For whatever reason, reality talent shows seem to be particularly in vogue recently.
Although watching people excel at whatever their unique talents may be has always been appealing, there are almost too many to keep up with at the moment! Between America’s Got Talent, The X Factor and so many others, there are more than enough creative and talented people out there with blossoming careers to follow. One show we haven’t mentioned yet is The Voice, a show that’s formatted just a little bit differently than some of the others.
That’s because on The Voice, the competition is a little bit more about the teams than it is the individuals.
For those who haven’t seen the show before, much of it revolves around four vocal coaches.
On the most recent seasons of the show, those coaches are Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Kelly Clarkson and Alicia Keys. Each seasons starts with a series of blind auditions where the coaches hear contestants without looking at them. Based on the strength of their vocal performances, each coach chooses people they want on their team (though contestants can also choose who they want if there’s enough demand). Once the teams are assembled, each coach chooses two of their own contestants to go head-to-head in a battle to see who will advance.
Though these battles are always exciting and dramatic, this one was something truly special.
It was a battle on last year’s season between D.R. King and Jackie Foster.
Both King and Foster were both on Kelly’s team and were going to both be singing along to “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles. The original version of the song has a sweeping scope and a light delivery from Styles. Still, Foster and King definitely make it their own. As it starts, the lights come up and Foster begins the song. After that, King comes in with a smooth and soulful delivery that he makes seem easy.
Even though it’s a battle, the two easily come together with some beautiful vocal harmonies after the first verse!
Their singing is so powerful that the judges are already on their feet after the first verse.
As the song goes on, the music gets more intense and their voices truly start to soar. Still, the end is where the battle really takes shape. After a little more harmonizing, King takes the lead with an impressive vocal run. Still, Foster matches him immediately—and goes even higher! Right after that, King takes the lead yet again with an even higher vocal run and makes it seem easy. Finishing out that section, Foster comes back in with the highest run yet.
When the song finally ends, the two contestants hold each others’ hands—and the entire crowd gives them a standing ovation.
Although the performance is over, the drama isn’t!
When the singers are done, the judges open up their discussion on who should proceed to the next round. To start things off, Alicia Keys gives her input:
“That was honestly my favorite battle to date.”
She goes on to say that King’s performance was incredible and that his voice has so many different sides and dimensions. She then turns to Foster’s voice, saying that hers is very powerful but also quite warm and inviting. After that, Adam Levine weighs in and says that they were both incredible… but Foster’s voice won out for him. Finally, Shelton gives his input as well and gives it to Foster.
At the end of it all, it’s up to Kelly to pick one of the two to go forward.
After much deliberation, Kelly decides that King is the won who wins the battle!
Regardless of the victory, however, the performance itself is what everyone remembers from the season! While neither King nor Foster won that season of the show, both of them showed that they have incredible vocal talents and won the hearts of millions of Americans.
Though all the other reality talent shows pit contestants against one another in relatively simple ways, what makes The Voice so fun to watch is that there are multiple competitions going on at any given time—and the pay-offs are a little more complex because of it. Regardless, this was definitely a performance for the ages!
Congratulations to both Foster and King! Be sure to check out the full performance below:
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