Key Points
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The Voice coaches filled their teams Monday, and Riley Green held his first battle.
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The country music star and Queen Latifah are first-time coaches this season.
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Green brought in guest mentor Carly Pearce to help him prep his team’s contestants.
Riley Green wasn’t a fan of his first shot at The Voice‘s Battle Rounds.
On Tuesday’s episode, moments after the four coaches had filled their teams, the country music star and first-year coach sent a pair of acts — solo singer Brandy Neelly and sister duo Ferryn & Brinkley— to fight for their chance to move forward in the competition as part of Team Riley.
The fast friends jointly sang “Mama’s Broken Heart” by Miranda Lambert, which Green and guest mentor Carly Pearce helped them prep.
“First of all, the performance was great, and I’m so glad that I got to be a part of it, to have somewhat of a small role creatively and to get to rehearse with y’all,” Green told them after their big number. “I knew it was gonna be really good, just from that acoustic setting and all the energy y’all had. Y’all are all great performers, and it was that much better. There was so much attitude in that. It was great. It was a really great version of that song.”
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He acknowledged that the duo had an advantage in that they were used to singing together.
Still, he noted, Neelly had made him a cake, a reference to a conversation between the two during her audition, which aired Monday. Amid their exchange, she showed him a photo of a dessert that his team had once hired her to make for his birthday as part of her baking side hustle in Nashville.
The 31-year-old had made both Green and Queen Latifah turn their chairs when she auditioned with Jo Dee Messina’s “Lesson in Leavin’.”
Green even offered to make Neelly her own cake if she chose his team.
“So there’s an advantage there too,” Green told the women. “It’s gonna be painful for me either way.”
Host Carson Daly nudged him to make the call.
“This is my first time doing this,” Green told the camera. “It’s really tough to make a decision between these [acts].”
Ultimately, he chose to move forward with Ferryn & Brinkley, sisters from Sevierville, Tenn., who had auditioned with the song “When Will I Be Loved” by the Everly Brothers.
“They’re the only duo on the show,” Green noted. “Individually, they’re super talented, but the fact that they can sing together and their harmonies are so tight is what really makes them something that I think could be a real contender on The Voice.”
Head-to-head competition continues in The Voice‘s Battle Rounds on Monday at 8 p.m. on NBC and streaming the next day on Peacock.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
