Team Kelly pulls ahead in ‘The Voice’ Live Playoffs as John Legend adds to his EGOT

Tuesday’s live results show of The Voice (Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on CTV2) was a nail-biter from start to finish and not just for coaches John Legend, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani. The contestants were put through the ringer, with new rules meaning each team sent three artists on to next week's round, with the first two chosen by votes and the third artist saved by their coach. The remaining eight contestants were narrowed down to four based on who had received the most votes the night before on their team, with Hello Sunday ultimately earning the final Wildcard spot in the sudden death elimination round.Then there was the business of announcing People’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2019, with 2017 winner Blake Shelton passing the torch, or in this case the Daisy Dukes, to fellow coach John Legend. This latest honour adds to Legend’s increasingly impressive resume, which includes an EGOT and a win during the last season of The Voice. Add Sexiest Man Alive and you’ve got V-EGOTSMA. He’s going to need bigger business cards.

TEAM KELLY – HELLO SUNDAY (WILDCARD WINNERS)

Hello Sunday is comprised of two 14-year-olds whose combined age of 28 is still too young to be able to convey the emotions in the classic ballad “All By Myself.” The song seemed like an odd choice not only because of their age, but because it was a duet. There’s two them. How can they be all by themselves? In conclusion, their outfits were on point, they delivered a soaring final note, and they’re cute as buttons. Plus, no coach sells their players like Kelly Clarkson. Watch out John, Clarkson is coming for that EGOT.

TEAM BLAKE – GRACEE SHRIVER

Gracee Shriver’s performance of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” was another example of someone picking a song because it’s beautiful, not because they can relate to it. Gracee’s performance showed the nuanced personality in her voice, but it’s jarring to hear a teenager sing a song about getting older and living their life for their partner. It doesn’t quite gel, no matter how great they sound, and Gracee sounded great.

TEAM GWEN – JAKE HALDENVANG

Jake stepped outside his classic rock niche this week with promising results. The rocker took on Adele’s “Turning Tables” on Monday night's episode and while some of the notes were out of his range, he put a harder edge on the song and it worked. For Tuesday’s Wildcard performance, Jake proved that he can also be a popstar by performing Shawn Mendes’ “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back.” The singer gave a note-for-note performance for most of the song and it began to seem as though Jake was playing it safe, but his final few seconds onstage on The Voice turned into a bona fide rock concert, with Jake belting out the last lines with his own unique mix of grit and perfect pitch. It would have been exciting to see the rocker stick around and take on another track outside his genre.

TEAM LEGEND – ALEX GUTHRIE

Alex Guthrie gave what was arguably the most technically proficient performance of the evening, with his rendition of Rihanna’s “Stay” another example of the consistency Alex has shown throughout the competition. While he always sounds great, the emotional connection to the song was lacking, which could be due to nerves.