VOICE OVER: Week 3 Turns Out to Be a Night of Surprises!

On NBC's The Voice tonight, coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, and Blake Shelton were especially competitive as lots of worthy singers essentially said to them, "Let me be your star!"

Sylvia Yacoub, the first vocalist of the night, sang a rockin' version of "Only Girl in the World" by Rhianna. Though the coaches took their sweet time turning around, Christina led the way, followed by Blake, then Cee Lo pushed the red button at the last minute. Sylvia had a hard time deciding among the amazing coaches who really wanted to add her to their teams. But she said, "I have to go with my heart," and chose Team Christina.

A 25-year-old hog farmer from North Carolina, IJ Quinn was a guy with a voice like no other, and he knew that. He admitted to realizing that his voice was higher than that of most guys, but that did not shake his confidence. When asked by Carson Daly, IJ said he was not nervous, "I have the voice! I'm ready!" He sang an energetic "Virtual Insanity," but as has happened to so many other performers, his energy did not equal button-pushes from the coaches.

Carson Daly delivered a ticket to The Voice to Charlie Rey at his workplace, a smog shop in Long Beach California. A surprised Charlie eagerly accepted, as he should. He said, "To have all four of the coaches turn around is the goal. I'm totally nervous! Now I'm at this stage. It's what I've dreamed of." Charlie sang a heartfelt, slightly country version of Michael Buble's "Home." Because of the country quality to his voice, it was not a surprise that Blake was the first to turn around, followed by Adam. The former said, "You don't sound just like Buble, but I think you've got something special. I want you!" Adam, concerned that he may not win this one, tried to go after Blake saying, "I think it's obvious that I'm a better coach than Blake." They went back and forth while Charlie was obviously torn. In the middle of this drama, the show cut to a commercial break! When it came back, Charlie said, "This feels like a dream, I just can't believe it's real. But Blake's holding his arms out to me, so I gotta pick him."

Amanda Brown grew up listening to church music, but when she heard mainstream music, she loved it. So she sang background for a few artists (including Adele) with which she said she had an amazing experience. "It helped me to realize that I wanted to be my own artist." Showing that she could indeed sing for herself, she performed "Valerie." Before he pushed the button, Cee Lo was sitting in his chair singing along. Adam was pretty upset though, saying Amanda saved the best part of her song for the end, at which point he couldn't push the red button. But, as Adam knows, that's the way it goes sometimes. So Amanda joined Team Cee Lo.

Tonight, the coaches saw possibly the most experienced performer this show has ever had. Having been singing for forty years, 55-year-old Yolanda told Carson Daly, "This is The Most Amazing thing that's happened to me in years... I worked on cruise ships until a few years ago when I was let go. Then I started school bus driving." She brought everything she had when she sang a powerhouse rendition of "Get Here." There was so much emotion in that song; it was amazing. Christina kept looking like she was going to push the button to take Yolanda onto her team, but she pulled her hand away, looking regretful as the song ended. Adam told a disappointed Yolanda, "You're amazing," Christina said, "There were numerous times when I almost kind of pushed the button... With that voice, you should not be driving a bus!" and Cee Lo called her a "seasoned vocalist." With all of that, Yolanda went home having showed America that you can never be too old to audition for The Voice.

Fans may remember 22-year-old Cassadee Pope from the band Hey Monday, which toured the world with numerous hit bands like Fall Out Boy and others until just recently. After the group broke up, Cassadee decided to try to go solo, but she felt like making it on The Voice would help accelerate her career. From the moment she opened her mouth to sing, it was obvious that she would be a much fought-over singer. She rocked "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia, which got all of the judges to push the red button and turn around. In their classic way, the coaches argued over who would get this amazing girl. Blake told her, "I believe with 200% of my heart that you are a superstar," and to everyone's- especially his- surprise, the rockstar chose Team Blake. In his excitement, Blake got up out of his chair and celebrated, pointing and laughing jeeringly at the other envious coaches.

So on September 25, Adam shockingly got no additions to his team, while Blake gained two, Cee Lo got one, and Christina got one. Now the stakes are even higher than before, as each coach has fourteen mentees each. Tune in next week to NBC on Monday and Tuesday at 8pm to see how all the final teams pan out!

Visit www.nbc.com/the-voice/artists/ to view the full list of mentees as of the end of week two. You can download your favorites from tonight's performances at www.iTunes.com/thevoice. Keep up with The Voice through the week on Twitter: @NBCTheVoice.