'The Voice' Battle Rounds 5 recap

President Obama battled Gov. Romney, the Giants battled the Cardinals and, after all that, Night 5 of "The Voice" Battle Rounds showcased a different form of high-stakes competition Monday. The night went like this:

TEAM CEE LO: Alexis Marceaux vs. Daniel Rosa

The nervous nerds in thick-rimmed glasses fight almost to a draw on a curious song choice -- "American Idol" alumnus Adam Lambert's "Whataya Want from Me." In giant sweater and tie, Rosa overcomes his confidence issues and is the more nuanced and personable of the two, but as Blake points out, he hits a few weird notes. Classically trained Alexis is pristine and powerful, but lacks Rosa's charm despite a killer red dress.

CEE LO'S PICK: Daniel
SHOULD'VE WON: Alexis

TEAM ADAM: Brandon Mahone vs. Nicole Nelson

Brandon is charming, which coach Mary J. Blige picks up on. He's also anxious and wants a victory so bad that he seems destined to overstep — and is no match for composed and experienced belter Nicole. Brandon's voice has the high, shiny Motown sheen for Marvin Gaye's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," but he's too much. Nicole takes Adam's "less is more" advice, making Brandon seem like an overeager puppy.

ADAM'S PICK: Nicole
SHOULD'VE WON: Nicole

TEAM ADAM: Brian Scartocci vs. Loren Allred

The only possible criteria on which to judge these truncated battles are the contestants' look and clothes. Loren resembles a red-haired Taylor Swift, so she's the clear winner.

ADAM'S PICK: Loren
SHOULD'VE WON: Loren

TEAM BLAKE: Ryan Jirovec vs. Cassadee Pope

Ryan seems completely average in this 20-second clip, but Cassadee's name has that annoying "Voice" spelling thing.

BLAKE'S PICK: Cassadee
SHOULD'VE WON: Ryan

TEAM ADAM: Samuel Mouton vs. Joe Kirkland

Samuel's look is a bit too close to white-guy dreadlocks, and he's described as a "reggae-pop singer," so based on the evidence in this tiny clip, Adam made the obvious choice.

ADAM'S PICK: Joe
SHOULD'VE WON: Joe

TEAM CHRISTINA: Devyn DeLoera vs. MarissaAnn

As Xtina's coach, Green Day's punk-rock hero Billie Joe Armstrong is a bizarre fit — then again, Johnny Rotten stars on butter commercials these days in England. Happily, both young singers reject his advice to spit on the audience, but their high-heeled performance of En Vogue's "Free Your Mind" pits power against power. Fifteen-year-old MarissaAnn, who’s from Ronkonkoma, hits every tough note of this funk anthem. Devyn easily keeps up. It's the toughest choice of the night, but Devyn is more composed and smooth.

CHRISTINA'S PICK: Devyn
SHOULD'VE WON: Devyn
BLAKE STEALS: MarissaAnn

 

PHOTO: Ronkonoma's MarissaAnn was "stolen" by Blake Shelton on Monday night's "The Voice."