‘The Voice’ Season 27 Episode 11 recap: Kelsea steals an artist from Adam because she ‘wouldn’t do good in jail’

The Voice Season 27 continued the third stage of the competition on Monday with the third installment of "Knockouts" performances. In this round, each coach will set four head-to-head matchups from their team and will be forced to choose only four winners. While they won't be able to save any of the losers from their own team, each coach will have a Steal to bring a loser from another team with them to "The Playoffs." By the end of the round's 16 performances, 20 artists will remain in the competition.

One hallmark of this round is that the artists get to choose their own song to perform rather than have it selected by their coach, as was done in the "Battles." Another is that without guest mentors assisting during rehearsals, it's the first time that John Legend, Kelsea Ballerini, Michael Bublé and Adam Levine get to work one-on-one with the artists on their team.

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Team Legend

In the first performance of the night, John paired Nell Simmons (one of his "favorite performances of the Battles") with Chaka Khan's "Sweet Thing" against Renzo ("so unique as an artist") the Billie Eilish track "happier than ever." Following the two performances, John said that Nell was "poised" and called her performance "perfection" while it was "so cool" watching Renzo go through different waves of his vocal and thinks it was great working with his artistry. In the end, John stuck with Renzo because he's "so different" from anyone else in the competition.

For the team's second pairing of the night, John chose the "sultry" Olivia Kuper Harris with Donna Summer's "Last Dance" versus the "piercing" vocals of Jacquelyn George with "Too Little Too Late" by JoJo. John told Jacquelyn her soprano is "effortless" and she performs with "clarity and beauty." He thinks Olivia gave a "confident performance," knowing when to be sultry and when to have more fun with the song. Due to her "style and control," John picked Olivia as the winner to continue to the next round.

Team Bublé

Michael's first Knockout of the night came from Adam David and Carlos Santiago, a pairing he decided on because of their "beautiful voices" despite occupying different genres. Adam went with the Allen Stone soul/rock song "Unaware" while Carlos sang "You Are the Reason" by Callum Scott. Following their performances, Michael called Carlos "unbelievable" and heard a "character voice" from Adam, but ultimately gave the win to Adam for a "dexterity and power" that will be strong in the live shows.

In the second pairing of the night for his team, Michael set Jadyn Cree with "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne against Kameron Jaso with "Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur. Following their performances on stage, Michael told Kameron that he thinks he'll be a star and applauded him for taking on a song he was scared about, but he chose Jadyn as the winner because she has a voice that "cuts through" and likes that she doesn't know how good she is.

Team Kelsea

Kelsea brought Jaelen Johnston and Hailey Wright back together after pitting them as opponents in the last round. Hailey chose the classic country song "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" by Patsy Montana and Jaelen went with the "country-adjacent" song "Dial Drunk" by Noah Kahan. Kelsea thought that both singers improved upon their performances since the rehearsal space, but she kept Jaelen on her team because of his "whole time" on the show rather than just this round.

Team Adam

In the last pairing of the night and the round, Adam pitted Conor James with "Forever Young" by Alphaville against Darius J on "American Boy" by Estelle. Following the Knockout, Kelsea recognized both of their "individuality" and said it would be "illegal" for either of them to go home, hinting the obvious that she'd be stealing one of them and stating that she "wouldn't do good in jail." Adam told Darius that he "turned it into an even more high energy" song and Conor that he "sung the crap out of" a "very difficult song." When Adam gave the win to Conor and kept him on his team, Kelsea gladly picked up Darius in the Steal, declaring that she's "been waiting for this for so long" because of his "joy" and "quirkiness."

The updated teams are:

TEAM LEGEND — Ari Camille, BD.ii, Bryson Battle, Olivia Kuper Harris, Renzo

TEAM BUBLÉ — Adam David, Angie Rey, Barry Jean Fontenot, Jadyn Cree, Kaiya Hamilton

TEAM KELSEA — Alanna Lynise, Darius J, Iris Herrera, Jaelen Johnston, Tinika Wyatt

TEAM ADAM — Britton Moore, Conor James, Ethan Eckenroad, Kolby Cordell, Lucia Flores-Wiseman

The four-time Emmy Award-winning musical competition series The Voice is in its 27th season featuring five stages of competition: Blind Auditions, Battle Rounds, Knockouts, Playoffs and Live Performance Shows. In the coaches' chairs, Michael is the defending champion after winning Season 26. He is joined by John, in his 10th season, and Kelsea, competing for the first time. Adam rejoined the panel of coaches for his 17th season after taking a hiatus following Season 16.