It was part 2 of The Voice season 9’s Knockout Rounds, and things intensified as they always do on this show. In these rounds, singers on the same team are paired up with one another to battle it out for a spot in the Live Rounds. However, in contrast to the Battle Rounds, the Knockout Rounds allow each artist to choose which song they want to perform in order to impress their coaches. Coaches Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams were joined by Rihanna for more mentoring.
So here are the performances from tonight’s episode:
- Team Gwen
Korin Bukowski vs. Summer Schappell
Korin is an offbeat young artist who says she resorted to singing as a way to escape her self-proclaimed awkwardness. As she sees Rihanna as the advisor beside her coach Gwen Stefani, she exclaims that Rihanna is basically “glitter in human form.”
Ultimately, Korin decides to sing “All I Want” by Kodaline. During the rehearsals, Rihanna advises Korin to embrace her weirdness when on stage as it part of what makes her unique. Additionally, Gwen suggests she gets rid of her glasses and embrace her inner rock star.
Meanwhile, Summer is a country artist who was stolen by Gwen. She decides to sing “Little White Church” by Little Big Town. During rehearsals, Rihanna recommends that Summer brings out her sassiness and evokes more grit in her vocals.
Summer was the first to perform and, unfortunately, her vocals seemed to be compromised by her focus on her stage presence. In contrast, Korin had much more accuracy in her vocals and showcased her dynamic abilities. Thus, Gwen decides to keep Korin on her team, and Summer is sent home.
- Team Adam
Keith Semple vs. Dustin Christensen
Adam decided to pair up Keith and Dustin (who Adam stole), as he believes they occupy a similar space musically. Dustin decides to sing “Free” by Zac Brown Band. Advisor Rihanna helps Dustin perfect his vibrato and keep it strong throughout the longer notes.
Irish rocker Keith chooses “Free” by Foreigner. From the rehearsals, it seems like Keith’s song choice is going to give him the upper hand.
Unfortunately, Dustin’s performance was pretty much all over the place. He was very inconsistent with his pitch, and the overall performance was disappointing. Keith’s performance wasn’t too much better, as it felt very karaoke. However, he had a bit more precision with his pitch and ends up winning the spot on Adam’s team for the Live Rounds.
- Team Pharrell
Darius Scott vs. Morgan Frazier
The last battle of the night was between powerhouse vocalists Darius Scott and Morgan Frazier.
Darius takes a surprising twist by choosing “On Broadway” by George Benson. Darius adds his own soulful spin to the classic song. Although he is pretty polished right off the bat, Rihanna advises him to visualize the note he wants to hit to avoid going flat. In addition, Pharrell gets rid of the mic stand to enhance Darius’ stage presence.
Meanwhile, Morgan Frazier is a young country artist who was stolen from Team Blake during the Battle Rounds. Morgan comes to rehearsal with the song “Even if It Breaks Your Heart” by Eli Young Band. Pharrell advises Morgan to let her perfectionist habits go and embrace the connection she has with the song. Morgan ends up getting emotional as Rihanna and Pharrell praise her when she begins to let her guard down in her performance during rehearsals.
During the performances, Darius showcases his smooth vocals and ability to navigate through various runs. However, he goes a bit overboard by adding a few too many vocal bells and whistles. Clearly, he was attempting to leave it all on the stage. Morgan delivered a much more emotional performance, as she belted out lyrics about believing in a dream. Overall, it was definitely a close battle between the two.
In the end, Pharrell decided to keep Darius. Fortunately, Morgan’s original coach, Blake Shelton, steals her back. Blake is doing a good job keeping all of the country artists for his team.
Next Week:
The Voice’s Knockout Rounds featuring key advisor Rihanna continues next week on Monday, November 2 on NBC.