"The Voice" Season 9 Live Playoffs has officially begun and Team Adam and Team Gwen took the spotlight and made a spectacular night of excellent performances, ending with a standing ovation; and for the first time in the franchise, the coaches were allowed to bring back one eliminated contestant.
Starting the first night of the Live Playoffs was newly-married Blaine Mitchell from Team Adam who took on INXS' "Never Tear Us Apart," which amazed Blake Shelton with Mitchell's shift from country to rock. Pharrell praised Mitchell and said that he did a good job in making the song his own.
Second to perform was Team Gwen's Regina Love who took a great risk in choosing Adele's new massive hit, "Hello." The former radio DJ had wowed the judges, including her old coach, Adam, who said he was very proud of his former artist.
Next was Team Adam's Keith Semple with Mr. Big's "To Be With You," who performed the song with a guitar and played with the audience. After his performance, Gwen and Blake, who just officially declared that they are dating, had an intimate moment.
Shelby Brown of Team Adam came next and did a powerful performance of Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good," to which Pharrell commented that her voice texture is good. "You just crushed it so hard," Gwen commented.
Fifth to grace the stage was Korin Bukowski who took on Sarah McLachlan's "Adia" with an emotional rendition. Team Gwen's comeback artist, Ellie Lawrence, was sixth to perform with Elle King's "Ex's and Oh's," to which Blake highlighted the authenticity ofher voice.
The second half of the first Live Playoffs of The Voice Season 9 had some of the night's best performances, including a standing ovation.
Jeffrey Austin of Team Gwen chose Jessie Ware's "Say You Love Me" and Pharrell hails it as one of the best performances of the night, so far. "I am so winning right now," Gwen said. It was followed by Team Gwen's Braiden Sunshine with Bread's "Everything I Own" and Adam said he had issues about the artist's choice of song.
Amy Vachal of Team Adam performed a Frank Sinatra classic, "The Way You Look Tonight. A Christmas album would be perfect for Vachal, said Blake. Team Gwen's Viktor Kiraly went next choosing Lisa Stansfield's "All Around the World," which became another winning performance from Team Gwen, and Blake he liked seeing Gwen beating Adam. Team Adam's comeback artist, Chance Pena, came next and did "Barton Hollow" from The Civil Wars. Refinery29, in its report, commented that the performance was good but the song was bad.
The last performance and certainly the best was from Team Adam's Jordan Smith who took on Beyonce's "Halo." The coaches gave Smith a standing ovation. Pharrell's comments were barely heard over the screaming audience.
After the first night of the Live Playoffs of The Voice Season 9, Blasting News reported that as of 9:30 PM Pacific Time, Jordan Smith's "Halo" is crushing the iTunes charts landing at No. 5. The next spot is a far cry from Smith's, taken by Jeffrey Austin's "Say You Love Me" at No. 38, then Amy Vachal's "The Way You Look Tonight" at No. 50, then Ellie Lawrence's "Ex's and Oh's" at No. 62 and rounding out the top five spots is Braiden Sunshine's "Everything I Own" at No. 91, the last song to enter iTunes top 100.
