‘The Voice’ recap: They’re on each other’s teams

“The Voice” Season 7 battle rounds hit their final note on Tuesday night. Next week, it’s on to the knockout rounds, where the guest mentor for all the teams will be Taylor Swift. That should be fun.

Each coach will get one last steal for that round, and so the cuts may hurt a little more. That’s not to say the battle round cuts don’t hurt, especially for the singers who get sent packing. That was plenty clear on Tuesday, when one disappointed contestant, scat-singing jazz vocalist and music student Brittany Butler, left the stage after losing her battle and immediately doubled over, sobbing.

Butler’s coach, Pharrell Williams, and his friend and fellow mensch Gwen Stefani, who had declined to use the last save of the season on Butler, appeared to offer a pep talk.

“If you use this platform in the right way, you go up from here, not down,” Williams told the teary former contestant.

“Do you know how many years I was in a band before I got on the radio?” Stefani asked. “Nine! It took a long time.”

Aw, see? It’s all going to be OK, sad sent-home singers.

Anyhow, Butler wasn’t the only vocalist heading off to turn lemons into lemonade on Tuesday, though she was the first. Here’s how the battles broke down:

Brittany Butler vs. Ricky Manning (Team Pharrell): Williams assigned these two disparate young singers George Benson’s “On Broadway,” hoping each of them would find a way to use it to their own advantage. Butler, who has had more vocal training, seemed to have the advantage going in. But Williams had said the singer who cut loose more would probably be the one he opted to keep around. And Manning seemed to sing with a greater sense of the stakes. Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Williams all gave the match to Manning, who they agreed had vastly improved since his blind audition. (Levine also couldn’t get over Manning’s resemblance to Joaquin Phoenix.) Williams said he saw “a lot of potential in Ricky.… If he continues to dive deeper within himself, he could win.”

Kensington Moore vs. Reagan James (Team Blake): With two talented teens (ages 16 and 15, respectively) “occupying the same spot” on his team, Shelton decided them to have them go head to head on Lorde’s “Team” to see who was better. When Moore, suffering from kidney stones, failed to show up for the final rehearsal with Shelton and guest mentor Little Big Town, things didn’t look too good for her, but after a bonus rehearsal with Shelton, the coach declared Moore and James to be “neck and neck.” During the battle, James stuck her neck out a little further -- and showed way more confidence. Levine said James had performed “like you’ve been a pop star for 20 years and you’re 15 years old.” Shelton, though he claimed to be torn, apparently agreed. James would remain on his team. No steal for Moore.

Then after a few fast-forward matches (gotta love these hour-long shows) in which Shelton picked Alison Bray over Fernanda Bosch, and Stefani selected Anita Antoinette over Mayra Alvarez and Bryana Salaz over Giana Salvato, it was on to the final battle of the evening -- and the season.

Beth Spangler vs. Mia Pfirman (Team Adam): Levine boldly pitted two four-chair turns against each other, assigning them Christina Aguilera’s “I Turn to You,” explaining that he had room for only one belter on his team and believed in challenging contestants early to “really see who shines through.” He urged both singers to rein in their voices a little bit and give performances that were “subtle,” “beautiful” and “passionate.” The other coaches were split as to who had been more successful, with Shelton and Stefani going with Pfirman and Pharrell with Spangler. Coach Levine said both singers had delivered the power and restraint he sought and called the match a “coin flip,” ultimately the toss went in Pfirman’s direction, and Spangler went to say her goodbyes. As she moved in for a final hug from Stefani, the coach reached around and pressed her button for the save. Later, she predicted that Spangler would “go really far” in the competition. Williams apparently agreed. “I wanted her in the beginning,” he said. “I’m mad.”

Maybe Pharrell will get his shot at Spangler in the knockouts.