Focus on the Philippines: Adam Levine and Blake Shelton fight over The Voice’s Amy Vachal

Plus: Cyrus Villanueva brings mentor Chris Isaak to tears on X Factor Australia and Taklub honoured in Beirut and coming to Dubai.

Amy Vachal performing during the knockout rounds of The Voice. Tyler Golden / NBC

Filipino-American singer Amy Vachal was given a second life on this week's edition of The Voice US.

In the Knockouts round, each of the four celebrity coaches chose two team members to square off as they each performed a solo number. Only one will continue to the live shows. Each coach also had a single steal during the round, saving a losing contestant from another team.

Vachal, 26, performed a pitch-perfect cover of Etta James's A Sunday Kind of Love (see below for a video of her performance). Her coach Pharrell Williams paired her up against 16-year-old Madi Davis, who sang a soulful rendition of Joni Mitchell's A Case of You.

“You’re an interesting artist who seems like people have heard before, but they haven’t,” Pharrell told Vachal.

“What in the world,” quipped Blake Shelton. “I’ve been a fan of yours – you know that – you’re sick of it.”

Gwen Stefani added: “Amy, your voice style is just so beautiful. And I love seeing you without the guitar.”

Vachal, who has been performing with her acoustic guitar in the previous rounds, was advised by guest mentor Rihanna to ditch the instrument and focus on her vocals.

“One of my biggest regrets was not being able to turn around for you,” said Adam Levine, whose team was full when Vachal auditioned. “Here you are now continuing to blow people away. There’s something about you that’s impossible to replicate.”

Williams chose Davis as the winner, but Levine and Shelton immediately pressed their buttons to steal Vachal.

Shelton said: “I’m so excited right now, my heart’s pounding. In the blind auditions, I remember begging because I believe you’re a star. You’re still one of my favourite artists who’s ever auditioned for this show. And I’ve won this show a bunch of times, by the way, twice as many times as Adam.”

Hinting that Williams made a mistake, he added: “I cannot even believe that there is even this opportunity right now. And I can’t wrap my head around you possibly going with Adam.”

Pleading his case, Levine told Vachal: “Listen, during the blind auditions, I thought: ‘Wow this girl can win this whole thing.’ And I didn’t have the chance. I do believe you can win this whole thing. Now I get a chance to be a part of it.”

Vachal eventually chose Levine as her new coach.

"Going from playing in these small cafes and tiny bars in Brooklyn to coming to The Voice – it's a whole new world," Vachal said in an interview. "I am just savouring every moment of this whole process."

Cyrus Villanueva brings mentor Chris Isaak to tears on X Factor Australia

The 19-year-old Filipino-Australian student Cyrus Villanueva delivered another impressive showing on The X Factor Australia this week. His cover performance of Adele's Rumour Has It brought his usually tough 59-year-old mentor, American rocker Chris Isaak, to tears.

“I’m so proud of you. You work so hard,” an emotional Isaak said after Villanueva’s performance. “They don’t know how hard you work – they don’t know.”

The performance received a standing ovation from all four judges. Guy Sebastian said: “Cyrus, there was a moment in that performance where there was a spotlight shining on you and you were just dancing in that light. And I felt like I was watching something special. That was a massive comeback. You’re a star.”

James Blunt said: “It’s the one Adele song that I normally skip over, but you know what, you stepped on that stage and your voice is immaculate. But also, you have charisma. As you move across that stage, you are a pop star.” Dannii Minogue added, “That’s what I was thinking: pop star. You deliver such different performances and the vocals are there. Do pop stars make mistakes and have some bad days like you had last week? Yeah, for sure. You’re human. This is a really tough gig.”

Last week, Villanueva received negative feedback for his performance of Lenny Kravitz's It Ain't Over 'Til it's Over.

Turning to his mentor, Villanueva said: “He’s gonna make me cry. Honestly, that’s what I come here to do. He’s by my side when I’m working hard each week and as long as he’s proud of me, I know I’ve done a good job.”

He later posted on Facebook: “To bring my mentor to tears is definitely something I’ll never forget.”

Villanueva now advances to next week’s top six show. Eliminated this week was 24-year-old contestant Michaela Baranov.

Taklub honoured in Beirut and coming to Dubai

Brillante Mendoza's latest film Taklub (Trap) won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the recent 15th Beirut International Film Festival.

The film, about families who survived the catastrophic typhoon Haiyan that hit Tacloban in 2013, previously won a Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Mendoza is currently being honoured with a retrospective at this week’s Tokyo International Film Festival.

Taklub is also scheduled to screen at the forthcoming Dubai International Film Festival, which will be held from December 9 to 16.