The Voice Season 25 Knockout Rounds commenced Monday, and while one of the night's most compelling contestants, Team Dan + Shay's Frank Garcia, sadly did not win his Knockout, he emerged victorious anyway, winning at life.
Frank, an androgynous former mariachi singer and new-school R&B crooner with an intriguingly Anohni-esque tone, came to The Voice with an impressive singing-show résumé, having competed on both La Voz Kids and EstrellaTV's Latin music show Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento. But the latter experience hadn't been a pleasant one. At that time, Frank — who was only 11 and still figuring out who he was — was cruelly bullied online because of his effeminate image, which only pushed him further into the closet.
Eventually, Frank came out to his family (including his father, Francisco "Paco" Garcia of Latin Grammy-winning norteño/tejano band Costumbre), who accepted him fully. And by the time he was a teenager, he was organizing a Gay-Straight Alliance chapter and Pride festival at his conservative, small-town Texas high school. And now, at age 19, he was taking back the song he'd so polarizingly performed on Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento — a song once associated with so much pain and trauma — José José's "El Triste" ("The Sad One").
Per the advice of this season's Mega-Mentor, Keith Urban, Frank channeled all of his "star power" to orchestrate a "Freddie Mercury moment," proudly hitting the Voice stage, resplendent in sequins and feathers. Chance the Rapper said Frank's performance was "gently dramatic, like a telenovela"; Dan Smyers called it "dramatic in the best way"; and Shay Mooney, despite not understanding the Spanish lyrics, said, "I felt it — and that's all that matters."
Frank was pitted against a fellow maverick, '70s-throwback obsessive and blue-jean baby Olivia Rubini, in what was amusingly dubbed a showdown of the two "mullet queens of the season." Olivia, wrapped in a fun-fur jacket, stayed on-brand with her reeled-in, intimate take on Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," which she said presented her as the "most authentic I've ever felt in my artist journey." It was not as triumphant or emotional as Frank's performance, but when Keith suggested she sing it in higher key and do the highest note in falsetto, magic transpired. As Shay said, the key change "turned it into something very special."
And so, Dan + Shay picked Olivia, and I was disheartened — or triste, if you will — that none of the other coaches stole Frank. (I think Frank would have been a wonderful addition to Chance's team, but if you keep reading, you'll learn that Chance already had other, well-thought-out plans for his Steal.) However, Frank was still the night's true champion, my friends, because he conveyed his message to his onetime haters, loud and clear.
"Not only does this song allow me to present my heritage and my roots, but also this song just holds a lot of memories for me," Frank explained. "It has been with me throughout the process of my self-identity journey. I like being different; that's what makes me special! I also get to show that we queer Mexican, Latino boys can make it, as anyone else can."
The rest of Monday's Knockouts episode featured other hopefuls singing personally meaningful songs of their own choosing, along with lots of sage advice from Keith Urban — who was introduced as having "been on The Voice in Australia," with of course no reference to his four consecutive seasons on American Idol (just as former coaches Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson's Idol pedigrees were never mentioned when they were on The Voice). At least Frank Garcia was allowed to talk about his time on Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento and La Voz Kids! But anyway, here's how the rest of the episode went...
TEAM REBA: Tae Lewis vs. Asher HaVon
The Knockouts kicked off with this epic sing-your-face-off between what Reba McEntire called R&B "force of nature" Asher and country/soul "ball of energy" Tae. And while Tae most definitely held his own — and (spoiler alert) was rewarded for those valiant efforts later — he was outclassed by his incredible opponent. There are, frankly, very few contestants this season who could have emerged victorious from a showdown against Asher.
Asher, who just went through a "gut-wrenching" breakup after he "chose his dreams over his relationship and lost," sang Toni Braxton's melodramatic classic "Unbreak My Heart," and Reba said she could "feel his heart breaking" during rehearsal. Keith felt such power coming from Asher that he wisely advised the showman to "own more by doing less" — and really, Asher was such a star that all he had to do onstage was stand still in that Zorro hat and flat-ironed Ian Astbury hair and let his rich, supple, masterfully controlled vocals and steely expression sell the song. John Legend nicknamed the "regal" belter "King Asher" and kept yelling, "Sang, Asher!" during this tour de force. Reba simply gushed, "I am in awe."
Poor Tae, who'd admitted that he has difficulty being vulnerable onstage, must have been intimidated after all that, covering the less theatrical "Nothin' on You" by Cody Johnson. But he heeded Keith's advice — which was basically the opposite of the advice that Keith had given Asher — to let loose more and "take ownership" of the song. Shay subsequently said Tae "stepped up," John said Tae "sang the hell out of that song," and Reba loved Tae's persona, calling him a "giver" who "just exudes 'I wanna be your best friend.'"
But just as another popular reality competition is not called RuPaul's Best Friends Race, this show is not called The Friend, so Reba unsurprisingly went with Asher, who she believes could actually win the whole show. What was surprising was that John, Chance, and Dan + Shay all tried to steal Tae. John, the only coach besides Reba who'd turned for Tae during the Blinds, might've gotten Tae all to himself if he hadn't foolishly, prematurely declared that he planned to use his Steal on whichever contestant Reba didn't choose — which of course put his rival coaches on high alert.
Why does John keep doing that? After eight seasons on The Voice, he really ought to know better. Anyway, Tae of course didn't choose John — he went with the series' only other country coaches. "Tae knew exactly where he wanted to be," Shay gloated.
WINNER: Asher HaVon / STOLEN: Tae Lewis moves to Team Dan + Shay
TEAM LEGEND: Val T. Webb vs. Nathan Chester
Nathan, a cruise ship entertainer, can sometimes come across as a little corny, but Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" was the perfect showcase for his groovy retro style. Keith had noted, "Nathan can do a lot with his voice, and sometimes that's something you've really got to watch for, because it can get in the way of the emotion." Nathan followed Keith's instructions to "get into character," "embrace the song physically," and focus on "the story, the story, the story," and he pulled off a performance that John described as "cinematic." John said watching Nathan was like watching "a movie about that era of music," and I felt like I was watching a MeTV or VH1 Classic rerun of Soul Train or The Merv Griffin Show.
Val's cover of Anita Baker's "Sweet Love," which John warned her would not be easy to sing, had some pitch issues at the start, which Chance pointed out. However, John's decision to have the band slow down so that listeners could "luxuriate in her voice a bit more" paid off, and by the end, Reba thought the elegant Val had "taken us to church." John told Val, "Your highs were so high. ... It was some of the best moments I've seen on this stage."
Still, as wonderful as Val's moments were, Nathan, who John called "formidable," delivered the overall superior performance. So, it was no surprise when Nathan won this Knockout. Well, Nathan looked surprised, but no one else did. This was such a done deal, in fact, that we didn't even get to see Val plead her case, thank her coach, or say goodbye, as the show quickly cut to commercial.
WINNER: Nathan Chester
TEAM CHANCE: Dani Stacy vs. Serenity Arce
This one was a total Knockout, a TKO, in my opinion — even if Chance had "no idea" who to choose and didn't seem too excited about either option. His odd lack of enthusiasm almost had me wondering why the producers didn't just montage this performance.
Anyway, Dani's heart was in the right place when she dedicated Miley Cyrus's "Jaded" to her late friend who was a Smiler, and I appreciated how she open-mindedly and proactively solicited feedback from Chance and Keith about how to work the stage. But Keith was concerned that Dani's raspy vocals sounded too similar to Miley's, telling her, "I'm waiting to discover who you are. ... I think you can tell the story better." Keith thought wrong. Dani's version didn't have nearly as much raw emotion as the original. John told Dani, "I didn't think you all the way sold your passion for the song"; Reba said Dani didn't totally connect with the audience; and Chance lamented, "I really wish you had tried do a little bit more with the song."
Conversely, Serenity was all passion, somehow convincingly getting into the agonized, conflicted character of Rihanna's "Unfaithful" and, as Shay put it, seeming like "someone who's been through three divorces" despite being only 16 years old. Chance appreciated the audacious, ambitious song choice, and Keith loved that Serenity was "bold" enough to try "punching above her weight," but both John and Chance thought this was her most technically flawed and pitchy performance yet.
In the end, a shrugging Chance went with Serenity, rewarding her for taking a risk. "In a competition like this wherever everybody can sing, you have to be willing to go for it," he reasoned. I think Serenity was aweome in non-serene mode, and I'm excited to see what she does next — even if Chance isn't.
WINNER: Serenity Arce
TEAM REBA: Ashley Bryant vs. Josh Sanders
Ashley, the more pop-leaning singer of these two, was bubbly and spirited doing Jo Dee Messina's "Heads Carolina, Tails Carolina." Keith said she had "something really pure about her," and Dan loved how she mde full of the stage and had fun. But this was a safe performance. Chance griped that he wished she'd taken a bigger risk.
Josh, a grittier singer who has been compared to Chris Stapleton, said at age 35 this was his "make-or-break moment." That's why he picked a riskier tune, "Wild As Her" by Corey Kent. (Corey competed on The Voice in 2015 and went on to chart three top 40 country hits, which inspired Josh.) With a backstory and motivation like that, I expected a bit more fire and hunger from Josh, but he had an inherently interesting tone — Shay compared it to Eli Young's — so he didn't have to do that much to stand out, especially against the generic Ashley. John said Josh "stuck the landing" with his final powerful note, so he left a good impression that made Reba's decision clear.
WINNER: Josh Sanders
TEAM DAN + SHAY: Anya True and Kyle Schuesler
Chance the Rapper has been playing what he calls the "long game" all season, although most of his sneaky strategy has focused on the show's veteran coach, John. This time he targeted the series' newest and most naïve and unsuspecting panelists, and what he pulled off was simply brilliant. It may have been "devious," according to John, but it was brilliant. And it worked.
So, here's what happened. When Anya softly trilled Aurora's "Runaway," taking a risk by setting her guitar aside to focus on her vocal, Chance lavishly praised her pretty performance, even comparing her to the great Joni Mitchell. Anya's fellow alt-pop singer-songwriter, Kyle, then did a truly connected and seemingly beyond-reproach rendition of James Arthur's swooningly romantic "Say You Won't Let Go," telling the song's sweet story in a way that made my pay more attention to the lyrics than I ever had before. I was therefore shocked when Chance criticized Kyle's performance, saying he thought the lower-register parts at the beginning of the ballad had "thrown him off."
Dan + Shay said this was the toughest decision they'd faced on The Voice so far ("This sucks, man!" Shay grumbled), but they eventually went with Anya. And it seemed like Chance's critiques might have influenced their decision. But then Chance swooped right in for the Steal, whacking his red button before host Carson Daly had even finished announcing, "Coaches, may I remind you that Kyle is available to St..." And he began cackling like a cartoon villain who'd gotten away with some sort of grand heist.
"I was playing the long game, baby! I was like a leopard waiting to pounce! I knew I was gonna get [Kyle] on my team at some point. I just had to play my cards right," Chance chuckled. Apparently he'd "had his eye on Kyle since day one," but because team was already full he hadn't been able to recruit him... until now.
"Chance, are you saying that you tried to convince Dan + Shay to pick Anya? This guy is devious!" an incredulous John gasped.
Well-played, Chance, well-played. But Dan + Shay couldn't be too upset, since Anya is a worthy team member in her own right, plus they'd wanted both her and Kyle to stay in the (long) game no matter what. Dan had stated, "I feel like this Knockout is going to be a great opportunity for one of the other coaches to steal," and Shay had claimed that their ultimate goal was "to stage a performance that makes both [Anya and Kyle] very stealable." They might not have predicted the sneaky way that the Steal would actually come into play, but everyone was happy as the first night of Knockouts came to a close. See you next week for night two.
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