Spoiler alert! This story discusses Night 3 of The Battles on The Voice Season 30, which aired October 19. Episodes are available to stream the day after they air with a Peacock subscription.
The level of talent on Season 30 of NBC’s long-running singing competition The Voice, currently airing on the 2026 TV schedule, has been truly stellar. I have yet to watch a Battle where I haven’t felt like it could go either way for who is selected as the winner of each duet, which means some really talented singers have been sent home. Although Queen Latifah and Riley Green are the newbies this time around, I think they both actually have a very good chance of winning, that is to say the winner being crowned from one of their teams. If this episode was any indication, I really believe Team Queen has the best chance of coming out on top. Hear me out.
Kicking off the night with a performance of the Stevie Wonder track “As,” which Bryan Jaymes referred to as “one of the greatest songs of all time off one of the greatest albums of all time,” was a tall task. Taking on a Stevie Wonder song is never easy because of his iconic vocals, but Bryan and his Battle partner Brandon Diaz were more than up to the challenge.
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The First The Voice Battle Of The Night Was Truly The Best Of The Season
Typically, in a competition series, you don’t want to have to go first or last, but that’s really not the case with The Voice. Not only were Bryan Jaymes and Brandon Diaz the first Battle of the night, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how good their performance was by the end of the episode. Queen Latifah referred to the duo as “smooth as Tennessee whiskey,” and they really were. You could tell with every note that not only did they want to bring it to impress their coach, but they also wanted to uplift each other.
This Battle was the right song for the right singers in the right moment. Both shone in rehearsal and on stage. After getting a glimpse into their rehearsal process, I had no doubt that Bryan and Brandon (whose first audition was at 14 and led to no coach’s chairs turning) were going to deliver a memorable performance, but I was not prepared for how far it would surpass my already high expectations. Everything about it was perfection, from their singing choices and harmonies to how locked in they were with the audience and each other.
Queen Latifah specifically stood up to applaud their performance, and it was truly deserving of that moment. She even jokingly chastised B-Squared (the duo name they named themselves) for not messing up and making it such a difficult choice for her. I was all up in my feels after their performance, so I know how hard of a decision it was for her.
Ultimately, Queen kept Bryan on her team. Knowing an incredibly talented singer when he heard one, Brandon didn’t even get out a full sentence out when thanking The Equalizer star for working with him. The best moment though? When fellow coach Adam Levine, who won Season 29 with Alexia Jayy, jumped in with his steal. I’m just happy that means we’ll get to hear both singers again during Cut Week.
Queen Latifah Needing Coffee To Stay Awake During A Long Day On The Voice Was Also A Great Moment
Who hasn’t been tired at work and needed a cup of coffee – or two or three – to just make it through the day? About a third of the way through the episode, Queen Latifah pointed out her need for coffee to wake herself up, which I found quite amusing, having had that same need more times than I’d like to mention. It made the whole episode feel about Latifah-centric to me, and it was so deserved.
I love the little moments when we get to see the human and relatable side of the superstar coaches of The Voice, and watching the Chicago star keep drinking coffee to the point where she had to tell herself to stop or she would never be able to go to sleep had me laughing out loud. In between asking for tea, doing voice exercises, and punching the air to bring up her energy, it was just so charming to watch, and I hope we continue to see those little moments from the coaches.
While we already know the competition series will be shaking things up with Season 31’s The Voice: Celebrity, we still have a ways to go until the Season 30 winner of The Voice is crowned in December. Even though I have no idea who’s going to win it all, I feel like both Bryan and Brandon are definitely contenders for the title.
