The Voice continued on with the knockout rounds. Team Gwen kicked off the night. Stefani paired up Taylor John Williams against Troy Ritchie. Ritchie put his own unique spin on “Hey Ya” which is originally performed by Outkast. Williams chose to sing “Mad World.” Levine started off the comments by saying that Ritchie’s performance had a lot of personality and was bold but he would give this battle to Williams. Shelton disagreed with Levine and said that because of that bold choice he would go with Ritchie. The decision came down to Stefani who was clearly torn between the two choices, but she advanced Williams to the live shows.
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The knockout rounds feature Taylor Swift as a celebrity mentor for all of the teams. She is focusing on enhancing their vocal and physical performances.
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Next up was Team Adam. He paired up Mia Peirrman and Alessandra Castronovo. Peirrman chose to sing “Human” by Christina Perri. Castronovo performed “Next to Me” by Emeli Sande. Shelton added that Castronovo really has a voice that could be instantly recognized on the radio. Both Stefani and Williams said that they would give this knockout battle to Peirrman. In the end, Levine chose to send Peirrman to the live playoffs, sending Castronovo home.
Team Pharrell’s knockout pairing was Elyjuh Rene and Ricky Manning. Rene put his own unique spin on “With You,” which was originally performed by Chris Brown. Manning chose to sing “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus. Stefani said that Rene really showcased his vocal talent but she was missing the connection between him and the lyrics. Levine said that Rene didn’t make any mistakes but Manning is a star that was just born and it was an incredible performance. Shelton added that Manning was his favorite performance so far in the knockout rounds. Williams was left with a hard decision but chose to move Rene to the live playoffs. In light of this decision, Manning was available to steal and Stefani immediately hit her button for Manning.
The final knockout rounds will continue next week on Monday and Tuesday on NBC.