Who Does Kelly Clarkson Use Her Playoff Pass to Save on Tonight's 'The Voice'?

It's a Battle between D. Smooth and ALI singing "Unaware" by Allen Stone.

Sometimes the coaches realize they've made a mistake when they pair up two of their artists in the Battle Rounds on The Voice, so this season, there is a new element to the show that covers such an occasion: The Playoff Pass. The Playoff Pass entitles the coaches to put both artists through. The one who wins the Battle moves on to the Knockout Rounds, but the artist who gets the Playoff Pass gets to skip the Knockout Rounds and go straight into the Playoffs. Hence, the name.

Tonight, on The Voice, Kelly Clarkson paired up D. Smooth with ALI on Allen Stone’s “Unaware,” because they're the most soulful singers on her team, and as the rehearsal session went on, she was having misgivings.

She said, “If I feel like you're both killing it, I can save both of you. The Playoff Pass is the highest honor we've ever given on The Voice. We've never had anybody be able to skip a round.”

It turned out to be prophetic because Kelly was torn when ALI, 24, from Walnut, Calif., who is deaf and wears hearing aids, and D. Smooth, 25, from Birmingham, Ala., took the stage and sang as if their lives depended on it, which in a manner of speaking, it did. At least their lives on The Voice.

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“Wow, incredible job both of you,” Blake said at the end of the performarnce. “That was just great music. That's what I love about this job the most and what I’m going to miss is just sitting here in a front-row seat to some of the best concerts that anybody's ever seen. That was one of them right there. Just a great job. ALI, you had a lot of confidence in your performance and fun and joy. D Smooth, I mean damn man, I'm a fan. I think if I was choosing right now based on what just happened, I would go with D. Smooth.”

“That was phenomenal,” Niall added. “It was just an unbelievable duet. There was no battling in it. It was just two great singers giving each other room to do their thing and that's what makes a great duet always. If I was going just off the feeling that I get, I would just tilt a little bit towards ALI.”

Then Chance weighed in. “That was a crazy good performance,” he said. “Especially the harmonies. It shows the control that both of you guys have. No matter which way you go, Kelly, you have a strong chance of winning this whole thing with either one of these guys. I’ve got to say if it was up to me, I would absolutely pick ALI.”

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“You are world class singers both of you, like incredible things that people on the Grammys aren't even capable of doing,” Kelly said. “No shade. D. Smooth, I haven’t heard a dude sing like that since the ‘90s. I don't get to hear someone like you very often. You just brought us to church. That was incredible. ALI, I know that your story is crazy, but even if I didn't know that, your runs, how you hear pitch, how you flow through a song, through a run, it's a God-given talent not many have."

Kelly chose ALI as the winner of the Battle, but D. Smooth wasn’t going home. Chance used his Steal … or did he? Just as the two men were talking about working together, Kelly pressed her Playoff Pass button. So, D. Smooth will skip the Knockouts and go straight to the Playoffs.

“D, you might want to work with Chance, but I just don’t care man," Kelly said. "I love you. You have the gift to make it all the way to the finale.”

Then to the audience, Kelly added, “He’s one of my favorite people that I've had on my team ever. I had to use my Playoff Pass on D. Smooth, because I just wanted him to advance. I wanted to see what he’s going to do. He's hungry for it.”

And Chance said, “I had to try because he’s that good.”

The Voice airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT and Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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