The arrival of Rihanna as
an adviser for the Season 9 knockout rounds brought out the best in
everyone — it got the artists thinking about their body movement and
confidence levels, and it got Blake flexing his flirting muscles after a period of dormancy.
In rehearsals, the country singer asked Rihanna for a nickname,
suggesting that if they kept working together the tabloids would start
to tag them as Blianna.
Rihanna feigned feeling flattered, but she was much more focused on helping Monday night's crop of singers reach new heights.
That was not an unrealistic goal in this opening bout of knockouts, as
the singers were picking their own songs and were unaware of who their
opponents would be before stepping onstage.
Highlights of the night included a Braiden Sunshine makeover, a fierce
battle between two unique female vocalists and the disappointing
departure of a staple of this season so far.
If there was one can't miss performance, it had to be — surprise,
surprise — Jordan Smith's. Something new and unbelievable comes out of
him every time he sings.
Here are the results of the first round of knockouts, as the winners have booked a ticket to the live shows.
Andi and Alex vs. Blaine:
Coming into the knockouts, Andi and Alex were still mesmerizing the
coaches and the audience with their perfect harmony and flawless looks.
But Adam asked them to go out of their comfort zone for this
performance.
With Rihanna by his side, Adam tried to separate the twins so that their individual voices could be showcased.
This may have exposed some flaws in what they were capable of, because
their rendition of "Stupid Boy" could not match Blaine's performance of
"Hold Back the River" in strength.
Blaine proved that passion in a song was more important to Adam than
potential. The former baseball player may have been an underdog at the
outset, but he came into his own when it mattered most.
Adam's choice only further proved how difficult it is for a duo to make
it deep into this show (the show's other pair, which brought onstage
matrimony to the blind auditions, was eliminated last week).
Braiden Sunshine vs. Ellie Lawrence:
 |
| Ellie |
Personality has always been important to the fabric of this show. The
coaches each have their own vibrant dispositions, and for Gwen it was
especially important to bring that out in her artists.
Ellie, with her tattoos, multi-colored hair and spunky attitude,
already seemed to know who she was, but 15-year-old Braiden, as
teenagers are wont to be, is still discovering himself.
He had the voice, but Gwen and Rihanna wanted Braiden to loosen up
during his performance of Michael Bublee's "I'm Feeling Good." If all it
took was a slick backed part in his hair and ditching the glasses, then
Braiden must have already had some of the natural performer in him
inherently.
Ellie's routine was valiant, but there were some flat notes and it seemed as though she was rushing through it a little bit.
There really wasn't much of a decision here, as Braiden blew Ellie out of the water.
It was satisfying to see an introverted teenager truly break out of his
shell in this performance, and it will be interesting to see how he
continues to grow from here.
Barrett Baber vs. Blind Joe:
When Blake pitted his talented country veterans against one another, everyone knew it was going to be a bullfight.
Rihanna asked Barrett to feel the emotion of "Colder Weather," and he
did. Dedicating it to his wife and kids, the high school teacher was
gentle and powerful at the same time, and he was able to show off what
the song meant to him.
Pharrell said that Blind Joe took a country classic to new heights by
holding onto powerful notes until they came to fruition, but Blake
noticed a nervousness in the cowboy's voice that hadn't been there
before.
Barrett's performance just had more fluidity to it, and Blake went with an artist who can do more than just country.
It was a disappointing end of the road for Blind Joe, whose
inspirational story will remain one of the memorable narratives of
season 9.
Amy Vachal vs. Madi Davis:
The fact that Pharrell was willing to let one of these singers go is mind-blowing.
Amy didn't exactly take Rihanna's advice to make her movements sexier,
but for once it seemed like the confident hip-hop singer was wrong about
something.
Amy didn't need to do all that much to hypnotize the coaches, who were
unmoving while they watched. Her voice did all of the work.
It was a rapturous moment as the Brooklyn bar singer came out in a
frilly white dress and red lipstick, and did genuine justice to a
timeless Etta James classic.
But Madi was equally enthralling, showing off some Adele-esque runs and
making Blake feel like he was "taking a bubble bath" while listening —
an image that Adam wished to forget.
Pharrell shockingly went with Madi, maybe because at 16 she has more
upside, but there was no way that Amy was going home after her stunning
performance.
Adam immediately pushed his button to use his only steal, and Blake
followed suit, rekindling the old competitive flame of the blind
auditions.
It may have been a stunt to provide a little more entertainment to the
episode, but it is hard to fault Blake for going all in even if his
intentions were misguided. Amy deserved to be fawned over once again.
She went with Adam, adding yet another top talent to his already formidable team.
Chance Pena vs. Ivonne Acero:
Putting his two teenaged steals against one another, Blake hoped to see one of them grow into their own.
Chance picked a tough Imagine Dragons song that asked him to go a few
octaves below his comfort zone. While his voice had strength and a
unique rasp to it when it got down there, Chance faltered at moments,
maybe when nerves got the best of him.
Ivonne, on the other hand, brought the crowd to its feet with her
performance of Katy Perry's "Part of Me," which had emotion to it, and
Gwen said she was touched by the song.
For all of Blake's blunders and bad jokes on the show, he does have a
proven talent for taking artists to the next level, and he's done it
again with Ivonne, whom he chose to move forward.
The young singer's transformation from a season 8 disappointment to a
season 9 contender makes her storyline even more compelling.
Jordan Smith vs. Viktor Kiraly:
Adam is lucky he shaved his head, because he should have been tearing
his hair out of his skull trying to decide the winner of this knockout
round.
Adele has been busy as of late, but hopefully she took the time to
listen to Jordan's rendition of "Set Fire to the Rain," because he
brought it to another level — and that's an understatement.
Jordan did things with the number that Adele would struggle to do. He
made the song his own and at points was so powerful, dominant even, that
the coaches could do nothing but shake their heads incredulously.
In a more gutsy choice, Viktor took on Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You," and he countered every Jordan Smith punch.
At one point he took the song into a near impossible register, and it
was that note that really allowed him to compete with his almost
otherworldly opponent.
It was an uphill battle for Viktor, and there was really never a chance that Jordan was making an early exit.
But Gwen was particularly enticed by Viktor's falsettos, and after a
performance deserved of praise, she stole him away from Adam.
There may have only been one performance better than Viktor's in this
first round of knockouts. It just happened to be given by his opponent.
Nevertheless, both of them will be moving on to the live shows.
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