Two of three Minnesota singers make it past knockout round on NBC’s ‘The Voice’

The contestants were dropping like flies in this week’s knockout round episodes of “The Voice” on NBC, but two of this season’s three Minnesota contestants flew on to the next phase.

Minneapolis singers Cameron Wright and Adam Bohanan each defeated two rival teammates in the knockout rounds on Monday and Tuesday nights to make it into the TV music competition’s Top 20. Minnetonka’s Frankie Torres, however, was eliminated.

A local theater vet and reputable backup singer from a known Minneapolis music family, Wright got the vote to move on from coach Michael Bublé thanks to a delicate but dramatic performance of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell 1968 duet “You’re All I Need To Get By” (posted below). Bublé let out a couple of excited laughs as the 34-year-old contestant sang, pretty well indicating who his pick would be.

“I picked Cameron because their vocal performance was perfection,” Bublé said afterward. “The show is called ‘The Voice,’ and it wouldn’t be fair if [Wright] didn’t have a seat going forward.”

Bohanan, who’s twice as old as many of his competitors at age 40, won his coach Reba McEntire’s vote with a passionate version of the Black Pumas’ 2019 hit “Colors.” It was actually Bublé who heaped the biggest praise on him, saying, “That was flawless. That might have been the best performance I’ve seen today.”

In rehearsal footage, Bohanan — who’s of both Black and Jewish heritage — explained why he picked the anti-racism anthem for his knockout song.

“I’m not always recognized as a Black man,” he said. “This song is a very important song because within the Black community there’s colorism, within other communities there’s racism. Singing this song on such a big platform, I get to share some love of being accepted for the wide variety of different colors that you can find within the community.”

As for the third Minnesotan in the mix, Torres’ performance was among several not aired. We only saw her teammate Katie O being picked the winner by their coach McEntire after she sang McEntire’s own song “Turn on the Radio.” Hmmm.