“I’m leaving the show now!”

the sound Season 22 featured a large pool of contestants – the competition started with 56 successful contestants, instead of the usual 48. So, with the singer’s exit tours kicking off Monday with 36 singers surviving the battle tours, there was still a lot of undercut before the Top 16 live qualifiers began in just two weeks. Apparently the producers decided that the most effective (read: bloodbath) method of mass elimination was to expand the scope of knockouts from two-way encounters to threesomes—yes, with three Two artists at a time compete for only one spot on their combined team.

The top three contestants thrown into this troublesome trio mix are Blake’s indie pop designer, Buddy, R&B showman Kevin Hawkins, and country duo The Dryes—indeed four singers in general. And while Blake Shelton made it clear that he pitted them against each other because they were “big singers,” they clearly had nothing in common.

Bodie went first with Post Malone’s poorly picked “Better Now” — a mellow mid-weight jam that might be on brand with his personality/type, but actually did little to showcase his supposedly great vocals. Dries’ cover of Ryan Heard and Maren Morris’ “Chasing After You” was dreamy and romantic (coach Camila Cabello called it a “honeymoon” performance), but it also wasn’t the song choice that orchestrated the breakout moment. If this was an instant save mode, I would have assumed that both Bodie and Dryes were in jeopardy.

On the other hand, Kevin looked like he had dressed up as Prince for Halloween in a shiny purple suit, went with Maxwell’s version of Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work,” and this definitely seemed like a song choice that made him rise to greatness. Unfortunately, however, he was sabotaged by his coach’s advice. Blake may have said Loved The fact that – for the first time in many voice Seasons – There was no celebrity “Mega-Mentor” advisor for this knockout, but Kevin may have already used some outside help from Taylor Swift, Chris Martin or James Taylor this week.

The story continues

During rehearsals, Blake ordered Kevin to rely less on his signature super valeto, and the result was an unfocused performance. Kevin was singing like he was kinda american talents The work of a ventriloquist, caring intensely from his sinister voice to his chest voice—”a bit disjointed” is how John Legend, a huge Hawkins fan, described Kevin’s performance. At rehearsal, Kevin was probably 80% in falsetto, and I’m the one who said, ‘Hey, man, give me a more full voice. “I take responsibility. That’s why it happened,” Blake admitted shyly.

None of these three performances were really perfect, but all three contestants did enough to make the case for the move to the playoffs. Therefore, Blake was upset because he was forced to make an unprecedented triple decision. “This is awful! You guys all did so incredible! The two of you were supposed to breastfeed!” he shouted. “This is the hardest development they’ve ever thrown in my life. I’ve never felt more pressure as a coach in 22 seasons. Quitting! I’m quitting the show now!…You three broke me! Quitting!”

“It was a good run,” John said sarcastically.

After 22 seasons! Camila shouted.

Ironically, of course, since this season’s knockout was recorded, Blake actually announced it he is he is take off the sound Next yearAnd the After season 23 — although I can’t imagine implementing three Knockouts methods specifically inspired his resignation. In the end, he had to go with the four-seat racer Bodhi. “I tell you, I didn’t make that triple knockout easy. But at the end of the day, Bodie has something really special about what he’s doing. There’s no one like Bodie on the show,” he explained.

This left Kevin and Dryes free to steal, but with one steal per coach during the knockout rounds, I assumed poor Kevin wouldn’t get a second chance. Fortunately, both Gwen Stefani and Camila thought Kevin was worthy of one, and Kevin decided to go with fellow platinum peroxide star, Gwen, who was the first to turn around for him during blind auditions. “I’ve been watching Kevin since The Blinds. I really blocked John, and I didn’t get him at the time. He has such control over his voice. I think America will see that Kevin is one of the strongest singers in this entire competition. Hopefully you will allow Kevin can use any percentage of fake he wants.

So, this particular knockout method turned out to be fine, but I still don’t think these three methods are a great idea; They kind of remind me of the short-lived cross-fights from season 19, which turned out to be disastrous. But here’s how the rest of Monday’s triple threat was eliminated – including a knockout when another coach also took charge of guiding a rider in the wrong direction.

Camila’s Team: Cello vs. Morgan Miles vs. Orlando Mendes

Cello was the weird guy here, a geek/soul/pop dude against two country singers. He first sang, performed “Hold On” by Justin Bieber and played his guitar on the show for the first time. Hardly the strongest vocalist of the season, he stumbled on the lower scoring parts of the melody, but once again proved to be an interesting artist with a unique point of view; He probably made great independent records. But this offer he is Call the sound, so Cello was no match for Morgan’s pure, positive “What the World Needs Now” tour. “Cuban Cowboy” Orlando was also no match for Morgan, as his “Live Like You Were Dying” was lively, talkative, and lacked breath control. Gwen thought Morgan’s performance was a bit “exhilarating”, but Camilla admitted it was her fault as coach, saying, “I’m going to beat myself up a little bit. When you [Morgan was] Giving big hand gestures and punching in the air, I’m probably going to mislead her that way because that was me. I told her to do it.” However, Camilla’s decision was an easy one, as she and the contestant had a real strong chance of winning the competition. Exaggerated hand gestures are easy to correct, but Morgan’s voice is truly flawless.

Winner: Morgan Miles

Team Legend: Paregita Bastola vs. Valerie Harding vs. Peyton Aldridge

Paregitta went first with “I’d rather be blind,” and seriously, Valary and Peyton should have packed up and gone home right then and there. This was a master class, and while the judges always make such a fuss over teenage contestants, in this case it really is I was It’s hard to believe that Parejita is only 17 years old. Her performance was elegant and mature. Luke Combs’ cover of Peyton’s “Forever After All” was fun but generic, and his performance wasn’t any thrill. I’m not surprised that his battle round was a composite. As for Valarie, she chose poorly with SWV’s “Weak,” a wordy song that spoiled her. John had an easy and clear decision here as well. Barigetta is another contestant who could win the entire season.

winner: Paregitta Pastola

TEAM GWEN: Kiqué vs. Destiny Leigh vs. Rowan Grace

Gwen loves teen contestants, so it must have been a pain for her to play between 18-year-old Kiqué and Destiny against 16-year-old Rowan. “This is going to be very difficult,” she said sadly. During the rehearsal, it looked as if fate would go the distance, as she nailed the near-impossible “Impossible” to Christina Aguilera. Rowan’s cover of Billy Joel’s “Vienna” was a great option too, albeit a safer one. Meanwhile, Gwen was completely Against Kiqué did very United nationsSafe Choice: A radically deconstructed version of the potentially goofy and astounding “Hey Ya.” But later it turned out that I have Kiki The Great performance of the night, and Gwen – who often makes spontaneous and impulsive decisions, sometimes at the expense of her team – had to pick him. In this case, it was the right call. Suddenly, Keke who supposedly also ran turned into a singles match. Conversely, Rowan got a reprieve when Blake stole her, while Destiny’s performance on stage failed to deliver on the promise of a dynamite rehearsal.

winner: Kiki/Stolen: Rowan Grace moves to Blake’s team

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Follow Lyndsey on FacebookAnd the TwitterAnd the InstagramAnd the Amazon