'The Voice' Season 13 Knockouts, Part 3: Freight trains and love on the brain

The Voice Season 13’s Knockout Rounds wrapped Tuesday, but not without a little drama, of course. The night loudly commenced with a goes-to-11 double performance that, to employ another Spinal Tap catchphrase, was guaranteed to make your spine tingle, your blood curdle, and your eyes bulge out of your head—and it made a great gift, too! And at the episode’s end, there was one more 11th-hour Steal.

Let’s recap!

TEAM J.HUD: Chris Weaver vs. Katrina Rose

Miley Cyrus called church-trained drag queen Chris and scenery-chewing Vegas queen Katrina “two of the show’s biggest voices” — which was a total understatement, kind of like calling Miley’s 2013 VMAs performance “slightly suggestive.” Let’s face it, neither Chris nor Katrina know the meaning of the word “subtle” or the phrase “indoor voice.”

But hey, that’s OK! Because both of their Tuesday performances were abundantly entertaining. Chris took the show to church and to the drag club with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’s theatrical “I Put a Spell on You,” utilizing his growl to full effect. We’ve seen and heard many bar-setting performances of this creepy classic — from the Nina Simone version that directly inspired Chris, to Annie Lennox at the Grammys, to bold American Idol (Casey Abrams, Quentin Alexander) and Voice (Christina Aguilera, Jacqui Lee) renditions — and now we can add Chris’s to that mix. This was stupendous.

Maintaining the post-Halloween theme was Katrina with the Cranberries’ fearsome “Zombie.” And while Katrina seemed borderline scary during the Battles (guest adviser Kelly Clarkson diplomatically described her over-the-top style as “distracting”), this week Katrina heeded Jennifer Hudson’s sage advice to be more intimate and not rely on her usual theater shtick, which can come across as shouty and overbearing on television. (Katrina used to play the lead in a professional production of Hairspray and therefore, like Chris, is used to having to sing to the back rows, not to a close-range camera lens.) I thought Katrina really sold the song, but she was still no match for Chris: Her screechy last note was a bit too much, and her performance felt too musical theater.

Jennifer already had a bond with “old Freight Train Chris” — the first recruit to her team, whom she’d met at a Color Purple party two years earlier — so Katrina, a Team J.Hud Steal, may not have been able to do anything to turn this situation around. But kudos to Katrina for taking direction, accepting her defeat with class, and making it this far. She may not be right for The Voice, but if there is ever a ’90s-themed Broadway remake of Rock of Ages (which would actually be awesome), her Cranberries cover should help her land the leading role.

WINNER: Chris Weaver

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TEAM BLAKE: Red Marlow vs. Megan Rose

Red “Country as a Wheelbarrow Full of Turnip Greens” Marlow may be corny (as cornbread!), but he sure is amusing. The likable class clown of Season 13 is full of bad puns, good-natured humor, and Hee Haw-worthy one-liners. But this week, upon Kelly’s wise urging, the “man’s man” showcased a less shticky, more sensitive side, with Craig Campbell’s story-song “Outskirts of Heaven.” It was just what he needed to do to be taken seriously in this competition. His laid-back, traditional approach helped him connect to both the material and the audience, and the instant he crooned the line “My grandpa taught me about buck knives and shotguns,” it was clear that he had won this Knockout — and America’s hearts.

Blake Shelton explained that he’d pitted Red and Megan against each other because he needed to figure out which country lane to take for the remainder of the season. But poor pop-country singer Megan, doing a rendition of Carrie Underwood’s “Smoke Break” that wasn’t exactly smokin’, had no chance against big Red. She got off to a disappointingly shaky start, which Blake nicely attributed to nerves, and “took a half-step from her rehearsal,” which had gone much more smoothly. The more dynamic and ready-for-prime-time Ashland Craft is already occupying Megan’s lane, so this was the end of the lane, or road, for Megan.

“I know you’re country. … It’s just really unfiltered, unpretentious, great country singing,” Adam Levine told Red. “You are country, Red. This is what country sounds like. You’re a country star,” said Jennifer. Red may or may not win this show, but America will love him, and NBC ought to give him a show of his own.