Fans of The Voice aren't too happy about the recent elimination of John Legend's team member, KJ Jennings. This isn't the first time during season 21 that fans have had a bad reaction to a coach's decision. Some people had a mixed reaction toward Ariana Grande turning her chair for David Vogel. While some fans thought he had a good voice and was a great pick for her team, others thought that Ariana turned for David at the last minute out of guilt, since he was covering her song.
Samuel Harness ended up winning out against KJ in the first Battle Round, with Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and, ultimately, John favoring him over KJ. However, Samuel wasn't the only winner of the night. Since the Battle Rounds pit two members from the same team against each other, with the winner getting to stay, there were a lot of eliminations. Some other winners included Team Ariana's Katie Rae (although Ariana opted to save her opponent, Bella DeNapoli, as well), Team Blake's Peedy Chavis and Ariana's last-minute pick, David. A bunch of other contestants also met their fate during The Voice's first Battle Round of the season, including Jershika Maple, who was eliminated by Kelly only to be "stolen" by John.
KJ and Samuel competed while duetting "I Know What You Did Last Summer" by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, with John choosing not to "save" KJ. None of the other judges opted to "steal" her for their team, either, so she was eliminated. However, some fans were not happy with this decision. "So she is going home? But she was literally AMAZING? Why didn’t anyone steal her? She’s phenomenal and looked like a star," one fan wrote (via Good Housekeeping). Another fan remarked that, while they liked Samuel's voice too, they thought KJ should have won out over him. "I like [that] Samuel has a nice tone, but I would have chosen KJ. How did she not get stolen???" Someone also commented that KJ "already sounds like a star!"
Blake, the longest tenured coach on the show, also revealed why he didn't decide to bring KJ onto his team. "Samuel versus KJ was a good battle, but I like to wait to use my steal because there’s always a battle that happens towards the end of these things that blows people away," he said. Even though her time has come to an end on the show, KJ thanked the coaches for giving her a chance to show them what she's capable of. Even if the coaches didn't think she should win out against Samuel, the fans clearly saw something special in her.
Even though KJ is no longer competing on the show, it doesn't mean her career is over. In fact, considering the amount of support and talent she has, it looks like it's only the beginning. Fans will have to just keep watching to find out where KJ goes next, as well as who the next winner of The Voice will be. A lot of successful singers that competed on reality shows didn't end up winning them but still made it in the music industry, which is something that could easily happen for KJ.
The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.
Sources: Good Housekeeping, The Voice/YouTube