Watch The Voice contestant earn standing ovation with emotional Playoff performance

Well, look at The Voice saving the best for last. In the final night of the season 24 Playoffs, John Legend’s team was in the hot seat. With only three spots available on the team for the upcoming Lives and six artists — Lila Forde, Taylor Deneen, Kaylee Shimizu, Mac Royals, Kristen Brown, and Super Save Azán — remaining, the vocals had to be on point and performances nearly flawless. Mac Royals, the R&B singer from Wrightsville, Ark., didn’t seem to break a sweat, even in the last spot of the performance rotation.

Mac was confident even in rehearsals. Coach Legend selected D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel),” a song that Mac said first got him into R&B when he was a teenager. He was a fan, to say the least. When John pumps him up by telling him he picked this song because he could envision Mac “destroying it,” Mac replies, “I’ma make it do what it do, baby.” And you know what? Both of them are right. 

Mac gives a confident, cool, sexy performance that earns him a standing ovation from all four of the coaches. So, yes, he does, in fact, destroy this song. Gwen Stefani tells host Carson Daly: “That is a star standing next to you.” She is blown away by his stage presence. Niall Horan, too, is beyond impressed, calling it a “grand finale” level performance. Although perhaps no Coach critique means more than Reba McEntire’s. Mac Royals originally joined Team Reba after his Blind Audition because his grandmother was such a fan and the two used to watch Reba’s sitcom together. After his performance, Reba tells him that she’s proud of him and she knows his “grandma would be, too.” Mac seems to get a little choked up by the sentiment. 

When it comes down to it, however, it’s John’s opinion that matters most, and he gives his artist the highest praise of all. He’s been making R&B music for decades and he would easily put Mac Royals “up there with the best.” He wants a Mac Royals album immediately. So, it’s no surprise then when John has to select his three artists to move forward to the Lives and Mac’s name is the first one called. He’ll be joined by Lila Forde, who performed Bonnie Raitt and John Prine’s “Angel in Montgomery,” and Team Legend’s Super Save Azán, after her cover of Miguel’s “Adorn.”

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