S13.E11: The Knockouts Premiere

[Star Aristille]

From TV Guide:

After being paired against teammates, contestants perform individually for coaches Adam Levine, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson, and Blake Shelton.  Kelly Clarkson serves as key advisor to help prep the artists.

This is a two-hour episode and the only Knockout episode of this upcoming week.

[Star Aristille]

Leaked Knockout for Monday:

 

Going in, I thought Ashland would have it in the bag, but Chloe was sensational, too.  I really don't think Miley could go wrong with either choice.  I just hope whomever isn't picked gets stolen, at the very least.

Enjoy the preview.

Edited November 1, 2017 by Star Aristille

[ILoveReading]

I seemed the real battle was between Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson.   I was excepting a knockout battle between them.

[sweetcookieface]

Is it just me or are the singers really good this season? (I missed the last few seasons, but at least in the earlier seasons, there were tons of mediocre - and occasionally trainwreck - performers at this stage.) Anyway, here are my thoughts on the knockouts:

Adam Cunningham vs. Esera Tuaolo (Team Blake): I thought both of these guys were great, and I’m not a huge country OR R&B fan. I think Blake made the right choice though – there’s a real richness to Esera’s voice.

Lucan Holliday vs. Shi'Ann Jones (Team Jennifer): Clear win for Shi’Ann. I’m usually not that into belters, but I can’t deny that she’s a powerhouse.

Addison Agency vs. Dennis Drummond (Team Adam): I really like Dennis and love his guitar playing, but his voice isn’t really anything special. Addison has one of my favorite voices in the competition, so this was a no-brainer for me.

Janice Freeman vs. Karli Webster (Team Miley): Both were excellent, but I might have actually preferred Karli’s performance.

Davon Fleming vs. Eric Lyn (Team Jennifer): I was underwhelmed by both. I think Eric has a nice, unique voice, but either the song choice – or his interpretation of the song – didn’t do him any favors.

Ashland Craft vs. Chloe Kohanski (Team Miley): Ashland’s voice is undeniable, but Chloe had me mesmerized. The best performance of the night for me – and it wasn’t even close. I loved her interpretation of a song that’s been done to death on these shows.

[Jabu]

I know it's late, but I just got back from a wedding in West Virginia and forgot to remind everyone of the team rosters/cheat sheets going into this round before I left.  So here they are:

Team Adam
Adam Pearce
Hannah Mrozak
Dylan Gerard
Jon Mero
Emily Luther
Anthony Alexander
Dennis Drummond
Addison Agen

Team Miley
Moriah Formica
Brooke Simpson
Chloe Kohanski
Karli Webster
Janice Freeman
Ashland Craft
Whitney Fenimore
Stephan Marcellus

Team Jennifer
Lucas Holliday
Chris Weaver
Davon Fleming
Jeremiah Miller
Shi'Ann Jones
Eric Lyn
Noah Mac
Katrina Rose

Team Blake
Keisha Renee
Esera Tuaolo
Mitchell Lee
Red Marlow
Anna Catherine DeHart
Adam Cunningham
Kathrina Feigh
Megan Rose

Current rosters to follow after I actually see tonight's episode.

Edited November 6, 2017 by Jabu

[Jabu]

Okay!  Finally watched it!

Current team rosters/cheat sheets:

Team Adam
Addison Agen (defeated Dennis Drummond)
Adam Cunningham (stolen from Team Blake)

(Still Waiting)
Adam Pearce
Hannah Mrozak
Dylan Gerard
Jon Mero
Emily Luther
Anthony Alexander

Team Miley
Janice Freeman (defeated Karli Webster)
Ashland Craft (defeated Chloe Kohanski)

(Still Waiting)
Moriah Formica
Brooke Simpson
Whitney Fenimore
Stephan Marcellus

Team Jennifer
Shi'Ann Jones (defeated Lucas Holliday)
Davon Fleming (defeated Eric Lyn)

(Still Waiting)
Chris Weaver
Jeremiah Miller
Noah Mac
Katrina Rose

Team Blake
Esera Tuaolo (defeated Adam Cunningham)
Chloe Kohanski (stolen from Team Miley)

(Still Waiting)
Keisha Renee
Mitchell Lee
Red Marlow
Anna Catherine DeHart
Kathrina Feigh
Megan Rose

Names in bold indicate an artist who has either newly won his or her Battle and stayed on his or her team, or been newly stolen by another coach.  An asterisk indicates that this artist's Knockout was montaged.

[Whimsy]

9 hours ago, sweetcookieface said:

Ashland Craft vs. Chloe Kohanski (Team Miley): Ashland’s voice is undeniable, but Chloe had me mesmerized. The best performance of the night for me – and it wasn’t even close. I loved her interpretation of a song that’s been done to death on these shows.

Chloe had me mesmerized too.  I watched her performance twice, which I rarely do.

The only other person I liked was Janice.  I thought that was an amazing performance.

I am a music snob in that I only like certain styles of music and cannot tolerate listening to anything else, so I FF'd through about 90% of this episode.  Cannot stand country, even a little, and don't like R&B unless they're lean more towards rock.  To me, it feels like that's all the singers are this year.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I would've lost a lot of many dollars calling the Esera/Adam match up. Esera was vocally very good (although, he's not what you would call a dynamic performer), I just can't believe Blake let Adam C. get away to Team Adam.

Addison over Dennis wasn't much of a surprise, although I thought that was possibly the best Dennis had shown of himself so far. If we get Coach bringback artists this season....he's definitely in the mix for Adam or even Blake.

Janice over Karli. Horsepower wins again lol. I'd say Karli's got an outside shot to be the bringback artist for Miley.

Lucas/Shi'Ann...I'd really have preferred both of these artists to be eliminated at this stage of the competition so seeing them paired together wasn't the greatest feeling. However, Lucas bugs even more than Shi'Ann bugs so I guess I'm satisfied with how that KO played out. To a degree...

Also would have lost major money predicting that Davon would win his KO using that MercyMe CCM song that crossed over to mainstream radio. Eric was always going to be fodder, I mostly fast forwarded his performance on Youtube.

Figured the leakage to YouTube definitely boded well for the Ashland/Chloe matchup to produce a steal. I would've guessed that Miley would've stuck with Chloe and Blake would've swooped in to save Ashland. But the opposite happened. A great song choice (with a relatively restrained and by-the-numbers performance) by Ashland won the day over a done to death song choice actually delivered in a fresh and compelling way by Chloe. She was probably my number one (no worse than number 2) favorite blind audition of the entire season so she would've had my vote. Hopefully Blake knows what to do with her song wise because if he does, I think she's a contender to make it all the way to the finale or semi-finals. Ashland has potential too, but I think her and Miley need to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to deliver a more compelling performance when it matters...

[Star Aristille]

Great start to the Knockouts!  I enjoyed most of the performances, and even those I didn't weren't bad.  Just boring.

Adam C. vs. Esera: I thought both guys did a great job in their performances.  Adam C. really had Chris Stapleton down, and Esera totally nailed Luther Vandross.  I think I preferred Adam C., though, and can't believe that Blake let him go, only to get scooped up by Adam.  With him on his team, Adam really might accomplish his goal of beating Blake with a country artist.  Still, I can't totally blame Blake, because Esera was very good, too, and will serve him well going forward.

Lucas vs. Shi'Ann: @PhD-Purgatory15, I really don't see your problem with either one of these two.  Not even remotely.  I thought both did very well with their song choices.  Lucas was big, strong, and powerful, as usual, and knocked my socks off.  Shi'Ann actually took direction well and dramatically reduced the number of runs she did.  In the end, though, Shi'Ann impressed me more, so I'm glad that Jennifer kept her.

Addison vs. Dennis: I thought that this one was a no-brainer.  Dennis indeed gave his best effort of the season thus far, but he seemed to rely more on his guitar playing than he did his voice.  Addison delivered an airy, but strong performance, on the other hand, and rightly deserved the win.  I think she's going to make Miley really sorry she let her go, especially since the one for whom she gave her up is now gone. . . .

Janice vs. Karli: Oh, man.  This one was a tough one, because they both did amazing jobs.  Janice showed great power and control on a Mary J. Blige song, while Karli did Linda Ronstadt proud, as well as former winner Alisan Porter, who did "Blue Bayou" for her Blind in season ten.  Miley really couldn't have gone wrong with either one of them.  In the end, I don't just think it's horsepower that one it for Janice.  I think her cancer backstory helped sway Miley.  Still, I agree that Karli could be an easy Comeback for Miley if they're doing it this season, since Comebacks are usually those who lose in close matchups.  And this?  Was definitely close.

Davon vs. Eric: How would you have lost money if you predicted the winner, @PhD-Purgatory15?  In any case, this was a blowout.  Davon commanded the stage and the vocals of his MercyMe song and showed a great balance of power and control.  Eric sang a nice, silky, buttery, velvety song, but it paled in comparison to what Davon had to offer.  Jennifer definitely chose correctly here.

Ashland vs. Chloe: It's cute to see how close Team Miley and Team Jennifer are.  You just don't feel that closeness between the Team Adam or Team Blake members at all, for some reason.  Anyway, this was the Knockout of the night.  I can see how Miley was torn, but I thought that Chloe should've been the easy winner.  Yes, Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" has been done a lot, but at least she delivered it in a very fresh, new way, like @PhD-Purgatory15 said.  Ashland was also very good, and it was great to see a new song choice.  She did very well in her performance, too.  But I think her remaining on Team Miley came down to Miley wanting to keep a country artist with whom she could beat Blake.  Still, Chloe's the one who deserved the win for me, so I'm glad that she was stolen.  Can Blake do right by her?  We shall see.

On another note, it's kind of odd to see two AI alums on The Voice.  Even odder that they couldn't mention the show on which they started.  Are they under strict orders not to name-drop AI or something?

Very good episode.  Too bad we have to wait all the way till next week to see how the rest of the Knockouts shake out.:(

[PhD-Purgatory15]

It wasn't that Davon won, it was the song that he won with that threw me for a loop. I just never in a million years would've thought that's the direction Davon would have went. And honestly, if that was a song he felt super connected to (and I have no idea, I'm overseas and limited to what YouTube has available to be seen)....why not save that song for one of the live weeks to get that "religious song" bump that so many artists before him have done before? Unless he's planning on largely being a Christian song artist on this show moving forward..

[Star Aristille]

10 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

It wasn't that Davon won, it was the song that he won with that threw me for a loop. I just never in a million years would've thought that's the direction Davon would have went.

Really?  Davon had established that he was heavily involved in his church, so a gospel song was pretty much unsurprising to me.

[bluepiano]

On ‎10‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 7:57 PM, sweetcookieface said:

Ashland Craft vs. Chloe Kohanski (Team Miley): Ashland’s voice is undeniable, but Chloe had me mesmerized. The best performance of the night for me – and it wasn’t even close. I loved her interpretation of a song that’s been done to death on these shows.

Best of the night, best of the season, one of the best I've ever seen on The Voice. And I don't even like "Landslide." I've always thought it was a boring song. But she made me hear things in that song I'd never heard before. And that's really artistry. Funny, because I didn't even remember her earlier performances. I hope she can continue to find the right song to bring out her talent.

I was shocked that she needed to be saved. But then, I'm not a fan of Ashland's style. She has a good voice to me she's generic female country, the way Red (on Blake's team) is generic male country.

Wow, Lucas was bad. I don't think he would've gotten picked over Shi'an anyway, but he might've gotten a save. I hate to use the word, but he really choked. I hope that he can enough singing gigs that he's not going back to working at the supermarket.

The one person I felt bad for was Karli, because I thought that was a really nice rendition of "Blue Bayou." But no way are you going to win a battle with a mellow song like that against a showboating soul belter. Were there no saves left at that point? It's really confusing because they show the performances out of sequence.

Edited November 1, 2017 by bluepiano

[TheGreenKnight]

I watched about 20 minutes, but then tuned it out doing other things. Even when I like the celebrities they have on (JHUD, Miley), the show itself is still a bit boring for me. I think the only reason I turned it on tonight for as long as I did was to see Kelly Clarkson. I thought both the guys at the beginning did well, but I thought the country guy was better. The girl who did "Blue Bayou" only made me think of Alisan Porter's version a couple seasons ago (that was one of the few performances of hers I liked).

[MissSunshine]

Chloe and Addison are definitely in my top 4. I love them both!!!! I've loved Addison from the beginning, and as for Chloe - her Landslide performance made me a fan. I had to watch it twice as well. 

Edited November 1, 2017 by MissSunshine

[jhlipton]

On 10/30/2017 at 7:57 PM, sweetcookieface said:

Adam Cunningham vs. Esera Tuaolo (Team Blake):  Esera won this one.  Adam was good but Esera was on a whole other level.

Lucan Holliday vs. Shi'Ann Jones (Team Jennifer): Lucas was boooooorrrring.  Shi'Ann wasn't much better, but I forgot them both as soon as the round was over.

Addison Agency vs. Dennis Drummond (Team Adam): If you're going to do a cover of Jimi Hendix playing Bob Dylan, you better BRING IT.  Just playing faster, with no emotion in your voice isn't bringing it; not even a little.  Addison won that by default -- it's The Voice not The Guitar; and his playing, while good, wasn't all that special.

Janice Freeman vs. Karli Webster (Team Miley): THIS was the knockout of the night.  Karli's version of Blue Bayou was her own -- that's how you redo a classic -- with thought and emotion.  Janice is a powerhouse but I was hoping whoever didn't get picked got stolen.  That's a shame.

Davon Fleming vs. Eric Lyn (Team Jennifer): As I am to Dylan and Hendrix, my wife is to Marvin Gaye, That was a big fat NOPE from her; I didn't get much emotion from him.  My wife was too overwhelmed by Davon's song choice -- they played it at her mother's funeral -- but what I heard was 10 times better than Eric.

Ashland Craft vs. Chloe Kohanski (Team Miley): Oh, puhhhleeease.  Not even close.  Ashcan's bland version of a rock classic was a cure for the insomniac.  Chloe, on the other hand, showed what I'v said all along: Stevie Nicks is a highly over-rated barely decent singer, whose fame came because she was banging a guitar player that Fleetwood and McVie wanted to turn the band in a different direction.  Landslide has indeed been done to death, but this version transcended them all, including the original.

[limecoke]

I hope Addison goes far because,so far, this competition has way too many screechy and yelly singers.  I just don’t want my ears to bleed with every song.  

I skipped the blinds because of Miley but am surprised to find she seems a tad more subdued this season.  I’m actually liking her as a coach.  

On the other hand, Hudson is driving me nuts.  I get it.  She has a phenomenal voice (though not the style I prefer) and she got nominated and won an Oscar.  But Katherine Hepburn was nominated 12 times and won four.  Still, she didn’t go around calling herself KHep.  To each his own.

[jhlipton]

14 hours ago, limecoke said:

Hudson is driving me nuts.  I get it.  She has a phenomenal voice (though not the style I prefer) and she got nominated and won an Oscar.  But Katherine Hepburn was nominated 12 times and won four.  Still, she didn’t go around calling herself KHep.  To each his own.

Hepburn wasn't a "brand".  Just as Ms Lopez created the JLo brand, Hudson has created the JHud brand. 

[useryikes]

On 03/11/2017 at 9:23 PM, limecoke said:

I hope Addison goes far because,so far, this competition has way too many screechy and yelly singers.  I just don’t want my ears to bleed with every song.

Thank you!  Does everyone have to scream their heads off the make the song "their own?"  I would love to hear a song sung straight.

[Sugar]

Dang, I love Janice so much. That Mary song is one of my favorites, but she did it proud. I also love that she's not a cliche soul singer; she's not afraid to mix up genres and use some rock stylings. Also love that she picked Miley instead of going the predictable route with Jennifer. She has great instincts, and unlike some of the other diva belters, I think she's also a storyteller; I find her very engaging and connected to the lyrics she's singing.

Totally want a Janice vs. Esera finale, so we can have a battle of the pleasant, middle aged, gone through some shit, "last chance at success" singers.

[viajero]

9 hours ago, Sugar said:

Dang, I love Janice so much. That Mary song is one of my favorites, but she did it proud. I also love that she's not a cliche soul singer; she's not afraid to mix up genres and use some rock stylings. Also love that she picked Miley instead of going the predictable route with Jennifer. She has great instincts, and unlike some of the other diva belters, I think she's also a storyteller; I find her very engaging and connected to the lyrics she's singing.

Totally want a Janice vs. Esera finale, so we can have a battle of the pleasant, middle aged, gone through some shit, "last chance at success" singers.

I agree with you about Janice and her performance in this last round.  But I really don't want yet another finale between two older contestants on a season with so much outstanding young talent (for once!).  I also really don't see anything particularly special about Esera.  He has a surprisingly decent voice for a former NFL player, but not much else.  He's already had great success in his chosen field.  I'd like to see really talented up and comers like Chloe, Brooke, Addison, or Noah get whatever little boost being successful on this show can give their careers. 

[Star Aristille]

3 hours ago, viajero said:

I also really don't see anything particularly special about Esera.  He has a surprisingly decent voice for a former NFL player, but not much else.  He's already had great success in his chosen field.

And what's wrong with Esera having success in this field?  He's clearly retired from football and wants a new career path.  So why deny him that?  If he's good enough to get that far, then so be it.  He would deserve it if he did.

[viajero]

1 hour ago, Star Aristille said:

And what's wrong with Esera having success in this field?  He's clearly retired from football and wants a new career path.  So why deny him that?  If he's good enough to get that far, then so be it.  He would deserve it if he did.

I guess the point is that though he's a very likable guy with a sympathetic story, I don't think he's shown me enough in his performances to make me think he deserves to get to the finale or that he'd have much of a music career even if successful on this show.  But maybe he'll surprise me.