The Voice 27: Iris Herrera Shines in Emotional Knockout Performance that resulted in a steal
The Season 27 The Voice Knockouts kicked off with a bang, featuring a couple of steals including one in the opening and closing pairings of the night. It also saw a few coaches making surprising choices including the Team Kelsea Ballerini pairing between Iris Herrera and Angie Rey, which ended in a steal While the winner was worthy, the result was surprising nonetheless.
Iris Herrera, a 19-year-old who exhibited a more soft pop rock sound was able to beat out Angie Rey, a 25-year-old country competitor who auditioned with a Kelsea Ballerini song. She even got to duet with the coach during her audition. Kelsea paired the two together, she said, as they each possess a “spitfire, bad-ass energy” to them.
For her performance, Iris sang “Jolene” by Ray Lamontagne. Although the song has been done three other times on the show, Kelsea admitted during Iris’s rehearsal that she was unfamiliar with the song. The song, about addiction, had special relevance for Irs as she has had family members who struggled, including her grandpa who passed away after a life-long addiction battle. Kelsea loved the “smokiness” in her voice and appreciated the song choice. “Being emotional isn’t a bad thing,” she remarked, comparing her in rehearsal to Miley Cyrus.
Iris’s raspy tone is what made her stand out. She has improved over the course of the competition, balancing out the really gravelly moments of her voice. This is a moment for Iris. It’s her best performance to date. She has the ability to hit some really captivating belty notes that pack a punch emotionally. She brings a classic sound to every song she touches. Although I’ve heard this song a few times before, I’ve never heard it done in a way Iris did it.
Who did Kelsea choose and who got stolen?
Her competitor, Angie Rey sang “Dirt Cheap” by Cody Johnson for her performance. It’s also Angie’s strongest performance to date. She lost herself in the music. It does appear her emotions did affect parts of the performance vocally, but it was likely the intention of the song.
Michael Bublé compared Angie to “any great actor” about the way she sangs, and complimented Iris’s “unique” voice. Iris apologized for crying during the performance, but Michael reassured her that being emotional was OK. John Legend found Iris to be “compelling” and said Angie performed with a “gospel energy.” He would lean towards picking Iris. Adam Levine thought Angie had shown “the most growth,” but he would lean toward Iris. Kelsea called Iris’s voice a “storyteller voice,” and noted that she and Angie shared a moment over the coaches emotional connection to “Dirt Cheap.” Kelsea ultimately chose Iris to move on to the Playoffs. It is the right choice as Iris could become a dark horse candidate for the finals.
However, all was not lost. Michael stole Angie at the last minute. He said, “I wanted her to hug her coach before she came to win the show with her new coach.”
Controversial picks!
Other than Iris and Angie, Team Adam’s Lucia Flores-Wiseman continued to wow with a surprising song choice of “Slow It Down” by Benson Boone. Team Kelsea’s Tinika Wyatt was also rock solid on “Best of My Love” by The Emotions. There were also a few decisions I disagreed with. BD.ii and Kolby Cordell did a fine job, but Adam could have used his steal on a better pairing than using it on Kolby. Additionally, Simone Marijic gave one of the best performances of the Knockouts. If I were Michael, I would have picked her over Barry Jean Fontenot. This wasn’t necessarily surprising though as Barry was an original Team Michael member.
