For the third night of battles in season 26 of The voiceCoach Gwen Stefani paired Jose Luis and Austyns Stancil for a musical matchup to the tune of Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down.” It’s a gentle song full of piercing emotions that fits Stancil and Luis’ vocal styles perfectly.

During the blind auditions, Luis performed “Traitor” by Olivia Rodrigo and Stancil delivered a varied performance of “Ooo Baby Baby” by Smokey Robinson. Both received a 4-chair turn from the coaches and ended up on Team Gwen. Now the best of the best compete against each other in the battles and fight for a place in the knockout round. Luckily, after crowning a Battle winner, the trainers have the opportunity to steal the runner-up before leaving the show for good.

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“I put you together because I knew one of you would get stolen,” Stefani said during rehearsals. “It will happen.”

The voice Team Gwen Fight: Jose Luis vs. Austyns Stancil

During rehearsals, Stefani coached Stancil on his stage presence, focusing on staying connected with the audience. This direction paid off during the battle as both Stancil and Luis metaphorically came out swinging. The two maintained a chemistry that sold the song, each giving the other room to shine. Stefani leaned toward her fellow coaches and asked, “What should I do?” before the song even ended.

“Wow, that was fantastic. Jose, incredible; Austins, simply amazing! I liked the way you staged the audience and I loved your choreography,” said Reba McEntire. “Everything was just so polished and perfect, like you had been singing together forever. I absolutely loved it.”

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“There were a few moments where I thought I had captured the gangster’s holy spirit. It’s a fight, right, but it didn’t feel like it. “It felt like you were together, collaborating and giving each other the space to show off your vocal abilities,” Snoop Dogg said. “I’m happy for both of you and know that even if one of you doesn’t make it, I’ll take you with me.”

Neither Snoop nor McEntire gave any concrete clues as to who they would pick, content to pick up the slack once the dust settled. Michael Bublé had a similar opinion. “It just looked like you guys had so much fun, you lit up this place. It almost says more about who Gwen Stefani is. If that doesn’t show you the kindness and goodness of Gwen Stefani, give us one of hers. Gwen, I love you and thank you,” Bublé said.

“Austyns, you turned out so cool tonight. You listened to my notes about your facial expressions and everything arrived perfectly. Jose, you have this gift, your voice is so powerful and so expressive that you could do anything in the world with your voice. It’s impossible to choose anyone, you could both win The voiceStefani said before naming Jose the winner of the battle.

“It was such a hard decision, but I had to choose Jose. His dynamics, his emotions, his voice have such a wide range that I just wanted to see more of what he could do,” Stefani said.

But don’t worry about Stancil, he got a rare triple steal and all three coaches were eager to add him to their teams. But you’ll have to wait for Tuesday night’s episode to find out which coach picked him up!