehearsal. “Who does that to people they care about in front of the lady herself?”
Neither Queen Latifah nor her contestants needed to worry, though. LaBelle was thoroughly impressed by their take on the tune.
“You better end that song right. Beautiful!” she exclaimed. “I’m gonna call Michael and let him know that y’all killed our song.”
After some more practice, LaBelle advised the contestants not to think about her and McDonald’s version of the track during their performance.
“I’m serious,” she told them. “That’s no good. Do you.”
Kelly Clarkson Uses Her Steal on The Voice
Ladden Jr. and Chari followed those instructions to the letter, and impressed the coaches during their time on stage.
“I loved every second of that. Y’all’s vocals are unreal. That was an awesome performance,” Riley Green praised. “Queen, good luck.”
Kelly Clarkson complimented each singer’s different tones, while Adam Levine said he was left impressed by both artists.
“I thought it was incredible. I’m so proud of both of you. You have done a phenomenal job,” Queen Latifah told the pair. “Me and Patti sat there and we were just blown away by you at the rehearsal… Getting to sing that song with her permission to make it your own, I think that is exactly what you did.”
Ultimately, though, Queen Latifah wound up selecting Chari as the winner of the Battle.
“She’s just so special,” she explained of her choice. “Her control of her voice is so deft. I just love watching her.”
As Ladden Jr. was thanking Latifah for her work with him, Clarkson pressed her button to steal him to her team.
“I had to use my steal on Marcus. He’s kind of the whole package,” she said. “He has range, he has tone, he has that emotionality that you really want from a singer.”
Now, both Clarkson and Green have used their steals to nab someone from Team Queen, a fact that didn’t escape the coach’s attention.
“These are some smart coaches sitting next to me,” she said. “They would be very smart to pick what’s happening on Team Queen, because I’ve got the singers.”
The Voice airs Mondays on NBC.
Photo by Cory Osborne/NBC
The post ‘The Voice’ Battle Round Advisor Patti LaBelle Praises Contestants’ “Beautiful” Cover of Her and Michael McDonald’s Duet—And the Coaches Agree appeared first on American Songwriter.
Author: Paige Gawley