‘The Voice’ season 23 power rankings: NOIVAS and Mary Kate Connor lead Team Blake in The Playoffs

John Benutty
·4 min read
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When The Playoffs of “The Voice” season 23 begin Monday, May 1, the artists of Team Blake Shelton and Team Chance the Rapper will take the stage for their chance to advance to the live shows. In this round, together with The Playoffs Part 2 on May 8 featuring Team Kelly Clarkson and Team Niall Horan, the coaches remain in control of the future of their team. Each coach will select two artists from the five performances to advance to the Top 8 live show on May 15.

For the first time ever, the coaches had a Playoff Pass at their disposal. In the battles, Blake gave the pass to Mary Kate Connor, sparing her the heat of the Knockouts and sending her straight through to this Playoffs round. His team is rounded out by NOIVAS, who he stole from Team Chance in the battles, Rachel Christine, who he stole from Team Kelly in the knockouts, and Grace West and Kylee Dayne who have been with Blake since the blinds.

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Below check out our thoughts on how Team Blake stacks up against one another and learn which two we think he’ll choose to take to the live shows.

1. NOIVAS

(Blinds: “A Change Is Gonna Come”; Battles: “Jealous Guy”; Knockouts: “I Put a Spell on You”)

At this point in the competition, it’s not typical for a coach to stick with an artist they recently stole over artists they’ve been working with already. But in the case of NOIVAS, who Blake hit his button for in the blinds but was blocked on, Blake may very well be locked in. The song choice in the knockouts surprised both Blake and Reba, but Blake’s decision came down to his view that NOIVAS can “outperform anybody,” and if anything matters during the live shows it is the ability to turn talent and artists into a compelling performance. Blake seems to know that’s what NOIVAS can do.

2. Mary Kate Connor


(Blinds: “Stars”; Battles: “Anti-Hero”)

Blake showed his cards really early thanks to the Playoff Pass. His decision to “save” Mary Kate and let her bypass the knockouts showed his confidence in a stellar young country vocalist. That is a lane that Blake has been wildly successful with on the show and he’ll want to take that winning combination back to the bank for his final season. There was also a key scene during the knockouts where Blake was shown bonding with Mary Kate which should lead us to believe he feels strongly about her chances in the competition and their connection as coach and artist.

3. Rachel Christine


(Blinds: “Uninvited”; Battles: “Light On”; Knockouts: “Rhiannon”)

Don’t let it fool you that Rachel was the very last artist to be stolen in the knockouts — Blake had his hopes set on pulling her over to his team and for good reason. Rachel delivers the strongest rock vocals in the competition and has proven that she can step up to the plate with big songs like “Uninvited” and well-known ones like “Rhiannon.” She’d have a great chance to go to the lives if the cut this round wasn’t so deep, but Blake is probably going to go the more certain and comfortable route of sticking by one of his country-leaning singers instead.

4. Grace West


(Blinds: “Maybe It Was Memphis”; Battles: “I Told You So”; Knockouts: “Here You Come Again”)

One thing Blake loves to see on his team is a classic country vocalist and Grace stepped right into that lane during the knockouts with the Dolly Parton song. On a season where there was more room per team on the live shows, Grace would be an easy prediction to make, but this time Blake has a tough decision to make. With three cuts to make and three female country artists on his team, Blake is unlikely to take two with him to the lives. Grace is a solid performer and vocalist, but her stage presence doesn’t stick out as strongly as some of her teammates.

5. Kylee Dayne


(Blinds: “Fallingwater”; Battles: “Anti-Hero”; Knockouts: “All by Myself”)

Blake stuck with Kylee in the knockouts because of how she swung for the fences with a Celine Dion song and was able to deliver a strong performance. The song choice was a departure from her previous two that hung more closely to the country genre. While Kylee would be a good choice to take to the lives based on the quality of her voice, she’s outmatched by two other artists on Team Blake that occupy the same lane as her.

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