The voice has advanced to the next round of the competition: the Knockouts. Monday’s episode introduced mega-mentors Sting and Jennifer Hudson, who guided coaches Reba McEntire, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé as their singers prepared for the three-way battles. Sting will advise Team Snoop and Team Gwen, while Hudson, who previously served as a Vote coach in seasons 13 and 15, will assist Team Reba and Team Bublé.
The Knockouts are a unique part of this The voice competition in that the matchups – pitting three hopefuls from the same team against each other, and then having their coach choose who will advance to the Playoffs – often create an interesting mix of music genres and singing styles. This season every Vote contestant has the power to choose the number he wants to fight, making the confrontations even more unpredictable.
Night 1 of Knockouts featured three different three-way battles and one duel, creating a frenzy of coaches ‘stealing’ and ‘saving’ as McEntire, Stefani, Snoop and Bublé appeared to gain the upper hand.
Knockout battle of the episode
Team Snoop’s three-way battle between Austyns Stancil (R&B), Christina Eagle (country) and Jake Tankersley (country) opened the knockout round – and their stellar performance set the bar high for the acts that followed.
Stancil chose Luther Vandross’ classic ballad “Dance With My Father” in honor of his father, who died a year earlier. (Stancil’s practice run was so heartbreaking that Snoop cried during rehearsals.) Eagle chose Maren Morris’ “My Church” for its message about finding sanctuary, and Tankersley chose Luke Combs’ “Going, Going, Gone” for his song choice.
When they individually took the stage to perform, the three Team Snoop members accomplished what they hoped to do during the Knockouts — and the coaches took notice.
Stancil was praised by McEntire for his emotional, “powerful” performance, while Bublé said it took a “special” talent to tackle a Vandross song. Stefani couldn’t help but express her excitement for Eagle, which she has done consistently all season, telling her, “I can’t believe you’re not signed.”
McEntire was a fan of Tankersley’s version of the Combs’ song and praised him for highlighting his “big voice.”
Snoop ultimately had the final say. The hip-hop icon, who got emotional during Stancil’s cover (as did McEntire), said it was the R&B crooner’s personal touch that elevated his overall performance. “Bringing that spirit to the stage made us feel you,” he said. Snoop was equally positive towards Eagle, telling her that he can feel what she’s singing every time she steps on stage. He also singled out Tankersley for putting his own stamp on his achievements. With all three singers bringing something different to the table, choosing a winner wasn’t easy.
Ultimately, Snoop pushed Stancil through to the Playoffs “based on his mind, personality and how he composed himself to hold in all that pain and all that loss to give us a great performance.”
A crazy touch of ‘stealing’ and ‘saving’
During knockouts, each coach has one ‘save’, which they can use to keep one of their eliminated singers safe, and one ‘steal’, which allows them to take an available singer from another team.
Even though Eagle and Tankersley fell short in the knockout round, their sudden availability sparked a wave of steals and saves from the coaches that continued for the rest of the episode.
The moment Eagle was up for grabs, the other coaches pressed the steal button. But Snoop wasn’t done with her either and pressed his one save button to keep her on his team. Turns out it was his plan all along.
When Eagle chose to stay on Team Snoop, the rapper revealed his sneaky strategy, proving that the other coaches never had the chance to steal her away. “She had my save the moment she stepped on stage,” he said.
It’s time for Tankersley The voice wasn’t over yet either. McEntire and Stefani hit the steal button. History played in Stefani’s favor; during the Blinds, she used her only block on McEntire to have a better chance of catching him. (Tankersley, of course, chose Team Snoop.) This time, he chose Stefani as his new coach because of that earlier decision.
“What I love about Jake is that he feels genuine about everything you expect from a country singer,” Stefani said. “But maybe someone is also meant to take such a risk and choose me over Reba.”
Later in the episode, Team Reba’s 14-year-old vocal phenom Jaukeem Fortson became available after losing his knockout fight to Adam Bohanan.
Bublé hit his steal button as it related to Fortson’s journey and was reminded of everyone who gave him a chance when he was younger. “I think it’s great that I could do this for Jaukeem. I think he earned it today,” Bublé said of Fortson’s cover of For King & Country’s “God Only Knows.”
The final fight of the evening was a match between Team Bublé’s Sloane Simon and Cameron Wright, which Wright won. In a fake-out, Bublé stood up from his red chair to say goodbye to Simon, simultaneously pressing his ‘save’ button. The nonchalant move shocked Simon, who was left speechless.
“I saved Sloane because she’s a star,” Bublé said.
A preview of the next episode
The knockouts continue! Bublé has already used up his “save” and “steal” for this round, while Snoop still has a “steal” left and Stefani still has a “save” left. McEntire has more options at her disposal as both of her powers are intact heading into Night 2 of the Knockouts Round.
The voice continues Tuesday, November 12 at 8pm ET on NBC.
