The Voice recap: Welcome to the season of 3-way knockouts
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This season, The Voice is trying something a little different: 3-way knockouts! Each coach will be putting up three artists to compete against one another in a Knockout and only one will survive (with, of course, a steal). Anybody else scared about this? Well, it is spooky season, so maybe it's for the best. Or, possibly, the worst. Let's find out!
Team Blake: bodie, "Better Now" by Post Malone vs. Kevin Hawkins "This Woman's Work" by Kate Bush vs. The Dryes "Chasing After You" by Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd
Tyler Golden/NBC
Welcome to your first three-way … er, there's got to be a better way to say that. Nope, we're going with it! The other big change this season is that there's no Mega Mentor for this round, it's just the coaches and their artists and while I'm sure there was a budgetary or scheduling reason for this, it does seem nice, like Blake Shelton says, for these relationships to be more intimate ahead of the Lives. In rehearsals, bodie picks a great song for his voice but he knows he needs to change up the arrangement so it doesn't feel like a carbon copy, but that new arrangement leaves him a little unprepared, which Blake notices. It's not a problem during the actual performance, which Blake applauds for not only being great technically, but for the way bodie connects to the music he's singing.
Kevin's doing the Maxwell version of the Kate Bush song he picks and while he comes into rehearsals and wows Blake by singing almost exclusively in his falsetto, Blake advises him to mix it up more with his chest voice. Unfortunately, after the performance, the other coaches — most notably John Legend — call out how disjointed and disconnected the performance felt because of all that jumping around. Blake owns up to that being his call. Meanwhile, the Dryes put on a sexy little performance that Gwen calls their best performance to date. Blake thinks Derek really stepped up in the duo this time around but it's still not enough to best bodie — the winner of this Knockout. Don't fret though — both Camila and Gwen hit their steal buttons for Kevin Hawkins. Gwen calls his performance "flawless" and Kevin winds up in the Live Playoffs on Team Gwen.
Team Camila: Morgan Myles, "What the World Needs Now Is Love" by Jackie DeShannon vs. Chello, "Hold On" by Justin Bieber" vs. Orlando Mendez, "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw
Morgan Myles was the first audition of the season and a four-chair turn and honestly, this feels like her Knockout to lose. In rehearsals, she's off her game a little and Camila Cabello can tell that she's nervous this time around. She advises her to work on confidence by way of body language. Her performance is a little manic in that respect, but her vocals are great, per usual. The coaches all admit that the performance itself wasn't Morgan's best, but her vocals make up for it. Meanwhile, Chello decides to show a different side to himself — a more accurate portrayal of what he sees for his career. He's rocking the guitar and doing a sultry Bieber song. Gwen thinks this is a really smart choice for Chello, even if there were some "tuning issues" and John thinks this was Chello's best performance. Rounding out this Knockout is Orlando Mendez. Orlando goes full out country in order to pay tribute to his uncle who just passed a few weeks prior. Camila loves to see him pouring all of that emotion into his song during rehearsals and the same comes across in the actual performance. Blake compares the energy of some of Orlando's big, belty notes to Nicolas Cage yelling, which…doesn't seem great. The coaches mostly agree that Orlando had the best overall performance here, although John later points out that Morgan is the most consistent. Camila does admit to being the one who advised Morgan to really go for it with the body language, which is nice of her. She remains impressed with Morgan's ability to emote with her voice and thinks she could win the whole competition. Morgan Myles wins this Knockout.
Team Legend: Parijita Bastola, "I'd Rather Go Blind" by Etta James vs. Peyton Aldridge, "Forever After All" by Luke Combs vs. Valarie Harding, "Weak" by SWV
This is a great matchup, first because Parijita, Peyton, and Valarie are all such different singers, but also because they're all great — John Legend fully admits that he could see any of the three of them taking this. It's anybody's game! Parijita wins John's heart by picking an iconic blues song. It gives him faith in the youths and that's not nothing! Also, Parijita kills it. Her singing is so effortless and emotional it seems unfair. The coaches all gush over her ability to tell the story of the song both with her vocals and her body language even at just 17 years old. Peyton vocally crushes this Luke Combs song, but Blake thinks he needs to work on his stage presence (especially when singing right after Parijita) and John points out that the song started off a little wonky. Once he goes into his tenor voice, however, he really soars. Valarie is such a pro and shows it in her performance, but there are some issues in her lower register — Camlia still finds her tone "rich and beautiful." She might be the most solid performer, but Parijita is a phenom and no one can really see anything past that. It doesn't seem like a tough choice for John: He's bringing Parijita Bastola to the live rounds.
Team Gwen: Kique, "Hey Ya!" by Outkast vs. Destiny Leigh, "Impossible" by Christina Aguilera vs. Rowan Grace, "Vienna" by Billy Joel
Tyler Golden/NBC
The youths are singing! The youths are singing! Gwen Stefani puts three of her teens together and it winds up being the Knockout of the evening. It could be because Kique gives a totally unhinged performance set to Outkast's "Hey Ya!" that…really works? It's wild. He starts off with a slow, moody arrangement and gives us all the runs. His low notes are insane. And then the song picks up and he goes full Hey Ya. The coaches are up out of their seats dancing along. John calls it "audacious" and "one of the most compelling performances" of season 22. Camila says "a star is born." Kique's "opponents" really lay it out there, too. Destiny owns the stage and has great presence, but all of the coaches note the vocal issues (and this is the voice, after all). Rowan Grace has a really mature voice and overall presence for her age. John loves the "quiet part" of her voice, calling it "haunting" and Blake tells her that she's become one of his favorites over the course of the season. In the end, there's no stopping the Kique train and Gwen gives him the well-deserved win. It's not too heartbreaking overall, though, because Blake uses his one steal to keep Rowan Grace in the game on Team Blake. He really is a fan!
TEAM STANDINGS
Team Legend: Parijita Bastola
Still to perform in Knockouts: Emma Brooke, Morgan Taylor, The Marilynds (save), Kim Cruse, Ian Harrison (steal from Gwen), Omar Jose Cardona
Team Gwen: Kevin Hawkins (steal from Blake), Kique
Still to perform in Knockouts: Cara Brindisi, Justin Aaron, Daysia, Sasha Hurtado (steal from Camila), Alyssa Witrado, Kayla Von Der Heide
Team Camila: Morgan Myles
Still to perform in Knockouts: Steven McMorran (save), Jaeden Luke (steal from Blake) Reina Ley, Eric Who, Devix, Andrew Igbokidi
Team Blake: bodie, Rowan Grace (steal from Gwen)
Still to perform in Knockouts: Austin Montgomery, Jay Allen (steal from Gwen), Eva Ullman, Brayden Lape, Kate Kalvach, Bryce Leatherwood
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