Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
Austyns Stancil’s “Incredible” Battle Scored a Rare Triple Steal from The Voice Coaches
Everyone wins! Team Gwen dazzles with a pair of Artists too good to be sent straight home.
Even in rehearsals, Gwen Stefani already could see the writing on the wall: No matter who she’d eventually choose as the winner of this particular Battle on The Voice, her competitor Coaches were all but guaranteed to pounce on whichever Artist she’d reluctantly have to eliminate from her team.
Sure enough, Stefani’s foresight looked positively prophetic in the aftermath of a stunning performance from Team Gwen Artists Jose Luis and Austyns Stancil. “I put you guys together knowing that one of you is gonna get stolen,” she anticipated with a hint of sadness. “It’s gonna happen!”
RELATED: Hear Austyns Stancil’s Mind-Blowing “Secret Weapon” That Got Him a 4-Chair Turn
The Voice Team Gwen Battle: Jose Luis vs. Austyns Stancil
Playing off one another with charismatic command of their unique vocal skills, Luis and Stancil made for a crowd-pleasing combo, soaring through a stage-melting cover of Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down.”
None of the Coaches tried to hide their excitement at having the chance to Steal whoever Gwen would leave available. “You’re not gonna lose, picking either one of them,” Reba McEntire assured Stefani, while lavishing tons of love on both Luis and Stancil for finding the perfect flow.
“That was fantastic!… Just incredible,” said Reba. “Y’all’s vocal ability is totally different, but both your vocal ability is huge — your range is huge. I loved the way you played off the audience… Everything was just so polished and perfect. It’s like you guys have been singing forever together!”
RELATED: How Jose Luis’ “Movie Big” 4-Chair Turn Took the Final Spot on Team Gwen
With a silky, lilting voice evoking the smoothness of vintage 1980s-era El DeBarge, Luis brought oodles of well-honed stagecraft and boundless vocal versatility to his pitch-perfect performance. It proved to be the deciding factor when the time ultimately came for Stefani to pick a winner.
“It was such a tough decision, but I had to go with Jose,” she explained. “His dynamics, his motion. His voice has so much range. I just wanted to see more of what he could do.”
That left Stancil standing alone onstage to say what could’ve been his final farewells on Season 26 of The Voice — though everyone knew, by that point, that at least one Coaches’ Steal was in the making. But as it turned out, all three Coaches couldn’t resist Stancil’s amazingly vast vocal reach and effortless R&B style… and one by one, all three smashed their big red button.
RELATED: Gwen Stefani Debuted a Dramatic Hair Change on The Voice
Teasing that he’d lead him straight into “soul-ville,” Snoop Dogg might’ve made the biggest pitch to win Stancil over to his team. “Lemme tell you this, nephew: I wanted you the first time, but I didn’t get you,” said Snoop. “I want you the second time — and I’m gonna get you! … After [Gwen] just gave you that great illustration of what you can be, I could take you to where you wanna be!”
Somehow, though, Michael Bublé managed to match Snoop’s strong come-on step for step. “No joke, I know you just brought so much joy to everybody in this room,” he told Stancil. “I can give you that connection to an audience: You have that ‘thing.’ And I would love to be there with you as you get deeper and closer and you become the star that you were meant to be.”
With the episode ending on Stancil’s cliffhanger decision, which Coach will he choose when the Battles resume? Find out by tuning in Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET as Season 26 of The Voice rolls along on NBC.
Catch new weekly episodes of The Voice on NBC Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Miss an episode? Not to worry — stream it on Peacock the very next day!
