Source: http://thevoice.hollywoodjunket.com/

Here’s my personal “Thank You” to Usher. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You made the right choice in tonight’s battle round by selecting Stevie Jo. Let me explain a bit. If you’re new to “The Voice,” in the battle round, two singers from a team compete against each other. Their coach has to choose the winner of the sing-off to advance to the next round. This helps reduce their teams as they progress in the competition and allows other coaches to steal any singers who don’t make it through the battle round. Each coach can steal up to two singers from their rivals during the battle round.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lNUxmhjUYc

That said, Team Usher had an amazing showdown tonight between Jake Barker and Stevie Jo Rosenbalm. Jake Barker is like Justin Timberlake. Their voices are almost the same, and they even resemble each other a lot. He is quite impressive, but can there really be another J Tim?! Stevie Jo, on the other hand, wow. This guy is a rocker who stepped out of his comfort zone tonight and learned to sing Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love.”

Not only did he do a phenomenal job vocally tonight–but as far as learning a music style that is completely new to him and having to make his voice do things that may have felt really unnatural to him–he hit a home run. I think that is the true mark of someone who can really win, “The Voice.” Stevie Jo has shown his complete musical versatility in his short time on this show and I would absolutely love to see him make it the whole way through. He is a rocker, who has sang Usher and now Steve Winwood. In the background video tonight you saw him really struggle to learn this song and how to sing it, but he could not have done a better job. I am the most impressed with him than with any other competitor on “The Voice” to date.

He is who he is. He came out with his long hair and rocker persona, beaming with a wonderful smile. He had nothing but complementary things to say about his competitor and from where I sat (and where Usher sat) he blew us away and poor Jake out of the water. Before Usher even had to make his decision, Shakira and Adam told both Jake and Stevie that they would be stealing whichever didn’t make it through. They held true to their word and although Jake was cut from team Usher, he was picked up by team Adam. I am excited to see if Adam can pull him out of Justin Timberlake mode and make him Jake Barker.

In the meantime, Stevie Jo I am cheering for you. Keep challenging yourself to learn and grow like you have been, keep smiling and encouraging others and you will go far in this competition. I can’t speak for all of America, but I certainly have fallen for the charms of Stevie Jo. Thank you, Usher. You made a very, very smart decision sticking with Stevie Jo! Is this the year Team Usher wins, “The Voice?”

Read more: ‘The Voice’: First Night of Knockout Rounds