‘The Voice’ Final Knockouts: Knock-Knock-Knockin’ on Blake’s Door

(Bryan Bautista is a standout on the Knockouts’ final night. Photo: NBC(

The Voice Season 10’s Knockout Rounds wrapped up Monday – and with only one coach, Blake Shelton, having a Steal up for grabs, most of these remaining contestants were performing without a net. And only one of them would be granted a last-minute reprieve. Which one? The answer might surprise you. But I’m not like Carson Daly; I’m not going to spoil the results. You’ll have to read (or scroll through) this whole recap to find out.

TEAM ADAM: Brian Nhira vs. Nate Butler

To be honest, neither of these contestants ever stood out to me this season, so I didn’t know what to expect from this Knockout. I definitely did not expect to be knocked out, because I didn’t think either guy could bring the necessary swagger and sex appeal to their respective song choices: Brian doing Bruno Mars’s “Grenade” (“It takes chops to this song,” Adam Levine warned), and Nate ill-advisedly doing Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.”

Brian was a very pleasant surprise. He really brought it, fearless ripping into the passionate Bruno tune with gusto. He was singing to win. “Brian came out here and poured gas on the stage and dropped a match on it,” said Blake. “Your energy was on a 10; your voice was on a 10,” said Pharrell Williams. Nate’s tepid Al Green cover, on the other hand, was pure hotel lounge/cruise ship/dinner theater cheese. The coaches kept calling Nate “soulful,” but I’m sorry, I just didn’t hear that at all. And I certainly didn’t see “sexy.”

Unsurprisingly, Brian won this round. I’m beginning to think I underestimated this guy.

WINNER: Brian Nhira

—————————

TEAM BLAKE: Brittany Kennell vs. Mary Sarah

It was the duel of the young country girls – because, for some reason, Blake didn’t seem to think there was enough room on his team for both of them, even though they’re very different singers. (Mary has a classic, vintage style, while Brittany’s more a folky singer-songwriter type.) Both ladies had great Blind Auditions, so this one could be close.

This round really came down – as Knockouts often do – to song choice. Throwback country queen Mary stuck to what she does best, belting Loretta Lynn’s sassy “You Ain’t Woman Enough” with tons of personality. (Imagine a more vocally gifted Kellie Pickler.) She was more than woman enough.

Meanwhile, Brittany, who’d sounded so comfortable and lovely doing Sheryl Crow’s “Strong Enough” in the Blinds, absolutely did not sound strong enough. Or woman enough. The performance she did this week, of Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One,” dragged along unemotionally, and her vocals were strained. Abby actually sounded like she had a cold. Did she have a cold? What happened to her? Key advisor Miley Cyrus sounded way better singing a few bars of “You’re Still the One” during Brittany’s mentoring session.

Mary won this round, of course. I sincerely doubt that any other coach would have wanted to poach Brittany, after her underwhelming performance – but they had no Steals left to give anyway.

WINNER: Mary Sarah

—————————

TEAM XTINA: Bryan Bautista vs. Trey O’Dell

Trey possesses the sort of dreamboat good looks that had Miley eyeing him up and down like he was a hammer she wanted to lick or a wrecking ball she had the urge to straddle. But that’s really all he had to offer this week. His cover of OneRepublic’s “I Lived” died a slow death onstage, as he struggled with pitch and breath-control problems throughout. It might have just been a case of nerves, but not even Miley’s advice on how to work a mic stand helped this doomed performance. Sorry, Trey. This show is called The Voice, not The Face. This did not work.

But speaking of “Sorry”… Bryan sang the Justin Bieber banger by that title, and he infused it with funky reggaeton flavor and glass-shattering falsettos, totally making the song his own. He also seemed so relaxed and professional in the ring, coming across as a legit soul/pop singing sensation. This was impressive. Bryan has come a long way in a short time. He’s a changed man since his failed audition of Season 9.

WINNER: Bryan Bautista

—————————

TEAM PHARRELL: Abby Celso vs. Caity Peters

Abby did “Rich Girl,” so automatically she had my vote, since I consider Hall & Oates national treasures and have been hoping for years that one of these singing competitions would have a Hall & Oates Night already. (Maybe when Alicia Keys and Miley are done being Season 11 Voice coaches, Daryl and John can fill those red chairs next. Just a thought.) But it turned out that this song was all wrong for Abby – even though she’s performed it many times before. This time, at least, she relied way too much on growls, exaggerated facial expressions, and attitude, and the whole spectacle felt gimmicky and forced. Abby almost seemed like a caricature of herself. I can’t go for that, Abby. No can do. (Side note: Luke Wade’s version of this song in Season 7 was way better.)

Caity’s lover of Sam Smith’s “Leave Your Lover” felt so much more real. (Although it would have been cooler if she hadn’t changed the pronouns; that’s just a pet peeve of mine.) It was pretty and tasteful… and it totally served as her redemption song, following her excruciating Battle Round with Joe Vivona, literally one of the worst Battles in Voice history. Caity needed this performance.

So this was another landslide Knockout – the fourth landslide of this episode. As an avid TV-watcher, I found this lack of suspense frustrating. But as a music fan, I was glad to see all the right contestants sailing through to the Playoffs.

WINNER: Caity Peters

—————————

TEAM ADAM: Laith Al-Saadi vs. Jessica Crosbie

Laith, the beardy, guitar-shreddy older rocker, sang one of Adam’s 592 “favorite songs,” Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” Done right, this is the kind of emotive, wide-open ballad that a singer can have a real “moment” with; however, I didn’t expect Laith could pull it off. But he did! No, his cover didn’t exactly having me hoisting a boombox over my head, but it had a heartfelt, slightly evangelical quality that made me connect to him in a way that I hadn’t during his previous bar-band performances.

It would have been awesome if Jessica had adhered to an unofficial Say Anything theme and performed “Joe Lies.” Instead, she went with “Wake Me Up” by Avicii. It was an improvement over the terrible Coldplay cover she did for her audition (an audition that really shouldn’t have turned any chairs in the first place), but it was fairly pedestrian. Nothing about it stood out. Wake me up when it’s all over, indeed.

WINNER: Laith Al-Saadi

—————————

TEAM ADAM: Caroline Burns vs. Katherine Ho

This was a shocker, because it was the only Knockout out of five hours and three evenings of programming that got a montage edit. That meant poor Katherine was montaged three times this year, making her the Rebekah Samarin of Season 10. Let the conspiracy-theorizing commence as to what this girl did to get on producers’ bad side. (Oh, I’m sure she didn’t do anything. But we will never know…)

This montage was also a surprise because Caroline has been very pimped this season – as both a triumphant returning auditioner, and as the girl who beat out early favorite Mike Schiavo in the Battles. But she should just be relieved that America got to hear a little bit of her rendition of Christina Perri’s “Human.” (It sounded a bit wobbly, but nice.) We don’t even know what song Katherine did.

WINNER: Caroline Burns

—————————

TEAM XTINA: Joe Maye vs. Kata Hay

By a process of elimination, this last round featured perhaps the most mismatched pair of the season: a smooth rock ‘n’ soul crooner versus a country firecracker. But these singers do have one thing in common: Sometimes they rely on drama to compensate for vocal shortcomings.

Joe’s timing and phrasing were pretty off during the Weeknd’s “Earned It,” but he did a lot of gyrating and smizing, and he even dropped to his knees at the song’s end. Did he earn it? Not totally, but I’ll give him an A for effort.

And then there was the Kata, spitting fire on Reba McEntire’s honky-tonk stomper “Why Haven’t I Heard From You.” Kata should not have won her Battle a couple weeks ago, but she redeemed herself this week, delivering her strongest, most on-pitch vocal (maybe her only on-pitch vocal) of the season so far, on a song that worked with her sometimes abrasive personality. This was a ton of fun.

We all knew that this Knockout would end in a Steal, thanks to Carson Daly’s spoilery back-announcing ways, but since country star Blake was the only coach with a Steal left, I assumed he’d end up with country singer Kata on his team. But nope! Christina Aguilera kept Kata (the right decision, based on these performances), and Blake stole Joe, likely by default.

I have to wonder if Blake wished he hadn’t held out so long to use his Steal. There are other contestants that got away this season that were better than Joe, or that at least would have been better fits for Team Blake. But hey, what’s done is done.

WINNER: Kata Hay

STOLEN: Joe Maye moves to Team Blake

—————————

So now we know the top 20 moving on to next week’s Live Playoffs. (But not before a “Road to the Lives” clip show on Tuesday, of course. NBC execs love them some clip shows.) How do semifinalists stack up? Is Team Xtina still the team to beat? Check out my ranking (and exclusive new cast photos) HERE, discuss in the comments section below, and see you next week.

Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Amazon, Tumblr, Vine,