The Voice Recap: Mandi Thomas Stuns With Lee Ann Womack’s ‘I Hope You Dance’

For the first time ever, there was no in studio audience for the live rounds of competition, however, host Carson Daly was on The Voice’s sound stage to facilitate the show’s progress. Meanwhile, each of the show’s coaches appeared from their own home, as did each of the contestants as they joined mega-mentor James Taylor for a virtual mass collaboration of his hit single, “Shower the People.”

Carson checked in with the coaches first to find that they were all adjusting to sheltering in place quite nicely with Kelly Clarkson in Montana, Blake Shelton in Oklahoma, and Nick Jonas and John Legend in California.

The first thing Carson did after introducing the coaches was to announce the winner of the pre-recorded four-way knock-out. And the winner is…Michael Williams from Team Nick. That meant Nick would have five contestants vying for a spot in the Top 9.

Team Nick

AREI MOON (29) – Boston, Massachusetts

• Performed “Finesse” by Bruno Mars
• Nick: “That was fantastic and the beautiful thing about it is we talked before your performance about finding new and creative ways to embrace this format for this live play-off and you did exactly that, making this your own, bringing that fun vibe to it, the 90s influence and it just felt like exactly what I needed.”

RODERICK CHAMBERS (38) – Miami, Florida

• Performed “Lost Without U” by Robin Thicke
• Nick: “Just the falsetto aspects of that vocal performance require you to know what you’re doing every step of the way and that was part of the game plan here…but I will say, too, I could see this being one of the performances that Twitter just blows up after this.”

ALLEGRA MILES (16) – St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

• Performed “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel
• Nick: “The growth that you’ve had over the course of this competition and with this performance from your own home telling your story, not letting the nerves get to you and all of the elements that makes this challenging, you owned it and you brought it.”

THUNDERSTORM ARTIS (23) – Haleiwa, Hawaii

• Performed “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess
• Nick: “Unbelievable. This was the perfect way to kick off this live play-off…For someone who can’t whistle, has never been able to whistle, I was envious of it, but I also felt like this was the joyful thing that just lifted this thing off in the perfect way.”

MICHAEL WILLIAMS (19) – Mason, Ohio

• Performed “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles
• Nick: “We picked this song and obviously Harry is a phenomenal vocalist and a stylist with his voice and you just set the bar high, if not higher.”

Team John

ZAN FISKUM (22) – Seattle, Washington

• Peformed “Blowing in the Wind” by Bob Dylan
• John: “You have such artistry, such a gift, such a journey you took us on with this song. You showed us every part of your voice. You had so much nuance and subtlety in all of the choices you made. Everything felt so intentional and purposeful.”

MANDI CASTILLO (33) – Memphis, Tennessee

• Performed “Corre” by Jesse and Joy
• John: “You make me so proud every time you perform, Mandi. You just do it so flawlessly. You have such a beautiful tone, a beautiful vibrato, you execute everything so perfectly and you’re so humble and unassuming. But then when you sing, just so much passion and power come from you.”

CAMMWESS (21) – Blythewood, South Carolina

• Performed “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers
• John: “You taking on this song was such a challenge, but you nailed, you knocked it out of the park. I’ve got to talk about your tone because it’s so buttery. Honey butter!”

MIKE JEREL (31) – Ashburn, Georgia

• Performed “All My Life” by K-Ci and JoJo
• John: “Mike, I just love your creativity. I love how you took this song that we’ve all heard a thousand million times and made it your own. You put some of your own chords on there, your own runs, your own arrangement. it was just really cool and when you go for those big notes, I feel that power and it’s so electric.”

Team Kelly

MEGAN DANIELLE (17) – Douglasville, Georgia

• Performed “Anyone” by Demi Lovato
• Kelly: “I’ve loved you since the blinds…You’re so special. Your tone, how you can float through different genres, I would be shocked if you weren’t in the finale.”

MICAH IVERSON (25) – Tokyo, Japan

• Performed “Your Song” by Elton John
• Kelly: “You’re one of the best vocalists in this entire competition. You are so incredibly gifted, it is insane. That is a big song and the fact that you were so effortless about it, you’re incredible.”

MANDI THOMAS (33) – Memphis, Tennessee

• Performed “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack
• Kelly: “That whole setup was cool, like you’re looking in a mirror almost talking to yourself, that was such a cool vibe…I love this song for you, I love that you got to soar on those big notes. You can sing anything, that’s the amazing thing about you.”

CEDRICE (28) – San Diego, California

• Performed “Everything I Wanted” by Billie Eilish
• Kelly: “You’re so crazy-cool, man. I love what this show does for people, but you do not need a show. You’re such a stand alone artist and human being…You are so cool, I cannot wait to come to your concert, I cannot wait to buy your record.”

Team Blake

TODD TILGHMAN (41) – Meridian, Mississippi

• Performed “Glory of Love” by Peter Cetera
• Blake: “You are one of my favorite artists that I ever worked with in the 100 years that I’ve done this show. You’re a blast to be around. You deserve to go all the way.”

JOEI FULCO (22) – Lancaster, California

• Performed “Runaway” by Del Shannon
• Blake: “Your voice is infectious. When you hit the big notes and it starts to shred, you have a combination of a gravelly, like a buzz sound in your voice that is so unique and so fun to listen to.”

JOANNA SERENKO (18) – St. Louis, Missouri

• Performed “Rich Girl” by Hall and Oates
• Blake: “You didn’t really change up the groove of the song, the track was similar to how Hall and Oates, but it’s a clear case of how unique you are. Your voice is so different from anybody else’s, it literally became your song.”

TONEISHA HARRIS (44) – Roswell, Georgia

• Performed “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” by Kelly Clarkson
• Blake: “I know this is a competition, so I’m just gonna say it. I think that’s the best vocal performance of the night so far. I just think everything about the way you approach singing, you really own the story, the personality and you really have the chops to do it.”

Voting opened as The Voice began and on the follow-up show on Tuesday, May 5, one member from each team will advance based off of America’s vote and a second member from each team will advance as the coach’s pick. The remaining contestants will for the Wild Card slot to become the final contestant in the Top 9.