The Knockouts came to a conclusion on the latest episode of The Voice, with Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Alicia Keys confirming which five contestants they were taking to the live shows.
As always, the knockouts have blatantly been manipulated by the producers in the name of giving viewers some shock value. Unfortunately, that does not always work, and that could be part of the reason this season has been a huge miss so far.
Maybe the two seasons per year is just becoming a chore to watch, but let’s hope the live shows add some much-needed adrenaline back into the show.
We kicked things off with Andrea Thomas going head-to-head with Lauren Duski. Here’s the thing: Andrea has never been one of the best contestants on the show.
Her vocal range is just not there, and this is another case of the producers putting people against each other for entertainment. What’s more entertaining than watching one woman be completely blindsided by the other performance?
Yes, Lauren eked out the victory.
Jackie Cassidy and Vanessa Ferguson were perfect. Each performance was just so difficult to benchmark. Alicia is on a roll with her team, and the other coaches are evidently pissed about the sheer scale of the talent on Team Alicia.
Neither performer missed a beat, but Vanessa was the one who made it all the way through. Surprisingly, there was no steal in sight.
When it came to Davina Leone vs. Jesse Larson, Jesse pretty much obliterated the competition with his rendition of The Letter” by The Box. It was one of the best performances of the night.
Poor Davina performed “Toxic” by Britney Spears, and it was not all that. Jesse won the knockout.
Mark Isaiah went with “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber. If he proved anything, it was that he could effortlessly turn into a pop star if he was given the opportunity.
His notes were on point. That’s not to say Malik’s performance was bad. It was actually pretty good, but Mark was just better.
JChosen has been a vocal powerhouse since his debut on the show almost a month ago. He went with “Without You” by David Guetta. It was great, and miles ahead of Brandon Royal’s performance.
Yes, JChosen advanced to the next stage of the competition.
Aaliyah Moulden went with “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood. It was good, but, like, what the hell? Caroline Sky completely owned her performance of Etta James’ “At Last.”
Surprisingly, Aaliyah advanced, while Caroline was sent packing.
Finally, Stephanie Rice went up against Troy Ramey. Stephanie went with “Safe and Sound” by Taylor Swift, which was a real tearjerker. It was surprisingly awesome.
Troy Ramey went with “Chandelier” by Sia, but it was not quite as good. Gwen opted to keep Troy around, while Stephanie made her way over to Team Alicia.
Next Stop: The Live Shows!
