Kamalei Kawa’a, Jackie Romeo and more brought the country queen to tears during Monday’s Knockouts!
It was week two of the Knockout Rounds on Monday’s The Voice — and coach Reba McEntire had some emotional decisions to make!
The first Knockout was Chance the Rapper’s team members Maddi Jane versus Kamalei Kawa’a. Maddi brought the house down with a high-octane rendition of Dua Lipa’s “New Rules,” while Kamalei stuck to his heartfelt ballad roots and performed John Legend’s “All of Me” in honor of his wife, leaving Chance’s fellow coaches — Reba, John and Dan + Shay — struggling to help him decide.
“Chance has his hands full,” Shay praised. “You both deserve to be here.”
John admitted that he tends to be overcritical of Voice contestants who sing his songs, but told Kamalei, “I was just really into your version. It was beautiful.”
“I don’t know who Chance is gonna choose, but I know I have a steal left!” he teased.
When Chance finally made up his mind naming Maddi as the winner, it didn’t take long before both John and Reba hit their buttons to steal Kamalei to their own teams.
Ultimately, Kamalei’s connection with John proved too much for Reba to overcome, but that meant the country queen got a second chance to use her steal later in the episode. After Team Legend’s Zoe Levert and Jackie Romeo faced off, the coaches were torn once again as they praised Jackie’s rendition of Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain” and Zoe’s “Cowboy Take Me Away” by The Chicks.
Zoe’s blossoming talent gave her the slight edge in John’s eyes, however, after he named her the winner, Reba quickly pressed her button to steal Jackie — who immediately broke down in shocked tears.
“Jackie can sing country, Jackie can sing anything she wants, ’cause she’s that strong of a singer,” Reba told the cameras before comforting her newest team member backstage.
“Continue to have fun,” she told the tearful singer. “I love you!”
Season 25 marks the second season of The Voice without O.G. coach Blake Shelton, and when ET spoke with John — now the most-tenured coach on the show — ahead of the Battle Rounds, he admitted that he doesn’t think there’s a good chance that Blake will ever return to the show.
“I feel like Gwen is the only chance we have,” John shared with a laugh. “[Blake] is staying on the farm, he’s enjoying himself. I’ve talked to him and he’s, like, picking corn… I don’t think he has any desire to come back to Hollywood and film The Voice.“
However, that doesn’t mean that the competition on season 25 is any less daunting, John insisted.
“[Reba’s] obviously very seasoned in her career, she’s done everything from television to many, many, many, many, many hit songs over her career and performing on every stage you can imagine,” he praised. “She just brings such a wealth of experience and expertise to our show. We’re so lucky to have her.”
As for Dan + Shay, John said the duo has the “new coach fire,” adding, “They’re trying to win. We definitely battled back and forth when it came to the blind auditions and yeah, they’ve got the fire. They want to win.”
The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. PT/ET on NBC.
