S14.E13: The Knockouts, Part 3

[Prin Holmes]

From TV Guide:

The Knockouts conclude as past winners Cassadee Pope, Jordan Smith, Chris Blue, and Chloe Kohanski return to mentor the artists in their fight to reach the Live shows.  Adam, Kelly, and Blake each have steals remaining, and Kelly has the final save.

Discuss Monday's two-hour episode here.

Sneak preview of one of the matchups:

D.R. won this for me.  Hands down.  He actually stuck to the lyrics and didn't spend half the song doing the vocal gymnastics that Tish did.  But since this is being previewed, it wouldn't shock me if there was a steal or save attached to this.

[Prin Holmes]

Iiiiiiiit's that time again!  Time to game out what might happen tomorrow in terms of the final Knockout pairs!

Team Adam
Two pairs are left here, and I'm pretty sure as to who'll win out of each pair.  Adam's greatly in love with Rayshun and Reid, and I absolutely think that they will advance while Gary and Jordyn are left out to dry.  Jordyn is obvious.  She's one of Adam's steals, and definitely not one he'll treat with much respect.  Gary is in a similar lane to Rayshun, and I think Adam will greatly prefer Rayshun to him.  That'll leave Reid to take out Jordyn, most likely, since they seem like a case of "no one was left" to me.  As for Adam's steal . . . I don't know.  There are a lot of people left I can see him stealing.  I could see him stealing Jorge if he were to lose on Team Kelly, and I can see him dipping into Team Alicia's pool, too, if Britton were to lose (since he'd have likely gotten him if not for Blake's Block on him).  If he dips into Team Blake's pool, the only one I could see him trying to steal would be Dylan.  But we'll have to see.

Final team for the Lives: Mia, Jackie V., Rayshun, Reid, Drew, and whomever he steals.

Team Alicia
Two pairs are also left here, and I think it's obvious who's winning one of them.  Promos have already spoiled Britton opposing Dallas, and I think that Dallas is toast against Britton.  She's a new member of the team, being a steal, and Alicia has been feeling Britton for quite some time.  This leaves Kelsea vs. Sharane to be the last matchup, and I think that Kelsea should get the nod since I find her a stronger, more unique singer than Sharane.  However, Alicia might like Sharane's "separated from her twin" backstory more and think it'll attract more voters and advance her instead.  It really could go either way between them.  But I hope that Kelsea gets the nod, and Sharane is at least available for Adam, Kelly, or Blake's steal.

Final team for the Lives: Johnny, Terrence, Britton, Kelsea, Christiana, and Jackie F.

Team Kelly
Two pairs are also left here, and I think the pairings are obvious.  We know from the leaked Knockout that D.R. and Tish are against each other, so that also leaves Alexa to oppose Jorge.  Looking at D.R. vs. Tish, I think that D.R. should get Kelly's nod.  He's an original member of her team, he's one of the more shocking Kelly choices, and he just has a stronger performance, IMO.  As for Alexa vs. Jorge, I think it'll depend on which audience to which Kelly wants to appeal -- the teen audience or the Latin audience.  If the former, she'll probably take Alexa to the Lives, even though she already has her teen girl in Brynn.  If the latter, she takes Jorge through to challenge Johnny on Team Alicia for the Latin vote.  For some reason, I think she'll go for Alexa, though, even though she can't go wrong with Jorge.  And who knows?  She might use her save on him if it's a close Knockout between them (or she might even use it on Alexa if she picks Jorge!).  I somehow don't see her using it on the D.R./Tish loser.  As for her potential steal, I truly am hoping that she steals Dylan back from Team Blake, since I really liked him with her and think that Blake won't treat him well at all since he's not an original member of his team.

Final team for the Lives: Kaleb, Brynn, D.R., Alexa, whomever she saves, and whomever she steals.

Team Blake
Only one pair left here, and I think this one is a no-brainer.  WILKES is an original Team Blake member, and Dylan is a steal.  Blake rarely, if ever, goes against his original team members.  Add in the fact that WILKES specializes in rock and country-leaning rock, and this is an obvious choice.  He's taking WILKES through.  So Dylan will be left hoping for either Adam or Kelly's steal to survive.  With a good performance, he could get one, and I could see Kelly taking him back.  But with Adam already having a folk rocker in Reid, it might be a tough sell to get him to use his steal on Dylan.  As for Blake's steal, I can absolutely only see him dipping into Team Adam or Team Alicia.  He could go for either Jordyn or Gary, on an off chance, from Team Adam.  I could see him stealing back Dallas from Team Alicia.  I don't see him being interested in anyone from Team Kelly unless Kelly were to make Alexa available.

Final team for the Lives: Kyla, Spensha, Pryor, WILKES, Austin, and whomever he steals.

But these are just my predictions.  Feel free to throw out your own!

Edited April 9, 2018 by Prin Holmes

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Pretty much agree on most of your KO picks, Prin Holmes. I'm concerned for Kelsea (who I really like) though because her voice was bordering on shot for her battle....so hopefully she's back to something close to 100% for this round. Rayshun, Reid, Britton have to all be strong favorites in their KO's...and I guess I'd say D.R. and Jorge are maybe slighter favorites from Team Kelly's two KO's.

If I was Adam...I'd steal the loser of the Kelsea/Sharane KO. For Blake, it's probably a Dallas steal back (if it happens, then he totally telegraphed it happening in his mentoring session with Spensha and Dallas), or maybe Alexa, and for Kelly it's probably Tish for the save and either a Dylan steal back or maybe she sneaks over and takes Jordyn from Team Adam for more girl power moving forward...

Are we really doing WILKES?

[Prin Holmes]

Final team rosters heading into the Lives:

Team Adam
Mia Boostrom (defeated Jackie Foster)
Jackie Verna (defeated Drew Cole)
Rayshun LaMarr (defeated Gary Edwards)
Reid Umstattd (defeated Jordyn Simone)*
Drew Cole (saved by Team Adam)
Sharane Calister (stolen from Team Alicia)

Team Alicia
Johnny Bliss (defeated Miya Bass)
Terrence Cunningham (defeated Christiana Danielle)
Britton Buchanan (defeated Dallas Caroline)
Kelsea Johnson (defeated Sharane Calister)
Christiana Danielle (saved by Team Alicia)
Jackie Foster (stolen from Team Adam)

Team Kelly
Kaleb Lee (defeated Justin Kilgore)
Brynn Cartelli (defeated Jamella)
D.R. King (defeated Tish Haynes Keys)
Alexa Capelli (defeated Jorge Eduardo)
Tish Haynes Keys (saved by Team Kelly)
Dylan Hartigan (stolen from Team Blake)

Team Blake
Kyla Jade (defeated Jaclyn Lovey)
Spensha Baker (defeated Austin Giorgio)
Pryor Baird (defeated Jaron Strom)
WILKES (defeated Dylan Hartigan)
Austin Giorgio (saved by Team Blake)
Gary Edwards (stolen from Team Adam)

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

Edited April 10, 2018 by Prin Holmes

[Dots And Stripes]

I'm not sure what Blake has been doing all season. I have disagreed with a lot of his picks, including steals and saves.

[Prin Holmes]

Gonna get caught up for the whole season thus far, but for now, this episode:

Britton vs. Dallas: This was a clear blowout.  While this wasn't exactly Britton's best, it was still easily the better performance.  He really nailed that Billy Joel song and showed why he's a contender on Alicia's team.  Dallas is sweet and kind, but she was totally not ready, and she proved it with that performance.  And immediately, my prediction is proven wrong when Blake doesn't steal her back.

D.R. vs. Tish: I've made my thoughts clear of this pairing already.  D.R. at least remained true to the lyrics of his song, while Tish relied more on her belting and other such vocal tricks and gymnastics for more than half of her song.  D.R. won this to me, even though the app voters apparently preferred Tish.  Still, Tish is just the kind of singer Kelly prefers, and Tish herself knows that, so staying with Kelly made sense rather than accepting Adam's steal.  So Kelly's save is finally used.

Dylan vs. WILKES: I thought both were decent, but not great.  Dylan has a smooth, solid voice, and stage presence to spare.  But I really could do with less of his old boy-band tricks on stage.  WILKES has a strong voice, but I'm beginning to think that Blake might very well prefer Pryor over him if he's forced to cchoose between his two country guys.  WILKES winning was no surprise since he's an original member of the team, and Dylan isn't.  But Kelly grants Dylan an easy steal-back, and all is right with her team, as Dylan belonged with her way more than he did with Blake.

Gary vs. Rayshun: Hmm. . . . Nope.  Didn't like either one.  Gary was just boring, and Rayshun pretty much belted and screamed throughout his performance.  I really didn't care who won, but was unsurprised that Rayshun did.  Adam's been in love with him since his Blind.  Was very surprised that Blake stole Gary, though.  I didn't think he was that impressive.  But I guess Blake needed the Playoff fodder.

Alexa vs. Jorge: Britton was an example of Elton John done right.  Alexa, unfortunately, was an example of Billy Joel done wrong.  It wasn't terrible, but it was far from the quality of her Blind.  But Jorge taking on Miguel and not even doing that one right, either, was worse.  But Alexa bothered me loss, so I guess she won by default.  I think she's easy Playoff fodder for Kelly, though.

Kelsea vs. Sharane: Finally!  Someone does "Rise Up" without butchering it!  Kelsea sounded just gorgeous!  Just a beautiful, clear, unforced tone.  Sharane wasn't bad, either, though.  She did very well with Etta James, incorporating elements of her version with Beyoncé's cover of it and delivering a very good performance.  I still thought that Kelsea was better, though, so I was glad that Alicia picked her.  But I worry for Sharane's future now that she's on Team Adam.  He doesn't value his steals very much, and she might become another statistic of his.

Montage

Very shocked that they montaged Reid.  Not only because Adam loves him, but because he was against Jordyn, who was a Battle steal.  Every season has generally shown all Battle steals in the Knockouts because they want to show the steals working with their new coaches.  So this was a first.  But in any case, the little that we were shown of Reid sounded good, and it's easy to see why Adam picked him.  Pity Jordyn didn't get at least a clip of hers shown, but it was confirmed on Twitter that she sang Demi Lovato's "Tell Me You Love Me."  Still, Reid could either be one of Adam's main horses going into the Lives, or an easy sacrifice because of his lowered visibility.  Time will tell.

Good episode.

1 hour ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I'm not sure what Blake has been doing all season. I have disagreed with a lot of his picks, including steals and saves.

What's this?  I thought he's "very, very good at this show!"  Guess he isn't, is he?

Edited April 10, 2018 by Prin Holmes

[Dots And Stripes]

8 minutes ago, Prin Holmes said:

What's this?  I thought he's "very, very good at this show!"  Guess he isn't, is he?

He is generally very, very good at this show. That doesn't mean I have to agree with all of his decisions forever. Haven't you discussed this topic with me under several names now? It gets hard to keep track.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Blake is "very, very good at this show" until such time that he is not lol.

Pretty happy with my prognosticating. Had everything except for Alexa over Jorge (I would've went with Jorge and I'm sort of surprised Kelly didn't in the end. I guess by stealing Dylan back she thought she didn't need another piece of eye candy). Should've remembered that this is the stage of the competition that Blake throws in random R&B singer steals (Joe Maye, Felecia, I feel like their was at least one more I'm forgetting). Pretty sure he wouldn't choose Gary as his save next week under any circumstance so unless Gary gets the fan vote....he makes his own coach's save that much easier to figure out in the moment.

At a certain point, when you watch performance after performance like Tish, or Gary, or Rayshun, or Sharane beat you over the head...you realize all over again why the Voice struggles to be relevant in the current pop music industry. Where are the people in the Alessia Cara lane? All four of those performances might as well parachuted in from the 80's, early 90's or even earlier. Not even remotely like what might get played on quote unquote "modern pop" radio. I'll exclude Kelsea...because given the right material I believe she has a voice that could maybe make it happen, but even with her I'm not totally sure.

[Padma]

I can't believe Blake praised that version of "Broken Road". That is such a pretty  song, but Dallas' version was an off key disaster.  Kelly put it better, telling her that once she conquers her pitch issues, she'll sound better. Because...yeah. 

Edited April 10, 2018 by Padma

[atlantaloves]

Damn, have I lost my ear drums, some of these kids are totally off key, I'm sorry.  But that gal who sang Yellow Brick Road hurt my soul. Ouch. 

[MerBearHou]

I’m new to The Voice and am watching because of Reid (old family friend).  In the past, what does it typically mean if someone is montaged?  Doesn’t seem like a good thing.  Why montage anybody at this point?  Curious to hear your thoughts and fingers crossed for Reid continuing strong, despite this weird montage omen.

[Prin Holmes]

On 4/9/2018 at 11:44 PM, MerBearHou said:

I’m new to The Voice and am watching because of Reid (old family friend).  In the past, what does it typically mean if someone is montaged?  Doesn’t seem like a good thing.  Why montage anybody at this point?  Curious to hear your thoughts and fingers crossed for Reid continuing strong, despite this weird montage omen.

Being montaged means having just seconds of your performance aired.  The bulk of it is banished into obscurity unless it is posted on YouTube (which only happened in season twelve).  This is especially bad in the Knockouts, because only the winner is shown while the loser is not.  Thus, about twenty seconds of Reid's performance made the air because he won, while literally none of Jordyn was seen, except for her sitting in the corner of the stage.

For some people, having the montage at this stage has hurt them.  But I don't think it'll hurt Reid too much.  Despite being the one with the montage, he is winning the night on iTunes, so clearly, he's being noticed.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Prin Holmes

[lanter]

2 hours ago, atlantaloves said:

Damn, have I lost my ear drums, some of these kids are totally off key, I'm sorry.  But that gal who sang Yellow Brick Road hurt my soul. Ouch. 

Yes! After the judges praised that uneven, at times straight up bad, performance I thought either my hearing was going or my surround sound was. Jorge was better,  but once Kelly stole Dylan it was over. Particularly since she mentioned several times how many males she already had on her team.

[Prin Holmes]

4 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Should've remembered that this is the stage of the competition that Blake throws in random R&B singer steals (Joe Maye, Felecia, I feel like their was at least one more I'm forgetting).

Jason Warrior from season eleven?

[Kaiju Ballet]

Britton vs. Dallas -- Dallas sounded pitchy even to my untrained ears, so I appreciated Kelly pointing it out (and so graciously too) And btw, shut up Adam.

D.R. vs. Tish -- I would have given the win to DR too—he took me on a journey. I never heard that song before, let alone know there were two versions, but I was hanging on his every word. Tish is undeniably a powerhouse, and I liked that she told Kelly that all the other teams agreed she was the best coach. Wish she got to say more about that. Tish wouldn’t have fared well against Sharane or Kelsea—the ones who closed out the night.  

Wilkes and Dylan – oh no, Kelly. You used your only steal on Dylan? Do they not know which artists are still coming up? Or were the knockouts almost over? That being said, Wilkes clearly won it. As Chloe said, it’s an iconic song for Miley, but Wilkes made it his. (Did Chloe sing it in her season? I feel like someone did) The teen/tween vote might be strong enough to keep Dylan alive for a while, and maybe that’s Kelly’s strategy.

Gary vs Rayshun – as much as Adam acts the buffoon (see: Blake rivalry), I really like reminders of what a good coach Adam can be. I knew Rayshun was going to win the minute he started singing Alicia’s song—and killing it. It overshadowed the beautiful subtleties that Gary brought out in his song. Kelly was right, his lower tones were like “butter”. I was so happy that Blake saved Gary. Even if he's fodder, I can see a future for Gary in Christian music and Blake can help get him there. 

Alexa vs. Jorge -- Alexa was the right choice. Blake was correct that she didn’t make it a blowout, and she could have. But Jorge, while he did have that presence that impressed Kelly, just didn’t bring the same energy to his performance as he did in the rehearsal.

Montage: Reid wins. Wow, was the other person so terrible that they practically showed all of Reid’s performance AND Adam’s pronouncement that he won while leaving her out?

Sharane vs. Kelsea -- I love that rasp in Kelsea’s voice,Kelly! Oh good, Blake just pointed that out. I’m glad that Alicia went with Kelsea, and Adam will make a good coach for Sharane. It was a good end to the evening.

[Prin Holmes]

Interestingly enough, it seems that the Knockout montage has come from Adam's team three seasons in a row.  First, it was Mark Isaiah beating Malik Davage in season twelve, Jon Mero beating Dylan Gerard in season thirteen, and now Reid Umstattd beating Jordyn Simone in season fourteen.  I wonder if the producers and editors are kind of over him at this point and actually like doing this to him?

Edited April 10, 2018 by Prin Holmes

[sharifa70]

No one should ever, ever sing “Yellow Brick Road” on a singing competition. Every time I hear it I somehow end up curled under my bed with my hands clamped over my ears. This was no different. 

I thought Dylan sounded okay but he kept pulling at his sweater and that’s all I remember.

Sharane and Kelsea were my favorites of the night. I’m glad they both get to stay.

[Prin Holmes]

4 hours ago, sharifa70 said:

No one should ever, ever sing “Yellow Brick Road” on a singing competition. Every time I hear it I somehow end up curled under my bed with my hands clamped over my ears. This was no different.

Emily Keener did the song for her Blind in season ten, and it actually sounded pretty good.  Very nice, ethereal, and haunting.  It was so good, she actually turned all four chairs.  So that particular Elton John song can be done well.  In the right hands.

Unfortunately, Alexa was not a good example of the right hands.

Edited April 10, 2018 by Prin Holmes

[LakeGal]

Mr LakeGuy kept yelling at Alicia to shut up.  He was getting upset at how she kept shouting during the songs.  Of course once he mentioned it that was all I heard.  

[Jal]

Reid is objectively a great singer. But the way he pronounces words while singing bothers me. It's a style that may be natural to him (and everyone else who does the same thing, and there are many) but it doesn't sound good to me.

[seacliffsal]

8 hours ago, LakeGal said:

Mr LakeGuy kept yelling at Alicia to shut up.  He was getting upset at how she kept shouting during the songs.  Of course once he mentioned it that was all I heard.  

Yes!  I couldn't figure out why she kept yelling "hey."  Does anyone know if that has some special meaning or why she keeps yelling the same word over and over?

[atlantaloves]

Well they all need to shut the fuck up, and that goes for you too Kelly. (but I love you gal)

[PhD-Purgatory15]

One thing that will be interesting going forward is how light on country this season of the Voice really is. For the first time in a while (if not ever), Blake has no authentically country artists. The closest thing (and they are pushing her as a country artist) is Spensha.....but casual fans of the Voice may hear her voice and see her appearance and make the judgement that she does not "read" as country. I'm not saying every fan will do that, but I think a sizable number may. Pryor and WILKES both have Nashville connections, well WILKES for sure.....but unlike some southern rock contestants the Voice has had in previous seasons....neither of these guys have much of any country in their voices.

Which only leaves Kaleb Lee on Team Kelly and Jackie Verna (who herself has a flexible voice that blends a country twang with pop and rock). I think I'd be aware of that when it comes to the voting next week. Arguably this could give Kaleb and Jackie a little bit of an ace in the hole, and even if they do not seem worthy of one of the two fan voted spots when the dust settles next week on Team Kelly or Adam...they may still get one of those spots anyway due to the overall dearth of country representation this year.

[viajero]

I enjoyed this episode.  Rayshun, Wilkes, Sharane, Brittan, and D.R. (in roughly that order) were all quite good, but it was Kelsea who gave us my favorite performance of the season so far.  That was simply sublime.  The only truly subpar performances came from Alexa, Jorge Eduardo, and especially Dallas.

Next week is going to be a bloodbath, particularly on Team Alicia.  Based on what we've seen so far, I would pick any of her 6 contestants in at least 3rd place on any other team.  If I had to pick my favorites on each team, they would be:

Team Adam:  Rayshun, Jackie and Sharane

Team Alicia:  Kelsea, Johnny and Christiana

Team Kelly: Brynn, D.R. and Tish

Team Blake: Wilkes, Pryor and Spensha

Not that I think these will be the people that make it through (no way do I see Brittan getting eliminated, even if I find him kind of boring).  I'm also open to changing my mind once we see the playoff performances, particularly for Team Adam and Team Alicia.

[Tony Williams]

On 4/9/2018 at 7:55 PM, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Blake is "very, very good at this show" until such time that he is not lol.

Pretty happy with my prognosticating. Had everything except for Alexa over Jorge (I would've went with Jorge and I'm sort of surprised Kelly didn't in the end. I guess by stealing Dylan back she thought she didn't need another piece of eye candy). Should've remembered that this is the stage of the competition that Blake throws in random R&B singer steals (Joe Maye, Felecia, I feel like their was at least one more I'm forgetting). Pretty sure he wouldn't choose Gary as his save next week under any circumstance so unless Gary gets the fan vote....he makes his own coach's save that much easier to figure out in the moment.

At a certain point, when you watch performance after performance like Tish, or Gary, or Rayshun, or Sharane beat you over the head...you realize all over again why the Voice struggles to be relevant in the current pop music industry. Where are the people in the Alessia Cara lane? All four of those performances might as well parachuted in from the 80's, early 90's or even earlier. Not even remotely like what might get played on quote unquote "modern pop" radio. I'll exclude Kelsea...because given the right material I believe she has a voice that could maybe make it happen, but even with her I'm not totally sure.

The problem in my humble opinion is that current music pales in comparison to music from earlier.  It is a interesting choice:  Sing something dated with layers and texture (not Lady Marmalade - not a vocalist song) or sing something modern that is watered down and light.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I take your point (although, I feel like every generation looks back with rose-colored glasses on the music that has preceded whatever is "current" in music).

But if you take away the value judgement......the cold hard fact is that currently pop artists who are really doing things and going places are people like Camila Cabello, Dua Lipa, Halsey, Alessia Cara, Hailee Steinfeld, Sza, Shawn Mendes, Bruno Mars, plus a wide range of hip hop/rap artists who crossover into mainstream pop radio such as Cardi B., Drake, Kendrick, Migos, Post Malone, etc. If nobody on the Voice (minus the current country sounding ones) feels like they are even in the proper decade....then there's really no wonder they all pretty much disappear (minus Melanie Martinez and Jordan doing his "inspirational" music thing) the second the show drops the confetti and signs off on another winner to be all but ignored.

Edited April 11, 2018 by PhD-Purgatory15