'The Voice' recap: Knockout Round commences with seven winners, plus stolen and saved artists!

The Voice debuted its fifteenth-season Knockout Round with coaches Adam Levine, Jennifer Hudson, Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson advancing a total of 11 artists during Monday night's broadcast on NBC.


In each Knockout, two artists from one team are selected to face off against each other, but each person is afforded the opportunity to sing a solo rather than a duet like in the previous Battle Round. The winner of each Knockout will move on to the show's Live Playoffs.

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The key advisor for this season's Knockout Round is iconic singer Mariah Carey.

The winners of their respective Knockouts on Monday night were Tyke James, a 17-year-old from Laie, HI; Kymberli Joye, a 26-year-old from Windsor, CT; Zaxai, a 29-year-old from Brooklyn, NY; MaKenzie Thomas, a 20-year-old from Wallingford, KY; Reagan Strange, a 13-year-old from Memphis, TN; Funsho, a 29-year-old from Lagos, Nigeria; and Patrique Fortson, a 38-year-old from Atlanta, GA.


The Knockouts allow each coach one "Steal" as in the prior round, but Adam, Kelly, Blake and Jennifer also have one "Save" to use, which enables a coach to save both people in one Knockout pairing.

But with Steals still in play, a saved artist can potentially choose to go with a different coach, leading to even tougher decisions for the coaches and artists.

The stolen artists in last night's show were Natasia Greycloud a 29-year-old from Nashville, TN, and Keith Paluso, a 30-year-old park ranger from Memphis, TN.

The artists who were saved by their own The Voice coaches were Radha, a 19-year-old college student from Jersey City, NJ, and Sandyredd, a 36-year-old from Chicago, IL.

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The Knockout Round commenced with Adam's team members Keith Paluso and Tyke James going head to head.

Keith sang "You Are the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne, and then Tyke performed "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash.

Adam said Keith had a more delicate approach to the song but Tyke's personality is infectious and there's "so many layers" to what he does. Adam therefore named Tyke the winner, saying he's "a force" to be reckoned with and "whatever it is, he's got it."

But Adam wasn't ready to let Keith go, so the coach attempted to save him. However, Kelly also wanted to steal him because of his sexy, serious stage presence.

"The reason I chose Tyke is he has been with me from the start; however, in this short period of time that we've worked together, you've improved drastically. I would love to continue working with the momentum we've built up -- on my team, where you belong," Adam explained to Keith.


In a surprise twist, Keith decided to join "Team Kelly," saying her energy is contagious.

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Kelly's team was up next, and it was a three-way Knockout featuring Kymberli Joye, Zaxai, and Natasia.

Kymberli sang "The Middle" by Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey. Natasia performed "Tennesse Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton. And Zaxai belted out "Cruisin'" by Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis.

In the end, Kelly had to pick two winners, and she said she came into the Knockout "thinking one thing" but then became very confused. Kelly declared Kymberli and Zaxai champions.


Just when viewers thought Natasia was being eliminated from the competition, Blake decided to steal her because she's "one of the strongest vocalists in the whole competition" and he wanted more female singers on his team in general.

"Team Jennifer" then had MaKenzie Thomas face off against Mike Parker, a 23-year-old from Gainsville, VA, in a Knockout performance.

MaKenzie sang "How Deep Is Your Love" and Mike belted out "Breakeven" by The Script. Jennifer decided MaKenzie had won the Knockout to find out what she has in store.

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"Team Adam" was up next with a Knockout between Radha and Reagan Strange.


Radha performed "I'll Be There" by The Jackson Five, while Reagan sang "Dancing On My Own" by Calum Scott. It was "a tough choice" for Adam, but he went with the person who "dazzled him in a way that's hard to explain," and that singer was Reagan.

Adam, however, chose to save Radha also because she's "a very powerful singer."

On behalf of "Team Blake," the next pairing was Funsho against Katrina Cain, a 29-year-old from Denton, TX.

Katrina performed "Don't Let Me Down" by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya, and Funsho belted out "Earned It" by The Weeknd. Based on this performance alone, Blake announced Funsho had won the Knockout.

Next up was Patrique Fortson vs. Sandyredd who both represented Jennifer's team.

Patrique sang "I Don't Want To Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith, and Sandyredd took the stage with "Dangerous Woman" by Ariana Grande. Jennifer called Patrique "a vocal beast" by Sandyredd really embraced the moment.


In the end, Jennifer named Patrique the winner of the Knockout, but Jennifer opted to save Sandyredd because she's "a star."






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski