Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
Torre Blake, Chrisdeo & Mikaela Ayira’s Knockout Makes “Hurt” Snoop Cry: "My Daughters"
“It’s gonna be real tough because I really love these three girls,” Coach Snoop Dogg said.
The stakes get higher and things get more emotional as The Voice progresses — not just for the Artists, all of whom are hoping they’ll be the one to make it to the next round, but also for the Coaches. Sometimes Coaches form real bonds with the the singers on their team, and that sure was the case for Snoop Dogg, who seemed earnestly devastated to have to send two of his team members home when Mikaela Ayira, Torre Blake, and ChrisDeo faced off in the Knockouts.
Over the course of the competition so far, Snoop has really taken on a mentor role with the three singers, perhaps in part because two of them were just 17 years old. (In fact, when ChrisDeo, who Snoop called “probably one of my babies that I’m most proud of” competed during Blind Auditions, she was still just 16.) As Mega Mentor Sting quipped, “I’ve got socks older than that.”
RELATED: Watch Chrisdeo's Blind Audition on The Voice Season 26
ChrisDeo opted to sing “Beneath Your Beautiful,” by Labyrinth feat. Emelie Sande. Ayira chose Alessia Cara’s “Scars to Your Beautiful,” surprising and impressing Snoop because he’d expected her to pick a soul or R&B song. Blake, who at 31 is the eldest member of the trio, also made an unexpected song choice when she decided on Kacey Musgraves’ “Slow Burn.”
“She has a very, very soulful voice, and the choice of song was not what I would expect,” Sting noted, saying that it was “lovely.”
“It’s gonna be real tough because I really love these three girls,” Snoop said before the Knockout began. “They all could be something. They all have a star quality.”
Watch Torre Blake vs. ChrisDeo vs. Mikaela Ayira in The Voice Season 26 Team Snoop Knockouts
Right off the bat, ChrisDeo had Snoop crying and asking Reba McEntire for some tissues, only for the country legend to say she was fresh out. After all was said and done, McEntire was inclined to give the young singer the win.
“I’m not going to pull a Snoop,” McEntire said, referencing her fellow Coach’s habit of not giving other Coaches a recommendation when their Artists were facing off. “I would take ChrisDeo.”
“Snoop, this is the deal, if I were to choose my favorite as a fan right now, I really enjoy Torre. But then, Mikaela, she just worked the stage in a way that was like, ‘How do you do that at 17?’ It was so natural. And then ChrisDeo is just this pure real deal artist. There’s three different choices to make,” Gwen Stefani said, before taking the opposite path as McEntire. “Guess what, Snoop? I don’t gotta choose.”
“I didn’t think I was going to get this emotional,” Snoop said when it was time for him to make what might’ve been the hardest choice any Coach has made on this season of The Voice yet. “I’m so torn right now because I can’t take all of y’all but I want to. And I’m supposed to be strong right now. I’m supposed to make you all strong. But this how you’re affecting me. I love each and every one of you just like my daughters up there, man, that’s what this feels like. I’m sitting here with my daughters and they’ve gotta go to college and I gotta send two of them off and one gets to stay home.”
RELATED: The Voice Just Revealed 2 Super-Famous Mega Mentors for Season 26
“Not sure who the winner is in that situation,” Carson Daly quipped from the stage.
“It’s definitely not me!” Snoop replied.
After saying that he was honored to have been their Coach and that he hoped that he gave them something they’d be able to roll with the rest of their lives, Snoop named Ayira the winner.
“Mikaela’s voice is big, and I don’t feel like she knows how to use it just yet. I feel like the right song, the right production, she could win this whole competition,” Snoop said, explaining his choice.
ChrisDeo and Blake both thanked Snoop before leaving the stage. ChrisDeo was in tears as she thanked her Coach for teaching her how to be confident.
“These decisions that I have to make tonight? They’re heart-wrenching,” Snoop said. “It’s up to me to comfort them and let them know that, 'No, you didn’t do anything wrong. You just had your time.'"
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!
