Alicia Had To Cut A Competitor On 'The Voice'

During the knockout round of The Voice , Alicia Keys paired Courtnie Ramirez and Wé McDonald against each other. During the rehearsal footage, Alicia explained her way of thinking: "Both are 17, both have powerful vocals, and I want to see who goes beyond the power to really make the audience feel." Not only do the teens have their age and vocal power in common, but they both sang super popular songs. Courtnie belted out "If I Were a Boy" by Beyoncé and Wé sang "No More Drama" by Mary J. Blige. So, they both clearly had a lot to live up to.

As the new member on Team Alicia, Courtnie admitted, "I do want to prove to her that she made the right choice of stealing me." And she really slayed it. She definitely proved her talent with the performance. During the rehearsal footage, Coach Alicia said, "I stole Courtnie. She is fantastic. What a beautiful voice. Surprising actually, I didn't even realize how powerful her voice was. I really like the song that she chose. It shows off her range." Yep, she totally killed it.

Wé also had a lot to offer. Not only is she a great singer, but she also talked about her close bond with her mother who helped her get through the bullying she faced while she was growing up. Wé said, "My mother sings. She's going to be in that audience cheering me on, singing along. I'm doing this for her and for me." She also mentioned, "Me and my mom used to sing Mary J. Blige all the time in the car," so I'm sure her mother was definitely appreciating the song selection there.

Before the two hit the stage Alicia admitted, "Wé and Courtnie is going to be a difficult choice, but I think it's going to boil down to 'Who are you going to feel? Who am I going to feel?'"

Courtnie managed to make the Beyoncé hit her own, and it was very impressive. Wé really owned the Mary J. Blige hit and I felt bad that Alicia had to make such a tough decision. I would want to keep both of the girls if I were coach, but that's not how this game works. Thankfully, she had the other coaches around to weigh in on the decision making.

Miley Cyrus said, "Courtnie, every time you perform you just outdo yourself. I believed you so much." She also remarked, "Wé, it's incredible the amount of growth you had." Miley added, "I'm so blown away by both of you. I can see why Alicia was worried about this moment. All the best of the best are the ones who are here now."

Adam Levine told the girls, "Wé, we love you and we know how talented you are. Courtnie, you're coming into your own right now. It's a tough call. I think you both should just know that you both killed it and it's delightful to watch you guys." Blake Shelton declared, "Wé, your talent is ridiculous. Give me some of that." He told Courtnie, "Your voice is amazing. Your talent is amazing. Your presence. You have a charisma about you that makes you special." He also added, "Neither one of you two should be going home"

So none of the judges actually had any insight for Alicia to make her decision because everyone agreed that both girls absolutely killed their performances. Understandably, Alicia was torn about this one. She explained her thought process with one word, "Wow." She elaborated more by saying, "These are two 17-year-old girls." She even asked the audience to stand up and "scream really loud for them."

Ugh. Once again I'm watching this show asking myself, "Why can't she just keep both?" Even Alicia tried to choose them both as a joke... Sadly that did not work and Alicia chose to keep Wé, and I'm sure she's going to dominate the competition going forward.

Image: Trae Patton/NBC