The Voice 26: Gabrielle Zabosky and Frankie Torres’ Powerhouse Battle Ends in a Steal
The Voice Season 26 Battles Part 2 on Tuesday (Oct 22) featured a few unique pairings, but the night ended with a logical pairing from Team Gwen Stefani which resulted in a well-deserved steal. This was a battle between two of Gwen’s most powerful vocalists who were both 4 chair turns, Frankie Torres and Gabrielle Zabosky. (Read our Recap)
Frankie and Gabrielle have become close friends and have been spending every day together since the auditions. The two sang “Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS, a song that Gabrielle isn’t familiar with as an inexperienced artist with only one song out. Frankie is excited to work with Gwen due to her ability to play with “genre-bending.”
They relived their auditions. Gabrielle was shocked to get a 4-chair turn, and was so in the moment that she doesn’t remember much of her audition. The coaches went hard after Frankie with Michael Buble rapping and Reba McEntire presenting her winning trophy to her. But she went with her initial choice of Gwen. The two sounded great during rehearsals. Gwen advised Frankie to growl once, and then really showcase the lyrics. Frankie studied psychology, and works with mentally challenged adults and children. She wanted to use her psychology experience to really show the emotions. Gwen tried to help Gabrielle be more serious and help her be more confident. Gwen expected the coaches to steal whoever loses.
The best battle of the season so far
The two sang the Bishop Briggs version of the song. Frankie started the performance with grit and power, showcasing her great rock tone. Gabrielle sang backup utilizing gorgeous harmonies before switching to lead. Gabrielle’s voice has a more pop diva sound. Her runs aren’t quite as clean, but her voice has even more range with the high notes. She has much improved from her audition which was kind of messy. However, it’s Frankie’s emotion and tone that seemed to shine the most on the song, but it’s pretty evenly matched from a vocal standpoint. It is the best battle of the season so far.
Michael said the arrangement allowed their voices to shine. He called Frankie brave to be generous enough to let Gabrielle rip on those high notes. Gabrielle gave that love back, he added. He would lean towards Gabrielle. Snoop Dogg said, “I really appreciated how it wasn’t about how to outdo as much as it was to compliment.” Reba isn’t familiar with the song, but she loved it. She loved Frankie’s tone, and compared Gabrielle to Barbara Jean on the Reba show. She would also go with Gabrielle. Gwen loved how Frankie did “this rock thing” which she called “rare for a girl.” She called out Frankie’s nerves and Gabrielle’s lack of confidence during auditions and rehearsals. She said, “you didn’t seem nervous at all,” although Gabrielle admitted that she was.
The battle ends with a steal
Gwen chose Gabrielle Zabosky as the winner. She wants to continue to bring out her confidence and believes she has even more vocal ability. Gabrielle was in tears, hoping that Frankie get stolen. At the very last second, Reba stole Frankie Torres. Reba stated that she told Gwen to pick Gabrielle because she always wanted Frankie.
This powerful battle wasn’t the only one of the night. Team Reba’s Adam Bohanon beat Kevin James Graham in a battle of “Lose Control” with Adam improving on his audition performance and Kevin giving a unique performance even if it didn’t result in a steal.
