‘The Voice': Kelly Clarkson Was Floored by Jeremy Rosado’s Energy-Filled ‘Freedom Was a Highway’ [Watch]
Kelly Clarkson may not be the resident country coach on The Voice, but when it came to “Challenge Week,” she put not one, but two of her artists up to the task of singing a country song.
The first was Jeremy Rosado, a 29-year-old soul and R&B singer from Tampa, Florida. He had the challenge of singing “Freedom Was a Highway," a collaboration between Jimmie Allen and Brad Paisley.
Clarkson, in rehearsals, said that her hope for Rosado’s performance would be to showcase his “showmanship” and ability to entertain an audience with an uptempo song, as he often sings ballads.
Going it alone, Rosado launched into a high note on the beginning lyrics and continued to light up the stage with his exuberant energy. He received heavy applause from the studio audience while he made his way across the stage, as a band played along to a round of pyrotechnics.
“I love you so much. I always look forward to your performances,” Ariana Grande told Rosado before admitting that she was not “too familiar with the song” and “never pictured you singing a song like this. But you could sing the phone book, and I’d be in.”
“Jeremy, we all know you can sing the hell out of a ballad," Clarkson added, "But my man, you are really great at uptempo! That was so powerful! Your voice was magical!"
Later in the evening, Clarkson also gave her team’s Haily Mia the challenge of covering Kelsea Ballerini’s “Hole in the Bottle.” Shelton, known for bringing country music to the forefront with his teams, did the opposite this week. For “Challenge Week,” he had his country singer Lana Scott sing Katy Perry’s pop smash “The One That Got Away.”
Fans were able to vote for their favorite artist during the two-hour telecast. The two hopefuls who earned the least number of votes will go home during the results show, which airs Tuesday (Nov. 30) on NBC.