Photo: Getty Images
Reba McEntire said LeAnn Rimes would “be so proud” of a rising country artist whose “yodels were really, really perfect” on The Voice.
Kayleigh Clark, 20, from Sumrall, Mississippi, took the stage with “Blue” during the Knockout rounds that aired on Monday evening (November 10). The iconic song served as her debut single and the title track of her album that released in July 1996. Rimes was 13 years old when the single and album arrived, and she was 14 by the time she made history as the youngest individual artist to win a Grammy in 1997.
“Kaleigh, that was wonderful. LeAnn will be so proud. Your yodels were really, really perfect,” McEntire said of Clark’s performance.
Clark earned a four-chair turn when she performed Sugarland’s “Stay” during the Blind Auditions. She opted to compete on Team Niall Horan, who also praised the Knockout performance.
“Kaleigh, you just came out of the blocks strong,” Horan said. “When we had [Mega Mentor] Joe Walsh in, he was asking you to commit with breath. You took all of his notes, all of my notes on board, and just smashed it.
Horan admitted he had “no idea what I’m going to do” when he had to choose between Clark and Team Niall trio, DEK of Hearts.
“I love to encourage,” McEntire said of The Voice in an interview with iHeartCountry earlier this year. “I can’t tell anybody, ‘Don’t do this. Go get a job. You’re not suited for this.’ But the way that we get to do the – I don’t say critique – advice, it’s helpful advice. It’s not tear-down. We want to lift up. We want to inspire. We want to encourage, not tear down. They get enough of that out there in the world.”
The Voice airs at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on Mondays on NBC. It’s available to stream the following day on Peacock.
Watch Clark’s performance here, and scroll below to see who Horan selected as the winner of the Knockout round (warning: spoiler).
“This is a complete 50/50. I have no idea what I’m going to do,” Horan said. Ultimately, he decided, “the winner of this Knockout is DEK of Hearts.
“I honestly think that was the toughest decision that I’ve made on The Voice,” Horan said. “Kaleigh is an incredibly talented singer. I just have a feeling about DEK. They just bring something to the show and to music that makes me excited. And when they sing together, it’s special.”
Horan also used his “Mic Drop” for DEK of Hearts, nominating them to sing for millions of people at the upcoming Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.