Meridian native Holly Brand moves on to the Playoffs on The Voice

Apr. 25—The Knockouts are behind her as Meridian native Holly Brand blew away the coaches on Monday night, moving on to the final 20 acts and the live Playoffs in Season 23 of NBC's The Voice.

Her team coach, Kelly Clarkson, as well as long-time coach Blake Shelton and freshmen coaches Chance the Rapper and Niall Horan, were all clearly impressed with Brand's version of "Blue Moon of Kentucky."

Her lively performance of the Patsy Cline hit was a showstopper with her starting a cappella, throwing in some yodeling in the middle, before finishing off the song with a whistle note.

All four coaches said she was a tough act for fellow Team Kelly member Rachel Christine to follow, which is why the round is called The Knockouts after all.

"That was crazy," Chance said of the duel.

"Holly, you completely blew me away," he said. "The whistle note at the end was just a crazy cherry on top; you had already killed the whole thing, and I was just like, 'He's dead already!'"

Horan, too, leaned toward Brand for the Playoffs, complimenting her whistle note and commenting on how difficult it is to execute.

While the contest was tough because Christine also gave a good performance, Brand came out on top, according to Clarkson who made the ultimate decision on which performer moves on to the Playoffs.

"I think she just stands out," Clarkson said on the pre-recorded show, noting Brand came to The Voice ready to compete. "I would be afraid of her in the finale if I were all the other singers."

Earlier in Monday night's episode, Brand, 22, was left speechless after she and Christine got to meet this season's Mega Mentor, country music legend Reba McEntire.

Later on Twitter, Brand said meeting her idol McEntire was "the coolest. What a dream to work with her."

Christine also got a chance to move on to the next round when coach Blake Shelton pushed his button to steal her for Team Blake, saying he was impressed by her performance because Brand was a difficult act to follow.

Contact Glenda Sanders at gsanders@themeridianstar.com.