As The Voice concluded this season’s knockout rounds last night, loyal fans can relax a bit as they now know which of their favorite vocalists have successfully advanced to the live shows. Not only did Monday night’s show bring some of the better knockout round performances of the season, but it also may have given viewers a glimpse as to which vocalists may prove to be top contenders throughout the competition.
Adam Levine, Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton, and Gwen Stefani were able narrow down their teams to five vocalists. Ultimately, the vocalists were chosen because the coaches believe they’ll make a difference on their teams and within the competition as a whole.
Nonetheless, Celeb Secrets has the breakdown from last night’s episode regarding which vocalists made it to the live shows and which unfortunately failed to make the cut.
Season 12 of The Voice airs Monday and Tuesday at 8PM on NBC.
TEAM ADAM
DAVINA LEONE VS. JESSE LARSON
WINNER: JESSE LARSON
Levine made the right decision in saving Larson over Leone. Although Leone was a worthy opponent in this knockout round, it’s Larson who manages to take it home and secure his spot on Team Adam. Larson’s decision to share his primary reasons for entering this competition, which is to pay tribute to his late father and prove to his wife he can succeed, helped to unearth a lighter side to his persona. Ultimately, this also helped to even out his strong and soulful, powerhouse vocal talents. While Leone efficiently applied Levine’s critiques from rehearsal to her alluring rendition of Britney Spears’ “Toxic”, Larson’s performance of Joe Cocker’s “The Letter” was everything.
MALIK DAVAGE VS. MARK ISAIAH
WINNER: MARK ISAIAH
The knockout round between Davage and Isaiah unfortunately received the montage treatment during its inital air time, which is unusual for this stage of the competition. Consequently, viewers didn’t get to hear Davage’s performance of Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” until it was published on the show’s YouTube page (it unfortunately proved to be fairly flat throughout). Instead, viewers were treated to a snippet of Isaiah’s rendition of Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself.” Since Levine felt that Isaiah is the “package”, he recognizes his talent and potential marketability within the music industry (it’s a win-win in his book). Therefore, Isaiah rightfullly did not face elimination from Team Adam as his counterpart Davage had.
TEAM BLAKE
ANDREA THOMAS VS. LAUREN DUSKI
WINNER: LAUREN DUSKI
In this knockout round, it was in no way a close call (despite what judges may have said). Although Thomas had a few highlights with certain notes she hit, her rendition of Faith Hill’s “Cry” was shaky and pitchy from beginning to end. Duski, on the other hand, gave a delicate and strong performance of Alison Kraus’ “When You Say Nothing at All.” In our opinion, there was no real competition for Duski this go round. Whether he cares to admit it or not, Thomas’ performance made it very easy for Shelton to select this round’s winner.
ALIYAH MOULDEN VS. CAROLINE SKY
WINNER: ALIYAH MOULDEN
Moulden and Sky gave two very different performances last night, making for a challenging elimination decision on Shelton’s part. While Sky’s decision to boldly perform Etta James’ “At Last” earns her a round of applauds, her efforts ultimately fell short as she often hit flat notes throughout. Moulden deserved to win for her rendition of Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” for two reasons: 1) her ability to sing within different genres shows her versatility as an artist, and 2) she gave a much more well-rounded performance than her former Team Blake counterpart. Enough said.
TEAM GWEN
BRANDON ROYAL VS. JCHOSEN
WINNER: JCHOSEN
JChosen has been a favorite from the moment he stepped on The Voice stage for a reason. After deciding to sing “Without You” by David Guetta (feat. Usher), it shows his capabilities in pulling off such a complex EDM-pop infused song as this one. His ability to control his vocals alone made him deserving of a win last night. While Royal’s rendition of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” was pleasing to the ears, it didn’t have same magic that his counterpart’s performance had possessed.
STEPHANIE RICE VS. TROY RAMEY
WINNER: TROY RAMEY
This knockout round qualifies as a battle that brought two strong vocalists and two completely different performances centerstage. Ramey managed to transform Sia’s “Chandelier” with his rendition of the song, making it sound like an entirely different song. While his vocal abilities are strong in their own right within this performance, it doesn’t hold a candle to what Rice brought to the table. Rice’s rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Safe & Sound” was executed with such delicateness as she combined her own vision into it. We can’t imagine what was circulating through Stefani’s head when she decided to let Rice go (let’s be frank, she won this knockout), but we believe she was taking into consideration who would be a stronger fit for her team in the long run. Fortunately, Stefani’s loss was Keys’ gain as she used her only steal to bring Rice to Team Alicia.
TEAM ALICIA
JACK CASSIDY VS. VANESSA FERGUSON
WINNER: VANESS FERGUSON
While Cassidy offers a fair mix of emotion and vulnerability within his performance of  X Ambassador’s “Unsteady”, he still doesn’t stand a chance against Ferguson. Considering much of Cassidy’s performance was a tad sloppy and “unsteady” (Keys seemed unsure of her feelings towards the end), this knockout round was simply a no-brainer. Ferguson is the whole package, and there’s a reason why Levine also felt so moved by her last night. Not only is she confident and fashionable, she has the vocal talent to back it up and it was all present last night within her rendition of Gladys Knight & the Pips’ hit “If I Were Your Woman.” We think it’s safe to say that Ferguson will be a top contender this season.
FINAL TEAM ROSTER
TEAM ADAM:Â Hanna Eyre, Jesse Larson, Josh West, Lilli Passero, Mark Isaiah
TEAM BLAKE: Aliyah Moulden, Aaliyah Rose, Casi Joy, Lauren Duski, TSoul
TEAM GWEN: Brennley Brown, Hunter Plake, Joshua “JChosen†Hunter, Quizz Swanigan, Troy Ramey
TEAM ALICIA:Â Anatalia Villaranda, Ashley Levin, Chris Blue, Stephanie Rice, Vanessa Ferguson
