Blake Shelton Forced To Make Tough Decision After ‘The Voice’ Contestants Battle With Chart-Topping Country Hit

NBC’s The Voice returned on Tuesday evening (Oct. 12) with the second night of battles and two of Team Blake’s most talented contestants went head-to-head with a cover of a chart-topping country hit.

Country superstar Dierks Bentley was on hand to assist coach Blake Shelton in offering advice to his team members.

Hailey Green and Lana Scott had a chance to work with Bentley ahead of their performance of Maren Morris’ “Girl.”

“It’s an incredible record,” Bentley said of “Girl,” before Shelton chimed in, “that’s how I felt about ‘Hillbilly Bone’ when I released it.”

Bentley complimented Scott’s blind audition, telling her that her version of Kelsea Ballerini’s “Hole In The Bottle” was “so good.”

Coach Shelton was excited to see the battle come to life, explaining, “This is a cool pairing with this song, I think, because Maren is as pop as it gets in country music.”

The superstar went on to share how Scott and Green differ in their artistry.

“Lana’s voice has that country edge to what she does, we just don’t hear that sound in female country voices anymore,” Shelton shared.

“The thing that I love about Hailey’s voice is that it’s just so wild,” Shelton added. “And at the same time, it’s intimidating. Hailey’s only 15-years-old, and she’s so talented.”

Bentley echoed Shelton’s comments.

“This is two of my favorite voices that I’ve heard, so far. It’s a nice dichotomy,” he explained said. “You seem really comfortable, if you can do it in here you can do it anywhere. Both of these girls got that thing that you just can’t put your finger on, and they have it in totally different ways. They can both go really far in this show. This is a tough one for Blake.”

“I don’t want to lose either one of you two,” Shelton declared.

Lana Scott & @HaileyGreen122 connected perfectly on this @marenmorris song. 👏 #VoiceBattles #TeamBlake pic.twitter.com/ltAqvhJuIv

— The Voice (@NBCTheVoice) October 13, 2021

Taking the stage in honor of female empowerment, Green and Scott owned their performance and earned praise from each of the coaches.

“What a performance, both of you are such great singers,” John Legend exclaimed. “Hailey, your power, your tone, it just grabs you. Just to see you putting everything into every single note, it felt so good. Lana, I really love your tone. I think there is a lot of subtlety to it. I like that songbird quality [you have]. I don’t think this is an easy decision. They’re completely different vocalists, you couldn’t go wrong either way.”

“I actually think it’s a perfect song for both of you,” Kelly Clarkson added. “Lana, you held your own because all the big notes were so beautiful, especially the end, you pierced through in a different way. Hailey, you are a cheetah and someone was like just taming you or trying to hold you back. I’m so interested in what the cheetah has to offer, but if you pick Lana she’s badass and not a lot of people are stylists and I think you are.”

Ariana Grande told Green and Scott they were “so amazing” and also agreed that this would not be an easy decision for Shelton.

“I enjoyed the different textures, and it was exciting,” Grande added. “Lana, your voice is so pure and sweet and has a totally different energy then Hailey’s and yours is so colorful and raw and rock ‘n roll. It’s not an easy thing here that you’re dealing with Blake.”

She was right, this was not an easy choice for Shelton.

“Hailey literally plays outside linebacker for her high school football team. Now you know why she sings like that. You can’t hold back the cheetah, you can’t hold her back and believe it or not that was actually Hailey dialed back,” he said. “And then Lana, you have this very completely opposite voice from what Hailey has a very sweet tone, very country, and it’s two different points of view. So thank both of you guys for all the hard work.”

Admitting this is his “least favorite part of this show,” Shelton was forced to pick a winner of the battle and he chose Hailey.

But as fate would have it, Shelton used a save to prevent Scott from going home.

“Wait a minute Lana, you’re not going anywhere,” Shelton shouted. “You get your ass back on that stage.”

He went on to elaborate on why he chose to save Scott.

“I saved Lana because she’s got this raw talent, and I know she wants this so bad, she’s the kind of artist that’s going to deliver week after week,” Shelton said of Scott.

The Voice returns to NBC next Monday at 8/7c.