Team Reba's Battle loser gets stolen by another coach after dramatic performance on The Voice

First-timer Reba McEntire is learning just how difficult it can be to be a coach on The Voice.

Watching the coaches agonize over who to keep on their team and who to cut loose is one of the most entertaining parts of The Voice Battles. Several times every season, we see coaches regret pairing up two great singers and forcing themselves into such an unenviable decision, but it's clear that sometimes the theatrics are just for show. However, you can always tell when it's a real, palpable angst and they just cannot figure out who to risk losing — and that was definitely the case in season 24's second night of Battles when two powerhouse singers from Team Reba stepped onto the stage.

Reba paired up Ms. Monét, a background vocalist with more than 30 years of experience in the industry, and CORii, a songwriter looking to reinvent herself. Reba let the powerhouse singers duke it out over Patti LaBelle's "New Attitude" — and Ms. Monét and CORii left everything on the floor. There's belting and runs and riffs and whistle notes — so much so that even when they finished their performance in rehearsal, Reba fell to the floor in delight. One of the band members in the back yelled "oh my god, you killed Reba." So, going into Monday's performance, the Queen of Country knew she would have an excruciating choice to make.

Once again, Ms. Monét and CORii brought it, blowing away all four coaches with their performance. Niall Horan, Gwen Stefani, and John Legend all noted Ms. Monét's consistent mastery over her vocals, but CORii — who was a one-chair turn in the Blind Auditions — surprised the coaches with her confidence and incredible range. Niall, especially, thought that CORii's improvement between the Blinds and the Battles proves her potential. Reba was so torn in the decision on who to keep that at one point she even asked host Carson Daly for his choice (the host politely declined to answer). In the end, she chose Ms. Monét to remain on Team Reba.

But Reba is clearly bummed about letting CORii go. Unlike previous seasons, the coaches don't have any saves in this round — only two steals. Earlier, Reba vowed to steal back whichever contestant she would lose in this Battle the moment she has the chance, but for now, it's not up to her. Instead, just as CORii almost left the stage, both Niall and Gwen pushed their steal buttons for a battle of their own.

Again, Niall noted the impressive growth CORii demonstrated between rounds. Gwen told the singer that she thinks she's close to dominating the competition and wants to help her "tweak" a few small things to help her with stage presence and charisma. That sounded pretty good to CORii, who joined Team Gwen.

With CORii sticking around in the competition, Reba might have a chance to make good on her promise to steal her back, but you never really know how these early Voice rounds are going to play out. The only definitive thing we know is that there will be more of the judges' agonizing — there is always more agonizing.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• The season's first steal pits John Legend against Gwen Stefani on The Voice
• See every contestant who advanced on The Voice season 24 — and which celeb judge's team they're on
• Watch a contestant make Reba McEntire cry with performance for his late mother on The Voice