John Legend‘s final Knockout of “The Voice” Season 17 was Marybeth Byrd vs. Preston C. Howell. During Tuesday’s episode, the 18-year-old Arkansas pop singer performed Adele‘s “All I Ask,” while the 15-year-old Florida crooner chose Frank Sinatra‘s “The Way You Look Tonight.” Even though Preston was an early favorite to win the championship, John decided to send him home following Marybeth’s powerful performance. Do you think John made the right choice to advance Marybeth to the live Playoffs? Watch “The Voice” video above and then sound off down in the comments section.
“I just love both of you. I think you both stepped up to the plate,” John declared when it was his time to critique his two teenage artists. “Preston, this was my favorite performance of yours. The way you winked at the audience, flirted with the audience, it was smooth man. You killed it. And Marybeth, you are just an exceptionally gifted vocalist. Your tone is really lovely to listen to. This is a difficult decision for me, it really is.”
John ended up stalling so much that the show had to go to a quick commercial break. When it returned, John finally proclaimed, “The winner of this Knockout is Marybeth.” Backstage John explained his “tough decision” further by stating, “Marybeth has a really lovely tone, she has great control. I just felt like going into the Playoffs she can show off what a great vocalist she is.”
“This has just been a dream for me,” Preston said in his final words to his coach and mentor. “I’m excited that I even had this opportunity.” Gwen Stefani then told the young crooner she and Blake Shelton were going to “adopt” him into their family, while Kelly Clarkson apologized for not having a steal left to use on him.
In his “The Voice” live blog, our recapper John Benutty had this to say about the performance: “Marybeth countered Preston’s performance with a fully lived in rendition of the big Adele song. She brought all the emotion out of the song even as she remained centered with the mic on stage for most of the song. That being said, her vocal did suffer a little–I think because the song was too big for her voice–but somehow it still felt appropriate for her!”
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