The Voice: Tony Lucca Gives a Creative Comeback to Christina Aguilera's Diss

Former Mousketeer gave an interesting performance, possibly targeted by Xtina's criticism? Plus, find out who Adam and Cee Lo sent home...

By Bruna Nessif Apr 24, 2012 2:25 AMTags
The Voice, Tony Lucca, Christina AguileraNBC

Were tonight's instant eliminations as jaw-dropping as last week's?

Tonight it was Adam Levine's and Cee Lo Green's turn to see their teams perform for their chance to stay in the game and also send one of their members home. And they seemed to express the pressure in an interesting way—giggles and farts. Seriously.

Cee Lo admitted he had gas, and Adam (along with every other coach) acted like they were on laughing gas, because they couldn't even answer questions without busting up. Kinda weird, but whatever works.

Then it was time to get started...

Team Cee Lo

Jamar Rogers, who recently celebrated his 30th birthday, expressed what a milestone it was to see the big 3-0. "I always said I'd never make it to 30," the former crystal meth addict said. Rogers took the stage and gave a gritty and moving performance of Bon Jovi's "It's My Life."

Levine called it "amazing." Christina Aguilera said, "You truly sang that like it was your life on the line." And when it came time for Cee Lo's feedback, the HIV-positive singer broke down into tears from all of the crowd's cheers.

"You're such a survivor," Green told Jamar. "Your story is such an empowering, encouraging, triumphant victory of life and perseverance and sacrifice, dedication and commitment. We can't help but all be inspired by it."

James Massone, aka "Lady Killer No. 2," sang Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" to give love back to the ladies, but Blake Shelton and Xtina wanted something different from him. Adam said he loved it, and coach Cee Lo said James' voice is "so genuine, so sweet, so soft-spoken."

Cee Lo's save, Cheesa, gave a chilling performance of the late Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" and knocked it out of the park. She received a standing ovation, including one from Christina, who knew what huge shoes that was to fill, but said Cheesa did it and still made it her own. Cee Lo commented that he wished there were more powerhouse female vocalists like his "cheese" who sing from the gut.

Juliet Simms debuted a blonder look (and some intense wings) for her rendition of Aerosmith's "Cryin'." As usual, her rugged voice gave a powerful performance. Christina noted that she always enjoys the fact that Juliet seems to "black out when you're on stage, because you just go in and you never look back." Cee Lo said he's always impressed with her voice and that Simms is "one of the hopefuls everyone is rooting on."

Instant Elimination: After reading a heartfelt speech from his cell phone, Cee Lo had to let his "little brother" James go.

Team Adam

Katrina Parker gave a soulful rendition of Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts," which impressed all four coaches. Blake Shelton said it was the first time he heard Katrina's voice sounding completely original, and Xtina pointed out Katrina's constant comparison to Adele, saying, "You are Katrina Parker and own that." A very blunt Adam told his singer, "You weren't one of my favorites on my team in the beginning…you have one of the best voices now."

Mathai gave her unique spin to Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird," a song choice that got Adam excited, but Mathai seemed apprehensive. Her performance was great—minus "Captain America" (an acrobatic dancer) swingin' around. Xtina felt Mathai didn't connect with the song and expressed that she thought it was "inappropriate" for Adam to continue with that choice if Mathai didn't feel comfortable with it.

Ah, Tony Lucca time. After his last performance, Christina seemed to diss her former Mousketeer, calling him "one-dimensional" and saying she hopes the competition remains about his singing ability and not a popularity contest. Well, Adam used that to his coaching advantage.

We didn't know what Tony was going to perform until he got on stage, and whaddya know—he gave his own rendition of Britney Spears'"Hit Me Baby One More Time." Genius. Was Aguilera mad?

Not at all. "Let's get Britney Spears out here on the stage and let's do a real Mickey Mouse Club reunion. And get Justin, too," she said. Shelton was also a fan of what Lucca (and Levine) cooked up: "That pisses me off because that was really smart."

Pip—sans bow tie—sang "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane. He showed us a different side, but we're not sure this side has been fully polished. Pip dabbled with some falsetto notes that Adam admitted "weren't perfect," but felt he still gave a good performance.

Instant Elimination: Adam didn't have a speech prepared but also gave a little pep talk before finally deciding to send Pip home.

Do you agree with the instant eliminations tonight? Sound off in the comments!

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