Singer Polina Gagarina found herself seething after a clash with rapper Basta over a missed chance to bring a contestant onto The Voice. The tension wasn’t just about a single moment on stage; it was about the perception that a key opportunity had slipped away because of how the backstage dynamics played out. The studio buzzed with whispers, and the public quickly picked up on the strain between two people who normally kept things professional in front of the camera. For Gagarina, the incident felt like a personal snub that disrupted the flow of the show she cares about and is invested in with her team and the viewers watching at home.
During the blind audition, Evgeny Sinitsyn delivered a rendition of Romance that caught the attention of all four mentors. His voice carried across the room, and one by one the judges leaned forward, eyes fixed on the microphone and the performer’s emotion. Yet when it looked like Sinitsyn had secured broad support, a barrier appeared for Gagarina. The moment was captured on screen as a small, almost cinematic obstacle: a decision that seemed to block the path she hoped to pave for the contestant. Gagarina’s reaction was immediate and unmistakable, a mix of surprise and frustration that underscored how much she wanted to guide this particular artist and how keenly she felt the stakes involved when a single moment could alter a career trajectory. The exchange left viewers with a sense of unfinished business, a narrative hinge that would replay in conversations long after the episode aired.
In the aftermath, Basta offered a pointed reply to the scenes that had just unfolded. The comment, though delivered with a tease that was characteristic of his on-air persona, landed in a way that highlighted the rift in the room. He answered in a manner that could be heard as a light mockery about a dog reference, a metaphor that colleagues later noted. Basta’s retort drew a clear line between banter and offense, a line that the participants and producers quickly navigated as they moved toward the day’s next moments. Evgeny Sinitsyn listened as the room weighed the decision, and in the end the contestant chose to align with Vladimir Presnyakov’s team, a decision that reshaped the immediate competition landscape and added another layer to the ongoing dialogue among judges, mentors, and artists about how talent is recognized and supported on the show.
Earlier in the season, Polina Gagarina had nearly walked away from The Voice because of the jokes that circulated around the panel. She had been deeply unsettled by a moment when Basta and Anton Belyaev mimicked her during a conversation with one of the contestants. The performance space, normally a place of encouragement, briefly transformed into a stage for a personal jab. The tension spiked to a point where Gagarina publicly signaled her frustration and hinted at leaving. Yet her colleagues stepped in, instantly reframing the mood with humor and reassurance. The quick pivot—Gagarina ducking behind her chair in a playful ruse, as if she were choosing to vanish from the room—brought a shared laugh and defused what could have turned into a lasting rift. The moment underscored how the show balances competition, camaraderie, and showmanship on a live stage, and how the performers must negotiate personal boundaries while staying focused on the needs of the contestants and the broader audience.