Sometimes, you gotta take a chance. That’s what Liv Ciara did on the Monday (March 30) episode of The Voice, singing coach Kelly Clarkson‘s own hit in front of the star and nailing it.
During the show, the 16-year-old contestant pulled the extra risky move of selecting a track from the coaching panel’s repertoire for the Knockout round, but if she was nervous about how it would go over, Ciara didn’t show it. Her lush, clear voice sounded full and strong as she belted out Clarkson’s 2004 smash “Breakaway.”
“I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly/ I’ll do what it takes ’til I touch the sky,” she sang, adding in her own riffs and melody switches. “And I’ll make a wish, take a chance, make a change/ And break away.”
“I love that,” Clarkson said at one point when Ciara took a quieter, gentler approach to the song’s ending.
After Ciara was finished, coach John Legend declared the performance had been “so beautiful.”
The rendition was enough to keep Ciara in the running, beating out 25-year-old teammate Abigail Oakley in the Knockouts. That marks about a month the teenager has survived in the competition, for which she auditioned back in February with an impressive performance of Ariana Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).” Ciara had previously auditioned for the show last year but was rejected, making this season her comeback run.
Preceding Clarkson’s album of the same name, “Breakaway” reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains one of the vocalist’s 12 top 10 hits on the chart to date.
Check out Ciara’s performance of “Breakaway” above.
Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox
Sign Up
