After a three-year hiatus from “The Voice,” Kelly Clarkson is back in her red swivel chair and looking for a win.
This season, dubbed “The Voice: Battle of Champions,” marks the first time in the show’s history that all of the coaches featured in a season have won at least once.
Clarkson has won four times — most recently with the sibling trio Girl Named Tom; original “Voice” coach Adam Levine has three wins; and John Legend has one.
Here’s a look at the three singers left on Clarkson’s team, who could potentially give her a fifth victory.
‘The Voice’ Season 29: Who is on Team Kelly Clarkson?
JW Griffin
Before walking out to audition for “The Voice,” JW Griffin, a 25-year-old singer from Moultrie, Georgia, told producers that although his passion is making music, he earns his dough through a bread delivery route. “The Voice,” he said, was a step in a new direction.
Griffin, who said he gravitates toward the style of older country music, stepped onto “The Voice” stage with a performance of The Charlie Daniels Band’s “Long-Haired Country Boy” that had all three judges in awe.
“You have one of my favorite voices I’ve ever heard on this show,” said Levine, who over the years has been a coach on the show for 18 seasons. “I want to own your record. I want to be a fan.”
Legend also had high praise, telling the singer he was “born to be on ‘The Voice.’”
But in the end, Griffin went with Clarkson, who complimented the storytelling quality of his voice and expressed gratitude that country star Blake Shelton wasn’t a coach on the show anymore.
Griffin has showed off his flair for country music throughout the show, most recently during the Knockout round with a performance of The SteelDrivers’ “If It Hadn’t Been For Love.”
Liv Ciara
When 16-year-old Liv Ciara tried out for “The Voice” last season and didn’t get a chair turn, she said she was doing her best to hold back her tears.
But then, as she heard the encouragement and feedback from the coaches, a phrase popped into her head: “Rejection is redirection.”
After that audition, the teenager from St. Peters, Missouri, continued singing and performing regularly in her dad’s cover band while taking the coaches’ advice to heart.
“I think she’ll come back, and I think she’ll do well,” Reba McEntire said after Ciara left the stage of “The Voice” last season.
And that’s exactly what happened.
For her second attempt, Ciara focused less on performance style and more on connecting with a song and bringing out emotion. Her rendition of Ariana Grande’s “We can’t be friends (wait for your love)” got a chair turn from both Clarkson and Levine right off the bat.
By the end of the performance, the teenager was visibly emotional.
Levine praised Ciara’s “mature and developed” voice for her age, while Clarkson said she loved the teenager’s interpretation of the song.
Ciara ended up selecting Clarkson to be her coach, and has now made it to the show’s top nine.
Performances during her “Voice” run have included a duet of H.E.R.’s “Focus” with fellow Clarkson member Mikenley Brown — which Levine called “the best battle round” he’s ever heard on the show — and a unique take on Clarkson’s own monster hit, “Breakaway.”
Mikenley Brown
John Legend is one of the more selective coaches when it comes to turning his chair around during a “Voice” blind audition. But it didn’t take much of Mikenley Brown’s interpretation of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” to convince him the 19-year-old was worth having on his team.
But Legend, who gave Brown an enthusiastic standing ovation, had to fight both Levine and Clarkson for the chance to be the teenager’s coach. And in the end, the singer from New Castle, Indiana, went with Clarkson.
“I’m a big fan,” Clarkson told Brown.
Brown’s performances on the show — including H.E.R.’s “Focus” and her own spin on Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” — have consistently drawn high praise from the judges.
When is ‘The Voice’ season finale?
Following the performances from the season’s top nine, superfans and past artists will vote to help determine the four competitors advancing to the Season 29 finale, airing Tuesday, April 14, at 8 p.m. MDT on NBC.
The top four singers will each perform both a contemporary and classic song Tuesday night, with superfans and past artists on the show voting for their favorites.
Host Carson Daly will reveal the Season 29 winner at the end of the episode.