‘The Voice’: Kelly Clarkson Is Moved to Tears by Shadale’s Knockout Performance

Kelly Clarkson couldn’t hold back her tears while watching Shadale’s dynamite performance on the last night of Knockouts on Season 21 of The Voice. Tuesday, the Team Legend singer performed Shontelle’s “Impossible” in a powerhouse performance, ending the song in tears. Clarkson was similarly emotional, having to compose herself before weighing in.

“It’s such an important thing in the Knockouts to show us who you are and what you’re feeling,” she told Shadale as the tears continued to well up in her eyes. “It’s really hard to tap into your emotions and still be able to carry the song… It was just such a perfect song choice, and I obviously connected with your message.”

Coach Blake Shelton said the Georgia native took the song “from great to exceptional” by channeling those feelings. “There’s no denying that, we all felt it,” he said, as fellow coach Ariana Grande agreed it was a “really beautiful and really moving” rendition of the song. As her coach, John Legend was blown away by Shadale, comparing watching her sing to seeing Mary J. Blige in concert.

“She talks about her struggles, and you feel her emotion coming through everything that she does, and I think that’s what we felt today,” he shared. “I think vocally, you gave your best performance that you’ve given, and the thing that made it break through was the emotion.” Shadale’s Knockouts counterpart was fellow Team Legend singer Samara Brown, whose cover of Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” also had the judges praising her vocals, but in the end, Legend went against his initial thoughts and decided to push Shadale through to next week’s live shows. 

“This was so difficult,” he admitted of the decision. “Shadale made every coach feel everything she was communicating. She won this Knockout by being connected to the song, and I’m very curious to see how she taps into that in the following rounds.” Clarkson agreed with his choice: “I think that’s the beautiful thing about music is that you never know when something’s gonna hit you or move you. Shadale, like, shook me,” she said. The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.