The Voice carried on into the Battle Rounds this week, but a member of Team Blake had to make a surprise exit, leaving another contestant to battle alone. Shelton revealed at the top of the segment that his former team member Alex Whalen was forced to back out of the competition due to "personal reasons." This left Whelan's former battle partner, Neil Salsich, to perform alone.
This was clearly a benefit for Salsich, as he had no one to compete against. He nailed his performance anyway, impressing Shelton and the other coaches with a passionate performance of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine."
"It's never easy to see artists going home, but Neil has a ton of charisma. He did a great job today," Shelton said.
Coach Niall Horan was especially impressed with Salsich's rendition of the tune. Salsich memorably auditioned with Hank Williams' "Honky Tonk Blues," and Horan praised his ability to already show so much versatility this early in the competition.
"You got a four-chair turn in the first place for a reason, but the fact that we had Hank Williams and Marvin Gaye come out of you makes me very excited," he said.
Shelton then joked that it would have been a bit hard for Salsich to fail the battle alone.
"I told him backstage, if you lose this Battle, it will be the worst fail in history," he said. "I mean, like, Adam Levine levels of failure."
"You absolutely nailed it," Shelton continued to Salsich. "You're moving on to the knockouts. Congratulations."
In a post-interview interview, Shelton commented that Salsich truly "owned the moment" and "blew the coaches away."
"I just think America's going to fall in love with this guy," he added.
The Voice airs Monday and Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
