The Voice Recap: And Then There Were Eight…

This was a bizarre elimination...

Written by Tammy Ragusa
The Voice Recap: And Then There Were Eight…
THE VOICE -- "Live Top 10 Results" Episode 1517B -- Pictured: (l-r) Dave Fenley, DeAndre Nico, Carson Daly -- (Photo by: Tyler Golden/NBC)

Maybe it’s because the December 4 episode of NBC’s The Voice was the last before the semi-finals, but the Top 10 Results show balanced those heartbreaking eliminations with a generous dose of musical performances. In fact, the show kicked off with British singers Anne Marie and James Arthur performing “Rewrite the Stars” from the soundtrack The Greatest Showman: Reimagined.

After their performance, it was time to get down to the nitty-gritty, and with host Carson Daly’s ominous phrase, “America saved…” we learned that Kirk Jay from Blake Shelton’s team and Kennedy Holmes from Jennifer Hudson’s team were in the clear.

We also learned that 14-year-old Reagan Strange had fallen ill and the petite brunette with the big voice was unable to make it to the stage.

Very shortly after that, a second member of Team J-Hud, Kennedy Holmes, was sent through to the semi-finals, as was Chevel Shepherd from Kelly Clarkson’s team.

Looking incredibly fierce, Kelly was up next to perform her new single, “Heat,” from her 2017 album, Meaning of Life.

Then it was back to the task at hand. With just six contestants left and only eight moving forward to the semi-finals, America’s votes saved young blues singer Sarah Grace from Team Kelly and the most streamed artist on Apple Music from the previous night’s competition, Chris Kroeze of Team Blake.

Former The Voice coach, Gwen Stefani made a triumphant holiday return to the studio, but not in a coaching capacity. She and Chilean singer Mon Laferte performed a fun and energetic version of the Christmas favorite “Feliz Navidad.”

THE VOICE — “Live Top 10 Results” Episode 1517B — Pictured: (l-r) Gwen Stefani, Mon Laferte — (Photo by: Tyler Golden/NBC)

With only four contestants left—Dave Fenley, Kymberli Joye, DeAndre Nico, and Reagan Strange. Fortunately, gospel singer Kymberli Joye was voted through to the semi-finals while the remaining three contestants would compete to earn an instant save. And although young Reagan was unable to perform, she was still eligible for the instant save and sat in the audience, looking a little peaked and wrapped in a fluffy robe, supporting her fellow singers.

Dave went first, putting down his guitar and standing alone behind the microphone. Performing Lonestar’s “Amazed” with his signature warm, textured vocal, Kelly was quick to tell him, “That was a very smart song. That’s a beautiful song and I love your voice on it because it’s just so big and round. Your tone is like a blanket, like the blanket of goodness you’re wrapped up by a fire. I love your tone. It’s so cool. It’s my favorite thing about you.”

Dave’s coach, Blake, also had some words of encouragement. “Every time you get on stage, every time you get on stage or even in rehearsal your voice absolutely floors me,” Blake said. “God gave you this gift and it’s on display every time you start to sing. It’s incredible. I don’t know how it happened, why you’re in the bottom three, but as this show narrows down we face this every year. This is why I say to America, ‘This guy, this guy deserves to move to the semi-finals’.”

Competing for his chance to go to the semi-finals, DeAndre Nico performed a moving version of John Legend’s “All of Me.” Looking a bit forlorn, Jennifer offered some support and thoughts to the young singer. “You know, DeAndre, it is so beautiful when you sing a song and you really, really mean it. Like, you meant every single word,” she said. “All I want to say to you is, all you can do is the best you can do, and you just did that with that song.”

Before Adam spoke, he groaned, then said, “This sucks.” He continued, “DeAndre, you’re an exquisite singer. I’m a little confused as to why you’re in the bottom. That perplexes me, I guess now, constantly because it’s happened more than once.” Adam paused, looking utterly defeated, then continued, “But I want to say this: there’s an unbelievably talented little girl right now who is not able to fight for her position on the show, and you were fortunate enough tonight to be able to sing, and man, you sang like a champ. So, I can’t sing for Reagan. Reagan has to sing for Reagan and she’s not here. And it’s really, really hard for me not to just, as much as I urge you all to vote for this man because he should never have been in the bottom, I don’t know if I have the heart to not tell everyone right now, I have a very special relationship with Reagan, and I have two little girls at home. The thought of breaking her heart by not urging everyone to give this girl a shot to redeem herself next week would be too far beneath me. So, I want you to know, I love you, I appreciate what you’ve done here tonight, and, honestly, I think that you should both be there, but I’ve got to fight for my girl and I’ve got to make sure I represent her properly at this moment because she didn’t have the chance to use her voice tonight. So, I’m going to use it for her as well as I possibly can to make sure she can make it.”

In the closest voting of any instant save from season 15, and with results still rolling in, Kelly adamantly asked to speak. “I have been these contestants before, I know Jennifer has as well, and I know Adam and his heart, and I know he loves his team,” she began. “He feels really bad for Reagan, but I just want to say, DeAndre, you just sang the hell out of that song.” She went on to say, gesturing toward Adam, “It’s so horrible that Reagan is not able to present herself, and I know that’s where it is coming from, so please know that’s where it is coming from, he’s bummed for her, but I just want to say, everybody did a fantastic job tonight.”

Blake also told his contestant, Dave, “It doesn’t matter whether it’s this week, or next week, or the next week, the season is going to end and we’re going to be friends. It doesn’t matter.”

Adam also spoke to DeAndre telling him, “Everyone loves to win, and I know how competitive you are, and trust me, I thoroughly understand that because I am extremely competitive as well, but one thing I can guarantee you is that winning ‘The Voice,’ as great as it is, as wonderful and amazing as it is, doesn’t necessarily mean much if you don’t continue to go for this after the fact. So, ‘Voice’ or no, I believe in what you do, we all do, and we’re all fans of yours. You have a lot of fans out there now, so take those fans, build upon those fans, and make a career for yourself regardless of what this outcome is right now.”

With voting closed, America saved Reagan Strange, the contestant who was unable to perform.

Semi-finals for season 15 of The Voice begin Monday, December 10.