'The Voice' recap: Cheesa, Mathai reign

It's hard to tell who thought Karla Davis' decision to sing B.o.B.'s “Airplanes” was a good idea. She tried to rap-sing. Her whispery voice wasn't really suited to belting out the chorus. It was an all-out mess.

While the rest of Team Adam didn't outright fail, they didn't quite live up to their advance billing either. Only Mathai – whose effortless, gorgeous version of John Legend's “Ordinary People” was a standout on both teams – became a positive surprise.

Mathai, “Ordinary People”
Kim Yarbrough, “Rolling in the Deep”
Tony Lucca, “In Your Eyes”
Katrina Parker, “Tonight, Tonight”
Pip, “When You Were Young”
Karla Davis, “Airplanes”

If there's one thing Cee Lo Green understands, it's the power of performance. And his team reflected that knowledge.

“That was like watching 'Solid Gold',” said Blake Shelton, after Cheesa's diva-riffic performance of “Don't Leave Me This Way.” Luckily, that's what she was going for.

No one was helped by Cee Lo's coaching more, though, than James Massone, who worked the crowd like a pro, trading on his boy-band-ready good looks. His vocals had some issues during “Don't Know Why,” but he certainly played to his likable strengths.

Unfortunately, two early front-runners struggled a bit. Broadway veteran Tony Vincent couldn't quite tap into the power of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” while Erin Martin couldn't wrap her quirkiness around “Walk Like an Egyptian.”

To be truthful, Vincent and Martin were still better than everyone on Adam's team except for Mathai. It's not really fair that they should have to go home ahead of lesser contestants on another team, but that's part of the drama of “The Voice.”

THE RANKINGS

Cheesa, “Don't Leave Me This Way”
Juliet Simms, “Roxanne”
Jamar Rogers, “Are You Gonna Go My Way?”
Tony Vincent, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”
James Massone, “Don't Know Why”
Erin Martin, “Walk Like an Egyptian”