The live playoffs have finally arrived for Season 17 of “The Voice.” Who will be best among the Top 20 artists performing on Monday evening’s episode?
This two-hour episode of the NBC reality program features six-time coaching champ Blake Shelton, two-time winner Kelly Clarkson, reigning coaching winner John Legend and returning coach Gwen Stefani with five artists each.
We just published our power rankings over the weekend, listing our reasons for ranking best to worst on each team. Click on each coach’s name below:
TEAM BLAKE
Ricky Braddy
Ricky Duran
Kat Hammock
Gracee Shriver
Cali Wilson
TEAM GWEN
Jake HaldenVang
Myracle Holloway
Kyndal Inskeep
Joana Martinez
Rose Short
TEAM KELLY
Max Boyle
Damali
Hello Sunday
Jake Hoot
Shane Q
TEAM LEGEND
Will Breman
Marybeth Byrd
Alex Guthrie
Kate Kadan
Khalea Lynee
If you’ve missed any of the recent knockout episodes or want to read our Gold Derby analysis, visit the links below to catch up on our coverage:
Night 1 knockouts on October 28
Night 2 knockouts on October 29
Night 3 knockouts on November 4
Night 4 knockouts on November 5
And now make your comments below and keep refreshing for our full live updating blog recap for Live Playoffs Night 1 on Monday, November 11:
8:00 p.m. — 20 performances in 2 hours. Yowza! Host Carson Daly has his work cut out for him pacing the most packed live episode of the season and it’s time to get started. Let’s go!
8:10 p.m. – We’re kicking things off with Team Blake and first up is Ricky Duran singing “Small Town.” He’s a bit reserved with this mid-tempo pop/rock song and isn’t quite working the stage like we’ve seen him do before. Vocally he sounds good, but this performance is missing the excitement we’re used to seeing from him. That could prove troublesome for Ricky when trying to stand out in such a large crowd.
8:15 p.m. — Up next is Cali Wilson with her alternative version of “Toxic.” I’ve heard similar arrangements of this classic Britney Spears song from other artists, but Cali’s take isn’t working. Her pitch is all over the place. Cali needed to have a huge performance to stand a chance at advancing and she did not. I expect her to be eliminated on Tuesday.
8:20 p.m. — With “American Honey,” Gracee Shriver is up next. Gracee is Blake’s only country artist which is sort of surprising. She sounds pretty good tonight, but it’s not her best performance. Her voice is a bit shaky and the teenager doesn’t seem totally confident on stage. I still think voters will respond to her though.
8:23 p.m. — Kat Hamock is up next with “God Only Knows” and as soon as she opens her mouth I feel like I’ve been transported into a whole other caliber of this competition. Her voice is striking! I was hoping her last performance wasn’t a fluke and she’s proving it wasn’t. There simply isn’t a more angelic, pure tone in this competition. It wasn’t completely perfect so there’s still room to improve, but it was darn close. She’ll sail through this round and she’s the first artist to get a standing ovation from all four coaches.
8:25 p.m. — Wrapping things up for Team Blake is Ricky Braddy singing “Roll With It.” Ricky can nail a ballad so I’m a little surprised he’s going with such an old fashioned soul song tonight but he’s nailing the vocal. He’s got one of my favorite voices in the competition so I hope viewers respond to this, but I’m not sure how this will go. I still think Braddy can advance tomorrow and my guess is he’ll be joined by Kat and Gracee, but look out for the other Ricky to potentially steal one of those spots!
8:35 p.m. — It’s Team Gwen’s turn to sing live for the first time this season and up first is Rose Short with “What Have You Done for Me Lately.” I’ve never seen her sing an uptempo but I’m loving her sexy spin on this! It’s definitely a new side to Rose and her stage presence is fierce. I’m not sure how most viewers will respond to this but I’m loving it! All the coaches are on their feet.
8:40 p.m. — With “10,000 Hours” Kyndal Inskeep keeps things going for Team Gwen and this is a wordy song. I’m not a fan of the song choice but there’s something so interesting about Kyndal that I’m still enjoying this. She has a great tone and a quirky presence that I hope we see more of.
8:45 p.m. — Now Joana Martinez is singing “You Can’t Stop the Girl” and she’s more of a typical pop singer we’re used to seeing on “The Voice.” Once again I’m not a fan of this song choice and I’m starting to question Gwen’s strategy. Joana started off a little shaky but her comfort zone is clearly belting out the chorus. She basically nailed the end and it resulted in a standing ovation from the coaches.
8:55 p.m. — Myracle Holloway is up next and she’s talking on the R&B classic “Get Here.” I love the sound of her voice. It’s got just a slight rasp to it that sounds like she’s on the verge of tears. There’s a little Mary J. Blige in there. That was a classy performance that got the coaches on their feet once again.
8:59 p.m. — Jake HaldenVang is closing things out for Team Gwen and the classic rocker is slowing things down with “Turning Tables.” I always think it’s a smart choice to sing a song that is originally sung by someone of a different genre. There’s nothing Adele-sounding about this and he benefits from not drawing that direct comparison. Overall this was a pretty good performance from Jake but I’m not sure if he has what it takes to go deep in this competition.
9:10 p.m. — We now turn to Team Kelly and Shane Q is up first singing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” Shane has a great voice but he has struggled with confidence and stage presence. He sounds good tonight but once again he’s just sort of moseying around the stage like a deer in headlights. It will be interesting to see how viewers respond to him he just doesn’t move me.
9:15 p.m. — Up next is Hello Sunday and this dynamic duo is performing “Hello.” I don’t feel like this is a great song choice for them and the beginning felt a little shaky. I love it when they start harmonizing as they really let loose on the chorus, but this definitely isn’t their best performance. I hope they can somehow survive this elimination because I would love to see how they progress through the season.
9:20 p.m. — With “You Say,” Damali is up next and she has a little trouble with the low notes but her upper register cuts like a knife. She’s got a nice presence on stage but I think nerves have gotten the better of her in some ways. She was slightly off at the climax, but Kelly still seems thrilled with the performance. Damali looks a little disappointed in herself but the coaches are giving her positive feedback.
9:25 p.m. — Now Max Boyle is singing “Falling Slowly” and this was a great steal for Team Kelly. He’s one of the most unique vocalists this season and I love his delivery. Max has a nice tone and he’s someone in the competition I can imagine being a pop star in today’s musical landscape. Midway through the performance John was already on his feet and by the end the other coaches rose up as well.
9:30 p.m. — The last artist for Team Kelly is her country crooner Jake Hoot singing “You Lie.” Jake is clearly the best country singer of the season and for that reason I expect him to sail through this round. My only issue with Jake is that I feel like we’ve seen about 100 of him on “The Voice” over the past 17 seasons. That said he’s consistent and deserves to move on.
9:40 p.m. — Team Legend is wrapping up tonight’s show and first up for John is Khalea Lynee singing “Love Like This.” I personally love this R&B jam but I’m wondering if the wider audience of voters will relate to it. Vocally Khalea is smooth and she moves around the stage with confidence. She sounds great but I don’t think this was a smart song choice for a singing competition.
9:45 p.m. — Alex Guthrie is up next with “If I Ain’t Got You” and this is a more soulful side to the singer than we’ve seen before. Once again I’m not thrilled with this particular song choice for Alex but as he reaches the chorus he sounds great. It just wasn’t a very memorable rendition.
9:50 p.m. — Singing “Love Me Like You Do,” Marybeth Byrd is up next and this finally feels like a performance viewers are going to grasp onto. I enjoy the way she delicately delivers the first verse and then soars through the chorus. This is one of the best performances of the night and gets a standing ovation from the coaches.
9:55 p.m. — Now singing “Style,” Will Breman is on stage playing guitar and delivering his interesting vocal styling that is so fun to watch. Will is easily one of the most captivating performers this season and someone I always look forward to. He might be overdoing the vocal acrobatics just slightly tonight, but it doesn’t matter I love this guy and it looks like everyone else does too. The coaches are on their feet and the crowd is going wild! Kelly says, “You just won ‘The Voice.'”
9:59 p.m. — Closing out the show with “Always Remember Us This Way” is the Chicago powerhouse, Katie Kadan. She just looks like a star I love her look and her husky, stank vocals. SAAANG! Tonight she’s just sitting at the keyboard while she absolutely slays the vocals. They definitely saved the best two performances for the end. Wow! Katie killed that. And that’s a wrap for tonight. Tomorrow we’ll find out which 13 advance.
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