Taylor Swift seems to be everywhere these days, from the movie theater with her record-breaking concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, to Kansas City Chiefs games in support of boyfriend Travis Kelce, to being honored with a night of her music on Dancing with the Stars. For The Voice Season 24 Semifinals, the Top 9 artists got in on the fun too, with the remaining contestants breaking into trios to put their own spin on a few of the music icon’s tunes. So after another night of fierce competition, who represented the artist best? Let’s take a look.
Huntley, Mac Royals and Lila Forde: Exile
The first performance of the night came from John Legend’s two remaining artists — Mac Royals and Lila Forde — and Niall Horan’s Huntley, singing the folklore favorite “Exile.” The three each opened with a small solo before their voices came together in haunting harmony. It’s kind of amazing how three such unique voices from singers of different genres can gel so beautifully, and fans seemed to like what they were hearing. Some comments from X included:
- The harmonies are immaculate. exile is literally one of my favorite songs holy crap. Mac, Huntley, and Lila y’all KILLED IT – mustbelovehoran
- Holy shit they are absolutely killing it with this Exile performance!!!!!! I can’t breathe it’s so good – dgonzales7
- Huntley singing Bon Iver’s part in exile is EVERYTHING … I need Lila to release something in the style of folklore/evermore, this sound fits her voice perfectly – flyhometolou
- Mac just made me love exile by Taylor Swift 10,000 times more – officialtamiaa
Jacquie Roar, Mara Justine and Nini Iris: Don’t Blame Me
The next trio comprised Season 24’s powerhouse singers — Mara Justine and Nini Iris of Niall Horan’s team and Reba McEntire’s Jacquie Roar — appropriately visiting the Reputation era with “Don’t Blame Me.” Iris was the recipient of the big note that Taylor Swift hits near the end of the song, but all three had plenty of opportunity to belt out their own runs. This was my personal favorite of the three, and fans seemed to love the energy this trio brought, commenting on social media:
- THAT WAS INCREDIBLE OMG ALL THREE SLAYED don’t blame me was the PERFECT song – lwtsk8erboi
- I’m LIVING for these powerful women howling at the moon!!!! – TheAmeliaFortes
- Oh this trio is perfect… Jacquie, Mara, and Nina are fucking killing it???? – shakenjaeke
- THAT WAS THE BEST TRIO IN VOICE HISTORY HANDS DOWN YALL OH MY GOD!!! – mariah_tbsl
Bias, Jordan Rainer and Ruby Leigh: Mean (Taylor’s Version)
It felt appropriate that the final trio, which featured Gwen Stefani’s lone remaining team member Bias singing with Team Reba’s Jordan Rainer and Ruby Leigh, leaned more toward Taylor Swift’s country roots with “Mean (Taylor’s Version).” Their voices sounded so natural together, with Rainer picking at a banjo alongside the other two strumming guitars to enhance the bluegrass feel of the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) hit. Some viewers were surprised how well it came together, commenting:
- That trio performance from BIAS, Jordan, and Ruby is my favorite performance of the night. – mmelnick412
- Alright, Ruby, Bias & Jordan should do more covers together. They bring out the best in one another’s voices! Well done. – realitytvchatss
- The harmony of Ruby, Bias, & Jordan was exquisite. And then their jamming had me dancing. Great performance. – CoachEddGladney
- “Mean.” One of my favorite Taylor songs. Great job Jordan, Bias and Ruby! – t_armstrong2011
It was a good night to be a Swiftie if you were watching The Voice, but which artists impressed America to win over the voters? In addition to their Taylor Swift trios, the Top 9 also gave a solo performance with a song picked by fans before voting was opened up.
Viewers have until 7 a.m. ET Tuesday, December 12, to cast their votes, but unfortunately we get just one vote (per email, per voting method), so tough choices must be made. Tune in at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday to see the results, where we’ll learn which five Season 24 artists will advance to next week’s finale. If you need to catch up on any of this season’s performances, The Voice episodes are available to stream with a Peacock subscription.
