She came, she sang, she conquered.
Kirbi, a contemporary Christian singer from Alabama, delivered a glorious performance on Monday’s episode of “The Voice.”
Her emotional cover of “Hard Fought Hallelujah” was so heartfelt and compelling, she easily defeated teammate Dustin Dale Gaspard in the Knockouts round.
Kirbi, whose offstage name is Savanna Kirby, has been impressive throughout Season 28 of the NBC reality series, earning kudos from the celebrity coaches.
Her rendition of the Grammy-nominated song by Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll was such a stunner, however, she gave Niall Horan goosebumps. And that was just during rehearsals.
“I feel like if I could sum up who I am in a song, this would probably be it,“ said Kirbi, 24. ”I come from the Shoals area. I grew up singing blues and soul music, so I feel like this kind of has that aspect.”
Alabama’s Kirbi, right, competed against Dustin Dale Gaspard in the Knockouts during Season 28 of “The Voice.”(Griffin Nagel/NBC)
When it came time for her to compete against Gaspard, Kirbi elevated her performance even more. She kicked her competitor to the curb — as kindly and gently as possible — and earned a spot in the Playoffs.
“Kirbi, you got into it. It’s very emotional,” Reba McEntire said. “It was really, really good.”
“Kirbi, I love the juxtaposition of you singing a song that I’ve heard so many times by great male singers,” said Michael Buble. “You understand who you are, where you want to go, and that you have the guts to take on songs that may not seem like they may be in your lane. I love that.”
“Kirbi, that was the perfect song for you,” said Snoop Dogg. “That performance of that record right there, whew.”
“Kirbi, that was your best performance to date, without a shadow of a doubt,” Horan said. “It’s beautiful to watch, beautiful to listen to. You just smashed it.”
It was no surprise, then, when Horan chose Kirbi as the winner of the Knockout.
“What she did in her performance tonight was just undeniable,” Horan said. “There was no way she could sing like that, give the emotion that she gave and leave this competition. … She was unbelievable.”
Kirbi is one of four contestants remaining on Team Niall and among the top 16 artists this season. Her next step? To ace the Playoffs over the next couple of weeks and secure a spot on the live finale.
Kirbi will be joined in the Playoffs by Jazz McKenzie, a soul singer from Birmingham who now lives in Huntsville. McKenzie, 31, also aced her Knockout round, covering “Cruisin’” by Smokey Robinson. She moves on to the Playoffs as a member of Team Buble.
Alabama’s Kirbi, right, competed against Dustin Dale Gaspard in the Knockouts during Season 28 of “The Voice.”(Griffin Nagel/NBC)
Playoffs on “The Voice” are set to air on Dec. 1 and 8, trimming the list of contestants to the final six. Each coach will choose one artist from their team to advance to the finals, and viewers will vote to select two additional “wildcard” artists.
After that, it’s time for the live finale on Dec. 15-16.
If you watch: “The Voice” airs at 8 p.m. CT on Mondays on NBC. The series also streams on Peacock. Early episodes of the season are filmed in advance.