How “Force of Nature” Adam Bohanan Gave the “Best Performance Seen” During Knockouts

Every phase of The Voice serves to ramp up the competition and close the field of Artists. During the Blind Auditions, each Artist is competing against themselves and hoping to earn at least one chair turn from a Coach. During the Battles, two Artists from the same team go head-to-head in a dueling duet. Now, in the Knockouts, a trio of Artists compete in a three-way song-off, each performing a song of their choice.

During tonight's episode of The Voice Season 26, 40-year-old Adam Bohanan went up against 28-year-old Cassidy Lee and 14-year-old Juakeem Fortson for a chance to represent Team Reba in the Playoffs. For his Knockout song, Bohanan chose “Colors” by the Black Pumas. The song has a special resonance for Bohanan, whose half-black, half-white, Jewish heritage wasn’t always welcomed with compassion, growing up.

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“I’m not always recognized as a Black man. This song is a very important song because within the Black community there’s colorism, within other communities there’s racism. Singing this song on such a big platform, I get to share some love of being accepted for the wide variety of different colors that you can find within the community,” Bohanan said during rehearsals.

Adam Bohanan Wins Knockout Round with “Colors” by the Black Pumas

Mega Mentor Jennifer Hudson heaped praise on Bohanan during rehearsals. “Adam’s tone is amazing. The energy he’s giving this is what’s needed,” she said, while also encouraging him to let his “dirty” tone shine through. It’s advice he took to heart upon taking to the Knockout stage.

Bohanan stood resolute behind his guitar, strumming along and grooving gently to the beat. His gravelly voice, that dirty tone Hudson mentioned, poured out from the very first line, and the backing band helped to sell the more powerful moments. Bohanan ended with a powerful declaration, certain to stick in the Coaches’ memories.

Competitor Cassidy Lee delivered a sultry rendition of “Love Me Like a Man” by Bonnie Raitt, and Jaukeem Forston brought the house down with “God Only Knows” by for King & Country. But Bohanan turned in not just the best performance of the trio, but the best performance of the evening.

Snoop Dogg broke down the trio of performances, saying, “This is the first time I've ever went to a bar, a club, and then went to church right after. And, I mean, it was a hell of an experience. Starting off with you Adam, it had the right energy, the right feeling. It's not always about the way it sounds, it's the way it feels. Great performance.”

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“You are truly an artist,” Michael Bublé said, mirroring Snoop’s thoughts. “That was flawless, that might have been the best performance I’ve seen today.”

Coach Reba McEntire, meanwhile, was torn between the excitement of choosing a winner and the pain of losing two Artists from her team. “Golly, guys. I love you, all three, please don’t be mad at me,” Reba said. “The winner of this Knockout round is Adam.”

Back during the Blinds, Reba was the only Coach to turn for Bohanan, seeing a hidden potential waiting to shine through. Two rounds later, and Bohanan is tearing through the competition and on his way to the Playoffs. “Adam is a force of nature,” Reba said. “He’s a great guitar player, he has a great attitude, and then he opens his mouth and it’s just this amazing voice.”

Catch new weekly episodes of The Voice on NBC Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Miss an episode? Not to worry — stream it on Peacock the very next day!