‘The Voice’ Recap: The Top 17 Stun With 1st At-Home Performances During Live Playoffs

During ‘The Voice’s first-ever virtual episode on May 4, the coaches are left thoroughly impressed as the top 17 slay performances from the comfort of their homes.

Season 18 of The Voice continues from the contestants’ homes amidst the coronavirus pandemic during the show’s May 4 episode. First, host Carson Daly reveals which singer is the winner of the four-way Knockout: Michael Williams! Michael is the final member of the top 17, and re-joins team Nick Jonas now that he’s been voted to stay in the competition. Now that the teams are fully set, it’s time for the Live Playoffs to begin with Nick’s team. Thunderstorm Artis is up first with a stunning performance of “Summertime,” during which he plays guitar. John Legend calls the performance “magical,” while Nick raves that it was “unbelievable.”

Next, Allegra Miles belts out “New York State Of Mind,” and Nick dubs it her “best performance” of the season so far. Arei Moon is up next with a performance of “Finesse.” She makes her living room her stage by dancing around and playing up the camera. Nick can’t stop dancing in his chair, and praises Arei for embracing this at-home format. Up next is Roderick Chambers, who sings “Lost Without You.” Nick is very impressed with the performance. Finally, Nick’s final team member, Michael, performs “Sign of the Times,” and his coach compliments the impressive vocals.

John’s team is up next. Zan Fiskum sings first, with a stunning performance of “Blowin’ In The Wind,” and is complimented by the judges. Next, Mike Jerel performs “All My Life,” which has the dances grooving along and singing in their seats. John praises Mike for his creativity with the performance. Mandi Castillo is up next, and she shows off her skills as a bilingual by singing in Spanish. As always, the coaches are blown away by her talent. Last up for team John is CammWess. He plays guitar and sings an incredible rendition of “Ain’t No Sunshine,” which earns high praise from the coaches.

Next up is team Kelly Clarkson. Her first artist to sing is Megan Danielle. She belts out a gorgeous rendition of Demi Lovato’s “Anyone,” and fully showcases her impressive vocals. Next, Mandi Thomas performs “I Hope You Dance.” She sounds incredible, and the performance brings Nick to his feet as he sways with the music. Micah Iverson is up next. He plays keyboard while singing “Your Song,” and Kelly cheers louder than ever to prove how excited she is about the “effortless” performance. Last up from Kelly’s team is Cedrice, who stuns with her performance of “Everything I Wanted.”

Finally, it’s time for Blake Shelton’s team to perform. Toneisha Harris is up first with a performance of Kelly’s own song “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).” As always, she shows off her incredible vocal range, and all the coaches, including Kelly, love it. Next, Joei Fulco sings “Runway,” and the coaches all vocally cheer loudly. Blake praises Joei’s unique voice and gushes that she “killed it” with her performance. Joanna Serenko performs next. She sings “Rich Girl,” and the coaches agree it’s a great song choice and that she nailed the performance. To close out the night, Todd Tilghman belts out “Glory Of Love” from his church, and it’s the perfect, powerful performance to end the show.

Now, America will vote for their favorite artists. The results will be revealed during the live May 5 episode. One artist from each team will be voted through by America, and then the coaches will each get to save one of their remaining artists. Finally, one last singer will round out the top nine following an instant save competition.