‘The Voice’: Kelly Clarkson Performs “Underneath The Tree,” Matthew Schuler Axed

“It only takes one to win,” says Blake Shelton of his one-man team going into Tuesday night’s elimination on The Voice. Though just a tad insensitive to Cee Lo’s team of zero, it sets a fighting tone for the battle against Adam Levine and his team of three and Christina Aguilera and her team of two.

While the competitive spirit was alive and well on Tuesday’s show, so was a whole lot of the Christmas spirit. With some holiday-themed performances, not to mention the super-festive leather Renaissance festival top decking Cee Lo’s halls, it was hard not to feel the miracle of the season in the air. Or was that residual fog machine and lasers from Monday night’s show? No matter!

Here’s what happens when The Voice gets holly jolly:

Kicking off the night is former mentor Kelly Clarkson, who performs “Underneath The Tree.” Although she tells Carson Daly, “I’ve felt better. I’m looking forward to second trimester,” she pulls off a glowing pregnant performance. There’s more where that came from, too, on Kelly Clarkson’s Cautionary Music Christmas Tale December 11th at 10PM on (of course) NBC.

Jacquie Lee, Matthew Schuler and Tessanne Chin are up next to perform Florence + The Machine’s “You’ve Got The Love.” Sparkly costumes add festivity to the non-holiday music, and Tessanne stands out in the group over Team Christina’s contestants. It’s not the best performance of the night, but it’s hard to have a bad one with the talented group that remains.

In a truly charitable move, Blake Shelton brings back Season 1 contestant Xenia for a performance of “Silver Bells.” It’s sweet, if unremarkable, but Xenia inexplicably looks miserable about being on stage. Her former Voice runner-up status must have her so busy these days.

Cole Vosbury, James Wolpert and Will Champlin join Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt — also Rihanna‘s touring guitarist — for a performance of a top guilty pleasure, “More Than Words.” Adam and Blake both sing along from their chairs, and even Carson admits, “I enjoyed that way more than I would ever admit on live television.” No shame, Carson, no shame.

Before the final results are announced, the entire top six perform “O Holy Night.” The harmony is lovely, and not one tries to steal the show. The phenomenal arrangement is enough to have Glee shaking in whatever heavily bedazzled boots they are wearing this week at this new competition for best Christmas single sales.

While the true meaning of Christmas has something to do with being nice or loving your neighbor or presents, the true meaning of the results show is to kick someone to the curb.

Advancing to the semi-finals:

Team Adam: Tessanne Chin, Will Champlin Team Blake: Cole Vosbury Team Christina: Jacquie Lee Instant Save: James Wolpert of Team Adam

Dashing through the snow…all the way home: Matthew Schuler

After another perfect night, Team Adam heads to the semi-finals completely unscathed, but both Team Christina and Team Blake still have a fighting chance. It gets real on Monday when the instant save is over, and America’s votes once again reign supreme.

What do you think of the results? Is Team Adam on the path to win it all?

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