‘The Voice’ Season 13, Episode 15 Recap: Davon Fleming, Red Marlowe, Keisha Renee Among Top 12

This week on The Voice, Jennifer Hudson‘s and Blake Shelton‘s remaining contestants vied for the final three spots on each team heading into next week’s live rounds. These are The Voice Playoffs.

THE VOICE RECAP

Going into the night, Team Jennifer still have six remaining players – Davon Fleming, Hannah Mrozak, Lucas Holliday, Shi’Ann Jones, Chris Weaver, and Noah Mac. Fleming is the clear first choice, and Hudson agrees. She assigns him “I Am Changing” from Dreamgirls, the film that won her an Oscar over Beyoncé. The bold melody works well with Fleming’s voice, and while he starts out breathy and subdued, but the end of the song, the singer is belting out powerful notes with so much control. He is Hudson’s first choice through to the Top 12.

Mrozak’s turn doesn’t bring so much excitement. She sings Kesha’s “Learn to Let Go,” but her version sounds like a generic radio cover. She sounds nice, but is definitely not a show-stopper. Whenever Holliday gets on stage, we know the crowd is going to enjoy themselves – but it seems the pressure of the playoffs has gotten to him. Hudson chooses Prince and the Revolution’s “The Beautiful Ones” for him, which seems an odd choice for the rocker. He fails on his riffs and, despite Shelton somehow loving this performance, Hudson does not pick either Holliday or Mrozak to continue.

Then there’s Jones. She gives us a great rendition of Ariana Grande’s Tattooed Heart,” and lucky for her, Hudson always manages to see the good in her performances. Hudson sees a lot of herself in Jones, it appears, and that’s what keeps her going back to her. Jones makes it to the Top 12.

The last two to perform are Weaver and Mac. Waver always gives his all, but he is most similar to Fleming in this competition, and Fleming is clearly the more polished of the two. Weaver sings Marlena Shaw’s “California Soul,” and his course voice works for the most part. But he lingers around the same octave the whole time, and eventually his voice starts to work against him. Mac’s voice, on the other hand, feels like it transforms each week. This week, he takes on Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” and while the song stretches his vocals to their extremes, his performance offers something very authentic. Mac goes on to the Top 12.

For Team Blake, we still have Red Marlowe, Chloe Kohanski, Natalie Stovall, Esera Tuaolo, Mitchell Lee, and Keisha Renee. Marlowe has been consistent throughout the competition, and is again with his rendition of Vern Gosdin’s “Chiseled in Stone.” While perhaps a bit boring in his key choices, Marlowe is still a top choice for Shelton, and in the end he sends him through to the next round.

Kohanski is another out-of-nowhere contestant who suddenly finds herself at the top of the prediction lists. Shelton chooses Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” for her, and she blows it away. While the performance started to drag a bit near the end, she followed up with a killer power note to secure her spot in the Top 12.

Stovall, Tuaolo, and Lee all performed poorly this week, which made Shelton’s choice all the more easy. The coach already gave Stovall a second chance in the playoffs after a lackluster knockout performance, and this time it’s no better. She sings Garth Brooks’ “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” and her strange stage presence hurts the performance. Tuaolo somehow ends up being an even bigger mess, singing “How Do I Live” by LeAnn Rimes. He just cannot deliver a solid performance, and the song choice to begin with was a little off. Neither Stovall nor Tuaolo make the cut.

Lee can’t pull out a win either, which is more of a shock, as Shelton seemed set on Lee from the get go. The singer took on Bryan Adams’ “Heaven,” which was a perfect fit on paper, but the song proved to be too much for the amateur singer. He wasn’t able to secure a spot in the Top 12, leaving that honor to Renee. She belted out The Judd’s “Love Can Build a Bridge,” and it was a fantastic performance. She, like Fleming on Team Hudson, has so much control and knows exactly what to do with her voice and when. Everyone is blown away, and even Shelton knows that this is his star. He chooses her to go forward.

The standings as they are right now are as follows:

Team Jennifer: Davon Fleming, Shi’Ann Jones, Noah Mac
Team Blake: Keisha Renee, Red Marlow, Chloe Kohanski
Team Adam: Anthony Alexander, Emily Luther, Jon Mero, Addison Agen, Adam Cunningham
Team Miley: Janice Freeman, Brooke Simpson, Ashland Craft, Moriah Formica, Adam Pearce

Tune in tonight to find out which six singers from Team Adam and Team Miley make the cut and join the Top 12.