The Voice

During the blind auditions...

These artists blew our coaches away.

When we see that quality in somebody...

Coming out here like it was their last time...

We know that that's how determined they are to make it.

Then they won their battles.

That was unbelievable.

You have a career for sure.

Only the best of the best have made it this far.

And now our coaches' teams are only one step away

from the live playoffs.

This is when the stars are born.

Everything leading up to this was just tryouts.

Welcome to the knockouts.

Our coaches must cut their teams in half

by pairing teammates against one another

in dueling solo performances.

The best part of the knockouts

is the level of competition that you get to see.

I mean, this is the last step before they go into the lives.

For the artists, it's their first chance

at one-on-one coaching.

The song choice will be theirs.

"Saving all my love for you" by Whitney Houston.

"Hey ya" by outkast.

Wow.

"Crazy in love."

Mm. That's a big one.

As a producer, the song choice,

it's about more than technique, this is about personality.

And advising them all...

Oh!

One of the biggest names in music...

Seven-time grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Taylor swift.

What I like about "the voice"

is that the level of talent is incredible.

They all have intricate story lines

that have led them here,

and they all want to make their own mark.

Pick when you're gonna notice the audience.

You look at them,

and then you start moving around.

You played guitar for about seven seconds

in the entire song.

I think it's a Teddy bear.

It's extremely important to have Taylor here.

There's absolutely no questioning her credibility.

And I know she's gonna have a ton of great advice.

The pairings will be shocking...

And no one is safe.

Clearly, there were things there

that we aren't hearing yet.

I think you way overdid it.

I just don't want it to seem like

you brought a knife to a gunfight.

The knockouts are anybody's game.

We're getting down to the best of the best.

Every single person has stepped up so much

and made this a real competition.

That was definitely your best,

and I think it's only gonna get better.

Our coaches will have to make agonizing decisions.

You just tore this place down.

What am I gonna do?! That is crazy!

Gwen and pharrell had a... had a difficult time

making their decisions in the battle rounds,

but they haven't seen anything yet.

And in the knockouts,

our coaches will have one last final steal.

I only have one steal.

I got to hold out until I feel like it's the right thing.

I feel like I just won "the voice."

Watch this.

Knockouts start right...

Now.

Let's meet our first knockout pairing.

Some of the singers are like, "wow!"

All of us have Taylor swift as our adviser.

She's really smart. She really knows music.

She's bringing, like, a whole different element to my team.

And at this part of the competition,

they're choosing their songs.

And the right song really is a big deal

because it's so important

to have a personality and uniqueness.

Those are the things that people connect to.

I've paired together sugar joans with bryana

because they both are able to work the stage

and they have great voices, but they both need to work on

finding who they are and connecting.

My dad's in the military, so I move all the time.

We moved to Illinois

and then to north Carolina and then to Illinois.

But music has always been there for me.

How old are you?

I'm 16.

When I was your age, I wasn't even close

to touching what you got going on.

Gwen.

Aah!

Gwen knows what kind of artist I should be.

I've done a lot of different competitions,

but nothing really compared to "the voice."

You have that stage presence.

Bryana.

This girl has star quality, I think.

Awesome.

There will never be another Gwen Stefani.

Men, women, children... you name it.

Everybody loves her

because she made such an effortless transition

from being in a band that had a very specific sound

to creating her own sound.

What?!

When I walked in the room and saw Taylor swift,

oh, my God, I freaked out.

Gwen Stefani and Taylor swift.

What is this? It's a girls' day.

And to have someone like that

giving me advice

is a once-in-a-lifetime, incredible opportunity.

We want to know what you're gonna sing.

"Heart attack" by demi lovato.

Love that song. Okay.

If you were making a record,

this would be the record you'd make. Oh, totally. Oh, yeah.

This song gives me a chance to have fun

while showing who I am onstage.

Bryana has the pipes to belt

from the very beginning of the song

to the end of the song.

But this is a song about a very complex emotion.

It's more about conveying that than showing off.

Think about the lyrics that you're singing.

This girl is very conflicted.

She's scared, but she's being drawn in by someone.

You're talking to yourself, almost.

You're talking to him, but you're talking to God.

You're just like, "you make..."

You're praying. You know what I mean? That's when it gets real.

Then you break out at the end.

That could be really good if that part of your voice

is strong enough to be able to sing really vulnerably.

She's so prepped that it sometimes comes off like

she's performing it, as opposed to feeling it.

I think she's been amazing,

but the one thing that's missing is the rawness.

So how can she bring that out of herself?

This song can get kind of shouty live. Yeah. Sure.

So what I would love to hear is you go

Okay.

And just go to falsetto

for the first two. Yeah. Okay.

Stay really, really soft, and then... yeah.

Don't go so quickly into the medium one.

You were going too hard too soon. Okay.

You want to go full throttle all the time. Yeah.

What is exciting for an audience

is if you go slow, medium, fast,

really slow, fast! Yeah.

I'm just a regular high-school student,

and I've never, like, had a boyfriend or anything.

But I think it's very important for me to connect in this song

And I really hope that I get a chance

to perform on the live stage.

That was my favorite of everything you've done so far.

It felt like your song.

The restraint is gonna be what shapes you as a performer.

I think you sound great.

Thank you. And you picked the right song.

I think she's super smart. Thank you.

I'm also getting mommy-ish with you

because I know you so good now.

Yeah. And I'm rooting for you.

So good thing she was here.

Whew. I got this.

Every step I take in this competition,

it just feels so good.

My dad had a wonderful career as a musician,

so I really want to make him proud.

The thought of going back to being a manager

at a shoe store is not a fun thought.

Why didn't you push your button?

You kept telling me to, too!

The soul-singer thing, it's so impressive,

but we could find the personality of who you are,

because that's what makes a star.

I have to pick Gwen.

It's the best thing ever working with Gwen.

She's very nurturing.

Being able to advance this far

really reaffirms to me why I wanted to be a musician

in the first place.

Aah! Team Gwen!

Hello!

Yay!

When I saw Taylor swift, I was in shock.

I'm just like, "okay,

better do a good job at rehearsal today."

What song are you doing?