‘The Voice’ Recap: Miley Cyrus Joins As Guest Mentor During Knockout Rounds

On the Monday night episode of the The Voice, the competitors faced off against each other during the knockout round and Miley Cyrus was there to take a seat in the spinning red chair alongside judges, Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Pharrell.  

‘THE VOICE’ RECAP: Miley Cyrus Guest Mentor

Cyrus was able to win over viewers who were skeptical of the singer mentoring the hopeful stars with her intelligent and thoughtful opinions on the March 28 episode. “Miley relates to every genre of music, and she has a working knowledge of all of those things. She’s performed pop music, she came from country roots, and she can share that knowledge with all these artists,” Shelton declared in the show’s opening.

The first set of singers in the Knockout Round were Angie Keilhauer vs. Paxton Ingram from Team Blake. The singers were able to pick their own songs with Angie going with Sam Hunt‘s laid-back song, “Take Your Time” and Paxton choosing Adele‘s power packed song, “Hometown Glory.” Shelton warned Angie to choose a better suiting song but she went with her pick anyways. During rehearsal, Cyrus coached Paxton to watch his vocal tricks and to showcase both the high and low notes during the song. During the Knockout, Paxton came out on top with his stronger vocal and better song choice.

Next up for the Knockout, was Owen Danoff vs. Ryan Quinn from Team Adam. The other judges were stunned but not shocked that Levine had pitted the two superstars against each other considering they both got four chair turns during the Blind auditions. Quinn went with Train‘s “Drops of Jupiter” and even with his amazing vocals, something was missing from his emotional side. Danoff decided got to with his modern version of Billy Joel’s “She’s Always a Woman and with Cyrus’ advice to keep it simple won the heart of the ladies and the judges. Quinn got lucky and was stolen by Aguilera.

Next up was Malik Heard vs. Hannah Huston for Team Pharrell. Considering the two singers both needed to break out of their shells, Cyrus commended Huston for taking on the song, “House of the Rising Sun.” Huston was able to bring out her rocker chick edge with help from Cyrus. The coaches gave her a standing ovation, with Levine declaring, “That was bonkers; you completely just brought the house down.” Following her wild performance, Heard took on “Isn’t She Lovely,” but lacked an energy that Huston dominated. His performance was good but couldn’t match Huston’s.

Next up was Katie Basden vs. Lacy Mandigo from Team Blake. The two girls impressed during rehearsals but it was down to their live performances to seal the deal. Basden went with Fleetwood Mac‘s “Gypsy” and made the song her own with a bluegrass feel, while Mandigo covered the Cranberries, “Zombie.” Unfortunately, Mandigo lacked the charisma that Basden nailed. Mandigo lost but was stolen by Pharrell.

Next up battling was Alisan Porter vs. Daniel Passino from Team Christina. Porter was able to relate to Christina and Miley with her child star status which caused Passino to shutter. Passino, struggling for a Justin Timberlake vibe failed to impress with his cover of “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” Passino admitted the song didn’t fit what he was trying to portray musically. Meanwhile, Porter decided to take her singing down a few notches and cover, “River.” Backed by only a piano, she was able to kill her performance and show the audience and viewers that she doesn’t need much to impress.

Next up was Shalyah Fearing vs. Emily Keener from Team Pharrell and the two women were probably the toughest to choose from the whole night. Shalyah went with Martina McBride’s heartfelt “A Broken Wing” and Keener doing the second Joni Mitchell song of the night, “Big Yellow Taxi.” Keener’s performance was almost perfect and charmed her mentor. Meanwhile, Fearing was able to put a gospel twist on the country song and wowed the judges and the audience. “I really thought this was the finale show, and you’d just won The Voice,” raved Christina. Pharrell decided to “go with his gut” and pick Keener while Fearing was stolen by Adam.

The Knockout Round continues Tuesday night.