‘The Voice’ Season 26 Episode 17 recap: Team Michael Buble is cut from five artists to two in ‘The Playoffs Part 3’
Tonight on “The Voice,” the Playoffs concluded with performances from Team Michael Buble with special guest advisor country artist Carly Pearce. In this round of the competition, each coach must narrow down their team of five to only two artists that they’ll take to the live shows beginning Dec. 2. Rapper MGK advised Gwen Stefani in “The Playoffs Premiere” on Nov. 19 while Olympian Simone Biles helped out Snoop Dogg and country artist Lainey Wilson assisted Reba McEntire in “The Playoffs Part 2” on Nov. 25.
In rehearsals, Michael thought Shye‘s song choice of “Story of My Life” by One Direction was a great pick because it’s “unexpected.” Carly explained that she can create “magic” with that song by “leaning in” to the way her vocal storytelling makes it seem like she’s “lived so much life.” Carly thought that her voice is “one in a million” and she doesn’t have to work hard to make it sound different from everyone else’s.
It was important for Jaukeem Fortson to show with this performance that he can sing more than Christian music with his choice of “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson. Carly noticed that it took awhile for Jaukeem to get in the groove of the song and advised him to “from the first note just let it out.” Michael then asked him to start the song more quiet so that he can obtain the “gradual build” that Carly says is “money” in a performance.
Sloane Simon was surprised by Michael’s choice of “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan because of how much she loves Chappell and didn’t expect Michael to go with something like that. Carly said that Sloane has “all the abilities of the great pop singers,” but she has the “richness” that makes her sound country as well.
The choice of “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” by Whitney Houston as a performance song Cameron Wright felt like a “tap on the shoulder” from his grandmother who shared her music with him as a child and promised the world would hear him sing them one day. Carly and Michael said that his falsetto moments actually “sound like Whitney” and encouraged him to remain “uniquely you” in the journey of his career because Carly noticed “a confidence” in him.
For Sofronio Vasquez, Michael chose “Crying” by Roy Orbison and it made Sofronio nervous because he had never heard the song before, but Michael insisted that he’s a vocalist that can do it “justice.” Sofronio was able to connect to the song when thinking about his father’s death and what it would have meant to him and his mom’s future. Carly thought his run through in rehearsal was “so emotional,” but advised him to not worry about it being “technically perfect” and instead “let it go” because, as Michael said, “there’s a depth that is reached because of that.”
Based on the stage performances, Michael thanked his team for their “deep work ethic” in their time with him and thinks that makes them all “incredibly gifted.” In making his decision on who will advance, Michael chose Sofronio first because his “growth has been exponential” and is “so excited” to see what he does on the live shows. The second artist he decided to move forward with is Shye because she has one of his “favorite voices [he’s] ever hold” and has “a wonderful richness and depth” in her voice that reminds him of artists like Adele and Ella Fitzgerald.
The teams advancing to the live shows:
TEAM SNOOP – Christina Eagle, Jeremy Beloate
TEAM REBA – Adam Bohanan, Danny Joseph
TEAM GWEN – Jan Dan, Sydney Sterlace
TEAM BUBLE – Shye, Sofronio Vasquez
The four-time Emmy Award-winning musical competition series “The Voice” is in its 26th season featuring five stages of competition: Blind Auditions, Battle Rounds, Knockouts, Playoffs and Live Performance Shows. In the coaches’ chairs, Reba is the defending champion after winning season 25 with Asher HaVon, the show’s first openly LGBTQ champ. She is joined by Gwen, in her 8th season, and Snoop and Michael, both competing for the first time.