'The Voice' recap: Knockout Round wraps with nine artists advancing to Live Playoffs

The Voice wrapped its Season 15 Knockout Round with coaches Adam Levine, Jennifer Hudson, Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson advancing a total of nine artists during Monday night's broadcast on NBC.


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

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

The winners of their respective Knockouts on Monday night were Chevel Shepherd, a 16-year-old from Farmington, NM; DeAndre Nico, a 22-year-old from Port Arthur, TX; Kennedy Holmes, a 13-year-old from St. Louis, MO; Kirk Jay, a 22-year-old from Bay Minette, AL; Steve Memmolo, a 35-year-old from Boston, MA; and Michael Lee, a 30-year-old from Fort Worth, TX.

The Knockouts allowed each coach one "Steal" as in the previous round, but Adam, Kelly, Blake and Jennifer also had one "Save" to use, which enabled a coach to save both people in one Knockout pairing.


The stolen artist in last night's show was Colton Smith, a 21-year-old from Albertville, AL.

And the artists who were saved were Sarah Grace, a 15-year-old from Houston, TX, and Chris Kroeze, a 27-year-old from Barron, WI.

The first Knockout pairing was Chevel Shepherd vs. Sarah Grace on behalf of Kelly's team.

Chevel sang "Travelin' Soldier" by the Dixie Chicks, while Sarah performed "I'd Rather Go Blind" by Etta James.

Kelly said they both picked "bold and fearless" songs. Although it was a "very difficult" decision for her, Kelly decided to advance the young girl who was more ready for this experience and competition, and that person was Chevel.


Kelly, however, wasn't ready to let Sarah go and opted to save her.

"I literally was like, 'I can't let you go.' You stand apart from everyone on the show because you're such an old soul," Kelly explained to Sarah.

Next up was DeAndre Nico and Jake Wells, a 23-year-old from Kansas City, MO, for Adam's team.

DeAndre sang "Wanted" by Hunter Hayes, and Jake took the stage with a rendition of "Yellow" by Coldplay.

Adam was proud of Jake for making the song his own, and he said DeAndre was kind and humble, not to mention he has an incredibly rich sound and tone to his voice.


Adam named DeAndre the winner of the Knockout, so he will be moving on to the Live Playoffs.

For "Team Jennifer," Anthony Arya, a 15-year-old from Santa Cruz, CA, then performed against Kennedy Holmes.

Anthony performed "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" by Jim Croce, while Kennedy belted out "What About Us" by P!nk.

Jennifer said they both have bright futures ahead of them and still have plenty of time to build careers. Jennifer noted Anthony knows who he is but Kennedy showed a vulnerability in her voice and was definitely "in the moment."

There were no steals left for this round, so Jennifer knew her decision was going to have a great impact. She then announced Kennedy had won the Knockout.


Blake then matched Colton Smith with Kirk Jay for a Knockout.

Kirk took the stage with "In Case You Didn't Know" by Brett Young, while Colton belted out "Lady Marmalade" by Patti LaBelle.

Blake said they are going in two different directions musically and he recognized these songs were a challenge for them. Blake told Kirk he deserved to be on The Voice and is "special" and should embrace his time on the show and not be afraid of it.

With that being said, Blake declared Kirk the winner of the Knockout. Blake admitted Kirk was one of his favorite artists he's ever worked with on the show and he's going to be a star.

But Colton's time on the show wasn't over, as Jennifer opted to steal him for her own team. Colton had been on her team for the Battle Round.


"I never wanted to let you go to begin with. Your journey has never really been easy here, but nobody's journey is ever easy and nothing is a walk in the park. You don't always have to be perfect," Jennifer told her artist, adding that his passion shined through the struggles of his performance.

Adam's final Knockout pairing for the season was Delaney Silvernell, a 21-year-old from Los Angeles, CA, and Steve Memmolo.

Delaney sang "Praying" by Kesha, while Steve sang "Unaware" by Allen Stone.

Adam explained Delaney was holding back a little bit but Steve had improved his falsetto. Adam said Steve showed "a tremendous leap of faith" in his ability.

Adam made this call based on whom he believed was ready for this competition at the moment, and in the case, Steve won it.

And the last Knockout of the night belonged to "Team Blake," who paired Chris Kroeze with Michael Lee.


Chris performed "Burning House" by Cam, before Michael took the stage with "Whipping Post" by Michael Lee.

Blake said his two team members made him look "good and super smart." Blake called Chris' voice "ridiculous" because he can sing in a high range with such power. But Michael was a pleasant surprise because no one expects his voice to sound like that.

Since Blake couldn't make up his mind, he decided to flip a coin and announced Michael had won the Knockout. But it was clear Blake had a plan because he wouldn't be so frivolous or reckless with artists attempting to make their dreams come true.

Blake therefore chose to advance Chris as well by saving him.

On Monday and Tuesday next week, The Voice goes live and the power will shift to America in the Live Playoffs.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski