"Chills!"— The Voice fans praise Jose Luis and Austyns Stancil's rendition of Lay Me Down by Sam Smith

The Voice season 26 aired a brand new episode this week on Monday, October 28, 2024, and saw the coaches and their teams compete in another round of Battles.

Gwen Stefani paired up Jose Luis and Aystyns Stancil as they sang Lay Me Down by Sam Smith. Their performance earned them praise from the coaches, the studio audience, and fans online. One person wrote on X:

"Jose Luis vs Austyns Stancil was so casual, comfortable, conversational, put me at ease. Love the drama Jose brought. Beautiful harmony. Jose singing those full voice notes Austyns did in a gorgeous falsetto was impressive. 2 gorgeous performances. Chills!"

"austyns and jose's battles performance kind of had me shook honestly... AND YEAHHHH ITS HONESTLY too close of a call because were you HEARING all of THIS right now?" a fan commented.

"That was an incredible performance by austyns stancil, And jose luis, They sounded amazing together, And it was one of the best performances of the night this week," a tweet read.

Fans of The Voice season 26 felt one of the two contestants could go on to win the show.

"José and Austins voices are incredible! One of them might just win the voice! One of them is getting stolen!" a person wrote.

"YES!!!! Austyn for the steal! Gwen lost out. Jose was great but one note. Austyn knocked it out the park!" a fan commented.

"Jose, perfect stage presence, practically perfectionism #TheVoice Both Great! But Jose winner," a tweet read.

Fans of The Voice season 26 further said:

"#TheVoice Jose/Austyns I'm not familiar with this song, so I don't know how it's supposed to sound. But I'm picking Jose. I'm not a fan of too much embellishments," a person wrote.

"YES!!!! Austyn for the steal! Gwen lost out. Jose was great but one note. Austyn knocked it out the park!" a fan commented.

---

Jose Luis and Austyns Stancil battle it out to Sam Smith's Lay Me Down in The Voice season 26 Battles round 3

In The Voice season 26 episode 9, titled, The Battles Part 3, Gwen Stefani paired up Jose Luis and Austyns Stancil as she was certain one of them was going to get the "steal."

Gwen Stefani struggled to pick who she wanted to keep on her team and asked the other coaches what she should do. Reba McEntire praised Jose and called his rendition "fantastic." While praising Aystyns, she said that she loved the way he played off the audience and loved his choreography.

"Everything was just so polished and perfect," she added.

Snoop Dogg also praised The Voice season 26 contestants and said that at certain points of the performance, he felt he had "caught the gangster holy ghost." He said that although they were in a battle, Jose and Austyns complimented each other well.

The famed rapper added that they worked together, allowed each other to have the space to show their vocal abilities, and was happy for both of them. He said he would take whoever Gwen didn't choose.

Michael Bublé told The Voice season 26 contestants they "lit this place up" and commented on how fun their performance looked. He said it spoke more to who Gwen Stefani was and her kindness as she was giving one of them to the other coaches.

Before making her decision, Gwen told Austyns that he came out "so cool" on the stage and listened to her feedback about his facial expressions. She said, "everything landed perfectly." She praised Jose and called his voice a "gift." The Voice season 26 coach stated his voice was "powerful" and "so expressive" that he could do anything with it.

Although she said that it was impossible to choose because one of them could win the NBC show, she picked Jose. However, Austyns's journey didn't end as the other three coaches pressed their Steal buzzer. The contestant chose to join Team Reba.

Fans commented on the battle online and praised Austyns and Jose's performance.

Episodes of The Voice season 26 are available to stream on NBC.