Normally, there are only two singers on the stage during the Battle rounds on The Voice, But Episode 8 of Season 26 had three singers take the stage when Snoop Dogg paired Team Snoop Artists ChrisDeo and the folksy duo MisterMoon against one another. Although ChrisDeo was outnumbered, and although she stumbled a little bit at the beginning of her performance, one of the most inspirational stories of the season so far ultimately continued as the young singer claimed victory.
Snoop explained that he paired ChrisDeo with MisterMoon because he thought the young singer would “have great harmonies if she had somebody to harmonize with,” and since MisterMoon is a group that already harmonizes, the opportunities for “teamwork” would be natural.
For the Battle, ChrisDeo and MisterMoon sang Amy Winehouse’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.” Although Snoop admitted it was not in either singer’s wheelhouse, he picked it for a reason. “If you treat your vocals like an instrument, it should be able to travel to any genre of music.”
The main theme of Snoop’s coaching during the rehearsals was confidence. ChrisDeo –– who previously revealed how unlikely getting to this stage of The Voice seemed for her while growing up in the projects in New York City –– recalled how she felt “really shaky” during her Blind Audition.
“Right away, Snoop turns for me and it gave me the confidence that I can be great on this show,” ChrisDeo recalled. That support came through again during the rehearsal for the Battles, which were actually held on her 17th birthday. “After rehearsing today, I really think I picked the right coach. The way he built that confidence in me by really giving me a reassuring look — that’s got to mean something. So, I need to make Snoop proud and give a performance that touches his heart.”
“Today I was really shocked about how she could take an Amy Winehouse song and make it hers,” Snoop said before the Battle began. “And then knowing that she’s young so she’s still got a lot of room to grow. You can see that she’s still nervous and still a kid.”
The Voice Team Snoop Battle: ChrisDeo vs. MisterMoon
That nervousness showed a little bit during the beginning of the performance, as ChrisDeo made a few small but noticeable mistakes.
“ChrisDeo, you had a little rocky start, it sounded like you were just off a little bit, but the next time you came in, boy you were just spot on,” Reba McEntire noted — but that was hardly a dealbreaker for her. “ChrisDeo, even though you had a rough spot at the very beginning, I love how powerful you are. I’d go with ChrisDeo.”
Upon getting McEntire’s endorsement despite the errors, ChrisDeo instantly began to cry tears of happiness.
“Oh my god, look how cute she is!” exclaimed Gwen Stefani. Stefani praised MisterMoon’s confidence, but she also seemed to give the teenage singer the nod. “ChrisDeo, you have such an unbelievably soothing, warm, gorgeous voice, and I’m just curious to see what Snoop would do with you because I think all you need is a shot of confidence,” Stefani said as ChrisDeo began to cry more. “I was super, super impressed with you tonight. I love you.”
Coach Michael Bublé noted that, as the only duo, keeping MisterMoon around could be a tactical advantage for Team Snoop going forward. But, ultimately, it was Snoop’s call to make.
“MisterMoon, you all sing together all the time, but she sings solo and to see y’all come together and show real harmony, real sisterhood, compliment each other — that made me feel good,” Snoop addressed his Artists before making his call and naming ChrisDeo as the winner.
“I love ChrisDeo’s voice,” Snoop said. “The talent that I see that’s untapped in there that, once she gets that confidence, she’s going to be all that she can be.”
And, even though he didn’t name them the winners, Snoop was eager to praise MisterMoon, both for their talent and for something even more important. “They sounded like they were a trio and there was a real sisterhood there,” he said, adding that MisterMoon “felt like they were her big sisters and [ChrisDeo] needed that. And I love them for the emotional stability that they gave her despite they didn’t win… She goes through things outside of this world and you guys just became big sisters to her and that means more to me than anything, so thank you all for doing that.”