The Voice 24 Knockouts: Nini Iris is Dynamic on Radiohead’s “Karma Police”
The Voice Season 24 Knockouts continued on Tuesday night (Nov 7) as the first fully dedicated night to Knockouts. One of the standout Knockouts came from Team Niall Horan where his alternative singer Nini Iris who described her style as “dark pop” took on an unexpected song choice. Read our Recap
At this point in the competition, we now have seen one Knockout from each team. We also got a sneak peak of Season 25 coaches Dan + Shay who stepped in for Niall during the rehearsals as he was on tour. They joined mega mentor and country legend Wynonna Judd. As I predicted previously, the Knockouts continue to be a big step up from this season’s Battles.
Nini, a 27-year-old from Georgia (the country) who resides in Brooklyn, New York, feels that her two competitors, AZÁN and Olivia Minogue, are “vocally very powerful” and admits it is “intimidating.” But she eagerly wants to win this Knockout. She is taking on “Karma Police” by Radiohead which is a super interesting song choice.The song didn’t even chart in the U.S., and Radiohead’s bigger hit, “Creep,” has become a household singing competition song. Even internationally, “High and Dry” has been performed a lot, so it’s exciting to get something new. Nini says, “I’m like a dark pop, pop rock artist, so this is like my genre.” She notes her original music is “moody, melancholic, with a bit of rock elements.”
The “dark pop” artist lets loose
In rehearsal, she really lets it all loose. She sounds incredible. Shay from Dan + Shay observes, “Nini was incredible. I feel like the moment she stepped up on that stage I knew exactly who she was an artist.” She hits a whistle note where mega mentor Wynonna Judd exclaims, “what the heck. Are we still alive? I just went to heaven.” Wynonna appreciates the “tension” in the song, and both Dan and Wynonna advise Nini to enunciate more.
On stage, Nini starts the performance subtly in the sweet spot of her range. She showcases some impressive runs and her unique vibrato. Some of the floaty runs are unnecessary, but nevertheless, impressive. Hopefully she reigns in some of them in future rounds. As it builds up, she hits some high falsetto notes and then her voice breaks a few times in a very cool manner. These breaks are reminiscent of singers like Bonnie Tyler and Season 13 winner Chloe Kohanski. The latter half of this performance was one of the best vocals of the season as she truly let loose. If only Nini can put together a complete performance as impressive as the 2nd half, she may have a true moment that could further propel her front runner status.
Niall believes Nini could win The Voice
After their performances, Gwen Stefani calls the singers “incredible,” adding, “Nini, it must be so fun to be you and sing like that.” She would pick Nini. Reba McEntire called Nini’s singing “pitch-perfect,” noting her dynamics too, saying “you left it room to grow and I loved that.” John Legend tells Nini, “when you hit those high notes, there’s this like openness and roundness to your voice that’s stunning.” Niall adds, “you are so good with tension-filled songs” and likes how her notes “get broader and broader.” He picks Nini as the winner and calls her “supernatural,” saying she could “win this whole thing.” AZÁN and Olivia are eliminated.
Talking about Nini’s competitors, AZÁN’s performance was steal worthy, but depending on where she was placed in the taping, there’s a chance no steals or saves were left. Plus, she picked an extremely challenging Anita Baker song. Olivia was fierce in her Evanescence performance, but lacked some of the vocal prowess in the song to fully pull it off the challenging song.
The other Knockout of the night from Team Gwen was also incredible. The two singers who moved on really showed up. Tanner Massey won with a Shawn Mendes ballad that he truly brought his whole heart to, and Rudi entertained with a super cool modern Silk Sonic song choice. Her performance resulted in three coaches fighting over her. She ultimately returned to Team Gwen.
