‘The Voice’ season 20 episode 10 recap: Knockouts begin with mega mentor Snoop Dogg [UPDATING LIVE BLOG] – Gold Derby

Last week’s battle rounds brought the number of artists competing on “The Voice” down to 28, with seven remaining on each of the coaches’ teams: Blake Shelton, Nick Jonas, John Legend and Kelly Clarkson. This week, with the battles in the rear-view mirror, it was time for the knockouts to begin — and what better way to celebrate the show’s 20th season than with mega mentor Snoop Dogg? This marked the superstar rapper’s first time helping out on “The Voice,” but hopefully not the last. So how did the first night of knockouts play out on Monday night?

Below, read our minute-by-minute “The Voice” recap of Season 20, Episode 10 to find out what happened Monday, April 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite artists on NBC’s long-running reality TV show, which coach you’re rooting for and who you think will ultimately join “The Voice” winners list for this 10th anniversary season. Here is a closer look at each coach’s team:

Team Blake Shelton: Andrew Marshall, Cam Anthony, Connor Christian, Emma Caroline, Ethan Lively, Jordan Matthew Young, Pete Mroz

Team Nick Jonas: Dana Monique, Devan Blake Jones, Jose Figueroa Jr., Keegan Ferrell, Rachel Mac, Raine Stern, Zae Romeo,

Team John Legend: Carolina Rial, Ciana Pelekai, Gean Garcia, Pia Renee, Rio Doyle, Victor Solomon, Zania Alake

Team Kelly Clarkson: Anna Grace Felten, Avery Roberson, Corey Ward, Ghianna Zoe, Kenzie Wheeler, Ryleigh Modig, Savanna Woods

Keep refreshing/reloading this “The Voice” live blog for the most recent updates.

8:00 p.m. – “Previously on ‘The Voice’!” In last week’s ninth episode, five artists said goodbye when the coaches decided not to “save” or “steal” them: Savanna Chestnut of Team Blake, Bradley Sinclair of Team Nick, Deion Warren of Team Legend and Ainae and JD Casper of Team Kelly. Following those eliminations, there were exactly seven artists left on each team. But enough about the final battles — it’s time to get to the exciting knockouts. Let’s go!

8:02 p.m. – First up tonight was Kelly with Ryleigh Modig on “Use Somebody” and Corey Ward on “Already Gone” by Kelly. In their session with Snoop, he was surprised by Ryleigh’s ability to project and hold a note, but Kelly wanted her to find some more intimate moments. Corey explained his song choice through his own personal connection to realizing that you can’t control the future and so Snoop was looking for the emotional connection — after Corey’s first run-through Snoop was already getting chills. With their performances, both artists arranged scaled back versions of the songs, each slowly building from a soft start to booming choruses at the end where they could show off big notes. Blake gave the edge to Corey for getting lost in the moment and Nick applauded his ability to always be vulnerable and connect with the audience. Seeing them again live for the first time, Kelly was stressed about making a decision but couldn’t look passed the fact that Corey sang her own song better than her and so she had to choose him. Luckily, as Kelly wished, Ryleigh was worth a triple steal–all three of the other coaches hit their buttons! For her decision, Ryleigh went with John.

8:21 p.m. – For Blake’s first knockout he paired Ethan Lively and Jordan Matthew Young against each other as his “country knockout.” Ethan chose “Help Me Hold On” as his song to represent the classic country that he grew up on. Snoop suggested that he add a “talking element” into the song to really drive home that old school vibe to the performance. Jordan’s song choice of “She Talks to Angels” was to honor a friend of his that passed away from addiction. Knowing it’s a difficult song to sing, Blake advised him to loosen up a bit and Snoop agreed.

8:33 p.m. – In their performances, Ethan lived up to the classic country promise and added the talking element that Snoop suggested while Jordan delivered a solid rock performance with country elements and gave more energy than Ethan. John and Nick were both enamored again by Ethan’s voice, but John called Jordan’s the “more compelling performance.” Blake felt like this was one of his toughest decisions, but chose the guy that he thinks is ready for it right now and that’s Jordan, despite Ethan’s once in a lifetime voice.

8:42 p.m. – John brought Pia Renee and Ciana Pelekai together for their knockout. Pia practiced first on “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” reminding Snoop of Whitney with the amount of soul she brought to the song. Ciana took on “Cuz I Love You,” but didn’t deliver the rap portion in a way that Snoop was happy with. He told her to bring more melody to that part of it, but leave out the big vocals from it because she has enough of that outside of the rap.

8:53 p.m. – Both performances were focused on showing off how deep their voices can go in the really big moments. As suspected based on Snoop’s critique, Ciana’s rap portions were a weak spot against her really smooth choruses, and so when Pia executed her song in a flawlessly delicate way it was a wrap. Kelly found Pia’s authentic and some pitch problems in Ciana’s. While everyone thought Ciana hit her mark, Blake said it was a clear “knockout” for Pia. In agreement with everyone else, John picked Pia as the winner and Kelly realized that he might have a major threat on his team.

9:03 p.m. – Nick’s first pairing was Keegan Ferrell on “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” and Dana Monique on “Nutbush City Limits.” Keegan connects with the song as a shy person, but Nick stressed a need to find moments to “pop” in an otherwise smooth vocal. Dana wanted to show her range in genre by taking on an uptempo country-adjacent Tina Turner song. Snoop recommended that Dana be a little more physical in her performance of the song.

9:13 p.m. – The two performances couldn’t have been more different–Dana used the uptempo beat to show her personality and energy while Keegan relied on a smooth melody to show the sweetness in his softer voice. Kelly thought that it was a clear win for Dana who reminded her of a bunch of pop rock artists from the 80s and Blake was overwhelmed by her amount of talent. Nick said that Keegan surprises him when he hits the high notes, but ultimately couldn’t let go of the “unbelievable” vocalist that Dana is.

9:22 p.m. – John got the next knockout, pitting Victor Solomon with “My Girl” against Gean Garcia on “Afterglow.” Victor had Snoop up dancing during rehearsal, feeling like he had never even heard the song before. With Gean, John wanted to make sure that he was enunciating clearly and Snoop told him to find a climax to the song to really bring it home.

9:34 p.m. – In the performance, Victor brought a lot of physical energy that embodied the Motown spirit. Gean followed through with the recommendation to bring in the clapping element in order to bring a climax to the song. Kelly picked Gean as the winner for having a “magical” element to this performance, but Blake thought that Victor’s singing was too incredible to pass up. Nick thought that Victor picked the better song and made it hard for Gean to even go against. In the end, John went with the artist he’s had on his team since the beginning: Victor.

9:43 p.m. – For the last knockout of the night, Blake and Snoop worked with Andrew Marshall and Pete Mroz. Andrew’s take on “I Won’t Give Up” was powerful, but Blake sensed nervousness that was causing him to lose his breath in the middle of the song. Pete’s version of “Before You Go” was his chance to be more current than the classic vibe he presented in previous rounds. Snoop worked with Pete to bring a little rap fundamentals into the song to provide contrast to the more singy parts of the song.

9:55 p.m. – Both guys kept their performances reserved in the first verse, but delivered strong chorus moments that made it a pretty evenly matched knockout. Nick felt a tinge of regret in letting Andrew go in previous rounds and gave him the edge in this head to head. John thought that Pete was more compelling in the lower register, but that Andrew also evened out the match in his own way. Kelly finds Pete’s performance effortless and leaned in that direction, but noticed the versatility in Andrew’s voice. Calling it a near tie, Blake decided that he’d stick with Pete in this instance, but Nick was not ready for Andrew to go and so he hit his steal button to bring him back to his team.