The Knockouts for Season 20 of “The Voice” concluded on Monday, April 26, and coach Nick Jonas, eager for his first win, heads to the live shows with a diverse, but traditional set of artists. Led by two powerhouse female vocalists and completed with three reliable and consistent male artists, Nick has built a team that is made to withstand the ups and downs of this season that lacks a clear frontrunner.
The Top 17 will sing live for America’s vote on Monday, May 10 and the results will be announced on Tuesday, May 11. “The Road to Lives – 10th Anniversary Edition” will air the week prior on May 3. If the same format as last season is followed, the top vote-getter from each team will advance to the next round and each coach will then get to choose one more artist to represent them in the semi-finals. Four artists will then compete for a final wild card spot to round out the Top 9.
SEE ‘The Voice’: Now you can predict who will win Season 20 … and who will be eliminated
Hoping to block Nick from his first win are coaching rivals Blake Shelton, John Legend and Kelly Clarkson. Blake is seeking his eighth championship while John hopes to win his second and Kelly her fourth. Does Nick finally have what it takes to make the other coaches “Jealous”? And do YOU agree with our power rankings below? Sound off in the comments and let us know which artist is your favorite from Team Nick.
1. Rachel Mac
(Blind Audition: “Let Him Fly”; Battles: “Your Song”; Knockouts: “Foolish Games”)
When Rachel joined the competition it was as a one chair turn for Team Nick, with the other coaches giving her a ton of notes about toning down her vibrato and focusing on storytelling. Since then Nick has worked really well with her to streamline those points because she’s improved in each and every round into what I think is a solid contender to make the finale. “Foolish Games” is her best performance so far because it is such a hard one to pull off, but I love how she balanced Bradley Sinclair‘s over-the-top part of their duet battle to “Your Song.” Oh, and she’s only 15 so I’m certain the voting audience already loves her.
2. Dana Monique
(Blind Audition: “Freeway of Love”; Battles: “Stuck with U”; Knockouts: “Nutbush City Limits”)
I’m really interested to see how far Dana will go in the competition because undoubtedly she has one of the best voices of the season. What gives me hesitation is her song selection — both “Freeway of Love” and “Nutbush City Limits” are uptempo tracks that don’t make as big of an impact with voters usually. Nick was on the right track when he gave her “Stuck with U” in the battles because it’s more in line with the kind of song that I think the audience wants to hear from singers with as much power as Dana has. Song selection is going to be a key factor for Dana going forward.
3. Andrew Marshall
(Blind Audition: “Gravity”; Battles: “Adore You”; Knockouts: “I Won’t Give Up”)
Andrew has had a tough go so far, losing his battle and knockout round which brought him back to his original team. There’s a strong contender in Andrew, but I worry that he hasn’t been as good as his blind in the last two rounds. This season the coaches are looking for growth potential in artists and Andrew hasn’t show much. All three of his song selections tell a distinct story as a male singer-songwriter vibe, but his first live needs to break away from that a little bit in order to surprise the audience and compel them to vote for him over then the female powerhouses on his team.
SEE Early ‘The Voice’ predictions: Cam Anthony out front to win Season 20 for Team Blake Shelton
4. Devan Blake Jones
(Blind Audition: “Hard Place”; Battles: “Stuck with U”; Knockouts: “Sign of the Times”)
As an artist in the four way knockout, Devan is going to have a difficult time rising to the top of the pack, but the decision to go with Harry Styles for that performance was smart because it’s a high impact, recognizable song. Nick kind of dealt him a bad hand pitting him against Dana for the battles, but he held his own and made Nick’s use of the save an obvious choice. If he makes it out of the knockout, I hope he returns to the vibe of his blind “Hard Place” because it’s a sweet spot for his tender voice that will showcase how high his range can go.
5. Jose Figueroa Jr.
(Blind Audition: “At This Moment”; Battles: “You Say”; Knockouts: “Break Every Chain”)
Look, Nick called Jose one of his favorite people on the team after his knockout, but the editors didn’t feel the same way — they relegated his performance to a quick snippet, preventing him from the ability to leave a lasting impression in the minds of the audience as we look to the most important round of the live playoffs. There’s going to be a major cut on Team Nick and it’s going to take a massive vocal unlike anything he’s delivered so far to vault him above his teammates. Jose has a great voice with a lot of tricks in his pocket, but he may be lacking in the charisma it makes to translate that voice into votes through the television.
Be sure to make your predictions to influence our reality TV racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the live results episode airs on NBC. You’ll compete to win a $100 gift card each week and a spot on our Season 20 leaderboard. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
