A primer on Battles

In last week’s article, we touched upon how heartbreaking the process of Battles is, and how the lifeline that is the Steal can give an artist a glimmer of hope—that is, until Knockouts happen.
I have to say, though, that as brutal as the entire elimination process can be, the teens themselves set a tone of fun and lightness of being that affected us all in the studio, including the four coaches sitting in those iconic red chairs.

On Twitter, I’ve given pieces of information that should hopefully enlighten and inform those who follow the show.

But 140 characters per tweet is way too restrictive a limit to fully outline what it is we go through. Allow me, then, to place my thoughts into words.

1. You got four chairs to turn at Blinds? Splendid! But at Battles, that won’t matter.

Yup. As exciting as it is for our audiences to see many chairs turn for one artist and watch the coaches battle it out to get that contestant to choose their team, once we leave that stage, it no longer matters.

How the coaches end up deciding who goes through to Knockouts has nothing to do with how many chairs turned for them at Blinds. An artist who turned just one chair has the same chances of advancing as one who turned three or four. Which leads me to the next thing…

2. Your social media popularity has no power here.

Not just a few of our artists have gathered impressive social media following. However, that is not a guarantee that the teen artist will go through.

I’m active enough in social media to see how wonderfully the kids engage the fans they’ve managed to snag. But onstage, it’s your performance that matters. If you don’t perform well, the audience will be able to tell. You just have to hope that your coach is a merciful one. Speaking of which…

3. What your coach ends up judging that performance on is up to him or her.

Remember, there are things that we see that the other coaches and the studio audience don’t—like the piano, band or stage rehearsals. There are sessions where the coaches aren’t present, where the resident voice teachers (Lindie Achacoso, Thor Dulay, Suy Galvez and Annie Quintos-Uy) supervise and instruct.

They are invaluable to the success of the show, and I for one am grateful they’re there. They serve as eyes and ears for the coaches when we aren’t around, giving tons of informative feedback that I keep in mind when making a Battle Round decision.

4. If you end up sucking big time, there’s no way the coach will let you through.

Actually, we’re quite kind. A small error in performance where there wasn’t one in rehearsal can be forgiven (we also make mistakes at work, so we have to cut the kids some slack). However, if there’s a chronic issue, no improvement, or when a kid is nagdadahilan (making up excuses), not taking responsibility for errors that are always being committed, we act accordingly.

In the world of theater, this is a constant reminder: “Early is actually on time, and on time is actually late.” It’s one example of the level of expectation I have on the artists on my team—that they show up to every rehearsal prepared to get to work, exhibit professional behavior at all times, take each session seriously, and treat every person with respect. We’ve had a few artists in previous seasons forget that last rule, to unfavorable results.

So, at Battles, it’s not enough to merely be phenomenally talented. You need to be a professional, loving the craft so much that you treat it, and the people you work alongside, with respect. Within the inner circles, it is this that we remember, and a lack of it usually guarantees exclusion from future productions.

We do hope you enjoy each weekend of Battles. It’s quite the exciting roller-coaster ride!

Will your favorite teen artist make it through to the next round? Stay tuned!

“The Voice Teens” airs on ABS-CBN every Saturday after “Home Sweetie Home” and every Sunday after “Goin’ Bulilit.”