Night two of the Playoffs on The Voice Season 26 brought Team Snoop and Team Reba to the stage in a high-stakes one-night performance for a spot in the Live Quarterfinals. For each team’s Playoff Mentors, Team Snoop was supported by Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, while Team Reba was supported by Grammy Award-winning country singer Lainey Wilson.
Each Artist chose a song to best highlight their musical talents, and they had to choose wisely. In the Playoffs, each Coach has to narrow their team down from the five Knockout survivors to just two. After making it through the Knockout round, country singer Lauren-Michael Sellers was vying to be one of those Artists.
Sellers chose “I’m Not Okay” by Jelly Roll for her Playoff performance, in large part because she identifies with the song and the experiences of the artist. By her own account, Sellers came from a hard background and struggles with mental health. Growing up in a broken home, she was “hungry for music,” and even now it’s “like therapy,” Sellers said. That emotional connection came through during rehearsals. “I’m going to have to borrow your Kleenex, Reba,” Wilson said. “She’s very dynamic, her story, you can feel it oozing out of her body.”
Lauren-Michael Sellers Sings “I’m Not Okay” by Jelly Roll during The Voice Season 26 Playoffs
Sellers was lit softly from behind as the song began, her hair glowing at the fringes like an auburn halo. Her version of “I’m Not Okay” was full, rich, and commanding; Sellers connected with the audience from the very first notes and held that connection throughout, simultaneously selling the pain and hope of the song’s lyrics. You believed her when she sang, “I’m not okay,” but you believed her even more when she sang, “We’re all gonna be alright.”
“Lauren-Michael you sound amazing, and it just seems like you keep growing. You stepped to that mic stand, you looked at Reba, and you told her, ‘You better pick me’,” Snoop Dogg said in his characteristically relaxed vibe. “You’ve become a real superstar.”
Fashion conscious as ever, Gwen Stefani started her feedback with a compliment on Sellers’ look. “Lauren-Michael, you look beautiful tonight. I’m telling you the dress, the hair,” Stefani said, before transitioning to commenting on the song. “Your nuances in your voice, I feel like you wrote this song and you’re telling your story. Incredible job.”
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“You did so, so good. I’m proud of you. You have chosen songs that touch my heart because you can deliver a message so well, not only with your beautiful voice but with your eyes and your expressions,” Coach Reba McEntire said. “These songs help you tell the story that I think God put you on this Earth to tell. You’re a treasure.”
Not satisfied to leave it at that, McEntire went on to say, “Lauren-Michael is one that I could see in the Live Shows, she’s just that good. She’s always consistent and she gives her heart and soul to the song. I was very proud of her.”
Of course, Sellers was up against a slate of four other Artists, all of whom are equally talented, and Queen Reba could only pick two. When the time came for a decision, McEntire went with gravelly rockers Adam Bohanan and Danny Joseph, bringing Lauren-Michael Sellers’ journey on The Voice to an end. It’s probably not the outcome she was hoping for, but at least she got to go out on a powerful note.
Where can you watch The Voice?
Catch new episodes of The Voice Mondays and Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC. Every episode also arrives on Peacock the next day, so if you missed it the night before, you can always catch up.
