WATCH: Kayleigh Mathews and Lillie Kolich Battle It Out On ‘The Voice’ With Little Big Town’s ‘Girl Crush’

The Battle Rounds have officially begun on Season 30 of The Voice, putting contestants head-to-head as they compete for a chance to advance in the competition. Kayleigh Mathews and Lillie Kolich took the stage to perform Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” as members of Team Queen.

As soon as host Carson Daly announced, “Let the battle begin,” the two singers poured their hearts into the performance, leaving it all on the stage. They began standing back-to-back, with Kayleigh taking the lead on the first verse before Lillie joined in, setting the tone for the powerful performance. The pair eventually turned toward one another, trading verses before bringing their voices together for the song’s commanding chorus.

Both contestants brought something special to the performance, as they showcased their individual strengths while still managing to blend their voices together beautifully. Their stage presence and vocal delivery made it clear that choosing a winner would be no easy task for their coach, Queen Latifah.

Fellow first-time coach, Riley Green was first to give his critique of the performance. He first praised Kayleigh for using her “big voice” to “take over the room” and commended Lillie for bringing some really “unique” elements into her performance.

“It’s not going to be fun, Queen. That’s the problem when you get every four chair turn on your team, you’ve got really talented people going against each other. So this is on you. If you want everybody during the blinds, you have to deal with this now,” he joked.

Up next was Kelly Clarkson, who admitted that while she has heard this Little Big Town hit sung many different ways, this is her favorite version yet.

“Kayleigh, you just have such a huge presence, but your range is incredible. It was like a masterclass, man. And Lillie, from the first time you opened your mouth, it crushed me. You made some choice on the word ‘maybe’… That maybe broke me in the best way ever. It was such a rad choice. It was so breathtakingly beautiful, both of you,” she added. “I’m leaning slightly towards Kayleigh, but you both could be in the finale. You’re both incredible.”

Coach Adam Levine revealed that he would likely go in the opposite direction and pick Lillie, simply because the song choice was more out of her wheelhouse but she still managed to deliver something great.

“This song, Kayleigh, leans towards your sensibility, I feel like. You’d think that it would be to your advantage, but in a way it sets the table for Lillie because it’s like, okay, well how are we going to respond here and do something that might be more suited for your partner? And the answer is really amazingly well. I think you guys both did an amazing job in your own way, but couldn’t be more different. Music is so unbelievably subjective. So Queen, as far as I’m concerned, you can’t really go wrong here,” he noted.

Before declaring a winner, Queen had to give her thoughts on the performance.

“I feel honored to have been here to witness that. That was gorgeous,” she began.

The icon went on to point out that at the very start, she felt Kayleigh was “super respectful” of her duet partner, and hoped that she would give herself the chance to shine too. Luckily, she rose to the occasion.

“Boy, did you make this your own. Every time you blended together in your harmonies, it was so spot on. That one note you sang, Lillie, was so special to me,” Queen continued. “Now y’all both have completely different pockets. You are kind of more on it. She’s more riding behind the beat. And I was like, “How are they going to make this work?” Y’all made it work. You managed to still sound so individual, but what a beautiful duet to sing together.”

Although faced with a “really, really tough” decision, Queen Latifah ultimately chose Lillie as the winner of this battle round. However, she stressed that “neither one of you should go home.”

“I picked Lillie because she has a flavor that’s all of her own. She sang one note today that was so special and unique. I said, I got to choose her.”

The other coaches seemed to hear that loud and clear because as soon as the opportunity arose, Kelly Clarkson hit the buzzer on her chair, claiming to steal Kayleigh. Riley Green was right behind her as he also offered up the chance to steal her for his team, meaning her and Clarkson would once again have to fight for the contestant they want to take through the next phase of the competition.

“Look, I know what you’re wanting to do. He’s wearing a cowboy hat. I own cowboy hats. I just wear them at my ranch right here,” Clarkson joked. “But here’s the thing, but here’s the thing. Remember when you thought you were going home, the feeling you felt when you were like, ‘Oh my God, she picked me.’ And he didn’t push his button. I hit first. I have won a competition. I promise you I can do it. I think you should pick me.”

Riley Green had previously fought to have Kayleigh on his team during the Blind Auditions and although he lost to Queen the first time around, he wasn’t ready to give up yet.

“I’ve obviously been a huge fan of you since your first audition and it was a four-chair turn. I remember pulling out any tricks I could, duck calls, anything I could do to try to get Adam to stop talking and everybody shut up. And the reason that Adam stands in front of me and Kelly yells is because they don’t want you on my team because they know we’re going to win…And I don’t blame them for that. So I’m excited about this opportunity. I’m glad that it worked out. I would love for you to be on my team and let’s go win The Voice.”

Then it was time for Kayleigh to make her decision on which new team she would be joining.

“Both amazing coaches. I’d be honored to work with either of you. But for this one, I got to go…”

Viewers will have to tune into The Voice tonight (Oct. 13) to see which coach Kayleigh picks. The singing competition show airs at 8/7c on NBC and next day on Peacock.