‘The Voice’: Jennifer Hudson and Team Sing Bette Midler’s ‘The Rose’

Jennifer Hudson teamed up with a pair of high fliers from her team on The Voice Tuesday night, taking on the emotional heft of a theatrical pop anthem. It was just one part of a results episode which also featured some country fun and the departure of a hopeful competitor.

Joined onstage by 13-year-old standout Kennedy Holmes and Kentucky R&B maven MaKenzie Thomas, Hudson’s trio patiently slid into the classic strains of Bette Midler’s reflective stunner “The Rose” — a hit found in the 1979 film of the same name. Building slowly and deliberately, the performance found Hudson’s powerful vocal taking a back seat to the soulful pipes of her protégés.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo1FTiAnfCc

Earlier in the night, fellow coach Blake Shelton turned in a toe-tapping sing-along of Alabama’s ode to the simple pleasures of a Southern life, trading verses on “Dixieland Delight” with gravel-voiced Texas native Dave Fenley, crowd favorite Kirk Jay and classic rocker Chris Kroeze. With Shelton enticing the studio audience to clap along, the cover-band staple became a rousing kickoff to the evening.

Additionally, Kelsea Ballerini delivered her current single “Miss Me More” at the show’s midway point, a gettin’-over-you jam which combined electro-country glitz and hard-rocking grit. All about rediscovering oneself in the wake of a breakup, the track appears on Ballerini’s Unapologetically album and her performance finished with fireworks and a strut to the front of The Voice stage. Ballerini was included on Season 15 of the show as the first ever “fifth coach,” leading contestants who didn’t make the initial cut through the competition’s web-only Comeback Stage.

Unfortunately, it was one of her students who was let go as Tuesday’s show ended, with pop artist Lynnea Moorer saying her goodbyes. The top 10 singers will return next Monday at 8/7c on NBC as live-round action continues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prjQADuvUAs