The Voice Recap: The Knockouts Put Three More Singers Down for the Count

You know that The Voice had a good night when I make it all the way through a recap without giving a grade lower than a B+. Such was the case Monday as Season 27’s Knockouts continued with seven outstanding performances — and one that must have really fallen short as we didn’t even get the obligatory snippet of it. I’ll add the video when it drops later. In the meantime, let’s discuss, shall we?

Team Bublé: Kaiya Hamilton singing “Here” (Grade: A) defeated Divighn singing “Harder to Breathe” (Grade: B+) | On Maroon 5’s hit, Divighn lived up to his name. Not only did his voice hold up — no mean feat on that number — but his stage presence was holy crap! Off the charts! And that big, deliberate gulp of air that he took? Chef’s kiss. Singing second, Kaiya faced an uphill battle — and, for my money, won it. Divighn is a captivating showman, yubi, but vocally, Kaiya bested him. Not for nothing, but she’s pretty damn charismatic, too.

Team Legend: Bryson Battle singing “Ain’t No Way” (Grade: A+) defeated Tatum Scott singing “Stick Season” (Grade: A-) | Credit to John: Having Bryson sing a lower than he originally intended to brought a staggering richness to his Aretha Franklin cover. Of course, given Bryson’s ridiculous range, this performance was always destined to bring down the house. He made me glad I have ears! Next up, Tatum’s take on Noah Kahan seemed “small” by comparison. But taken on its own merits, her vocal was beautiful, as delicate as a leaf falling in the autumn breeze.

Team Kelsea: Alanna Lynise singing “I’ll Never Love Again” (Grade: A) defeated Page Mackenzie singing “???” (Grade: NA) | Wow, Page must have had an exceptionally off night; we didn’t get to see her even rehearse for this Knockout. Alanna got shortchanged, too, just not as much. We at least were allowed to hear a snippet of her Lady Gaga cover — and for what it was worth, it sounded strong enough that I would’ve preferred to watch the whole performance rather than see Kelsea juggle or Adam balance things on his head.

Team Adam: Britton Moore singing “Free” (Grade: A) defeated Ari Camille singing “Love Like This” (Grade: A) — Ari stolen by John | Wow — good Knockout! Tackling Faith Evans, Ari radiated cool on stage — and that voice of hers just did. Not. Quit. I wasn’t sure going in whether the number would let her show off enough; how wrong I was! “She killed that!” John yelled afterwards. Agreed. On the Zac Brown Band’s hit, Britton made a compelling case for why he should advance. His vocal was solid and felt emotionally open. When he was done, I figured that he had the edge, given how easily he could slip into that Shawn Mendes lane. But they were both terrific.

So, should they just give Bryson the trophy now or wait until the finale? Do you think anyone else is real competition for him? Sound off in the comments.