‘The Voice’s’ Christina Aguilera on Live Show Eliminations: ‘I Had to Go With My Heart’

On The Voice on Tuesday, Christina Aguilera had to make some tough decisions, saving one member of her team from elimination, and sending another two home.

Note: Spoilers ahead if you haven’t watched Tuesday’s results show.

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After America saved Jesse, Lindsey and Chris Mann from elimination, the remaining three members of Team Christina – Moses, Ashley and Sera – had one last chance to impress Aguilera with a performance before she decided which two she would send home.

“They’re all such unique talents and it’s like comparing apples and oranges,” Aguilera told THR after the show. “How do you really send someone home? I had to go with my heart.”

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Ashley, the 17-year-old with a passion for charity, improved by leaps and bounds with her powerful performance of “Paris (Ooh La La),” and so Aguilera decided to save her from elimination. Moses and Sera were sent home.

“I had to go with my gut,” Aguilera told reporters of her decision. “That was to go with Ashley. She really excited me when she hit that stage.”

“She’s really coming into her own and I just had to keep her around because I want to see where else that goes with her,” Aguilera added about Ashley.

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This was the first week of live shows, with each of the four teams starting out with six members. After Tuesday, Team Christina and Team Blake have been cut down to four people each.

It turns out the contestants weren’t the only nervous ones on Tuesday night at the results show.

“I was shaking in my chair,” Aguilera admitted. “I was so nervous for them and nervous for me, and you don’t want to let anybody down.”

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In a change from season one, the contestants up for elimination were given a “last chance” performance before their coach made his or her elimination decision. Moses, a rapper who Aguilera has been pushing to work on his singing, performed “BreakEven,” while New Jersey native Sera sang “Vision of Love.” For both, it just wasn’t enough to beat Ashley’s breakout performance. “It’s part of the business. Sometimes you’re going to be let down,” Aguilera said after the show.

On Monday’s show, it became clear that Blake Shelton and Aguilera were disagreeing about how a live show performance should be staged. Aguilera’s team emphasized the use of background dancers, at one time getting criticism from Shelton for Sera’s use of shirtless men on the stage.

“At this point, it’s very important in the competition to showcase what these people are about,” Aguilera said, defending her stage productions. “We’re past the battle rounds, we’re past the blind auditions – now you have to bring it as a performer. So it’s really important now that they know how to interact and hold their own with dancers and production.”

Twitter: @Beccamford