Adam Bohanan, Cassidy Lee and Jaukeem Fortson in The Voice Season 26 Knockouts

Every phase of The voice serves to stimulate competition and close the field of artists. In the blind auditions, each artist competes against themselves and hopes to receive at least one chair change from a coach. During the battles, two artists from the same team compete against each other in a duet. The Knockouts now pit three artists against each other in a three-way song-off, with each performing a song of their choice.

During today’s episode of The voice In Season 26, 40-year-old Adam Bohanan competed against 28-year-old Cassidy Lee and 14-year-old Juakeem Fortson for the chance to represent Team Reba in the playoffs. For his knockout song, Bohanan chose “Colors” by the Black Pumas. The song has special meaning for Bohanan, whose half-black, half-white Jewish heritage wasn’t always met with compassion when she was growing up.

RELATED: Hear the ‘perfect runs’ that made 1-Chair artist Adam Bohanan a ‘master’ of battles

“I’m not always recognized as a black man. This song is a very important song because within the black community there is colorism, in other communities there is racism. “Singing this song on such a large platform allows me to express some of the love of being accepted for the wide variety of different colors one can find in the community,” Bohanan said during rehearsals.

Adam Bohanan wins the Knockout Round with “Colors” by the Black Pumas

Mega mentor Jennifer Hudson praised Bohanan during rehearsals. “Adam’s tone is amazing. “The energy he gives to this is what we need,” she said, while encouraging him to let his “dirty” tone shine through. It’s advice he took to heart as he entered the knockout stage.

Bohanan stood resolutely behind his guitar, gently strumming and grooving to the beat. His gravelly voice, the dirty tone Hudson mentioned, rang out from the first line, and the backing band helped sell the more powerful moments. Bohanan ended with a powerful statement that is sure to be remembered by the coaches.

Competitor Cassidy Lee delivered a sultry rendition of “Love Me Like a Man” by Bonnie Raitt and Jaukeem Forston brought the crowd to its knees with “God Only Knows” by King & Country. But Bohanan not only delivered the best performance of the trio, but also the best performance of the night.

Snoop Dogg summed up the three performances by saying, “This is the first time I’ve ever gone to a bar, a club and then straight to church.” And I mean, it was an incredible experience. When I started with you, Adam, it had the right energy, the right feeling. It’s not always how it sounds, but how it feels. Great performance.”

RELATED: A Complete Breakdown of How The voice Functions

“You really are an artist,” Michael Bublé said, echoing Snoop’s sentiments. “It was flawless, it was perhaps the best performance I saw today.”

Coach Reba McEntire, meanwhile, was torn between the excitement of picking a winner and the pain of losing two performers from her team. “Gosh, guys. I love all three of you, please don’t be mad at me,” Reba said. “The winner of this knockout round is Adam.”

During the blinds, Reba was the only coach to choose Bohanan because he saw hidden potential just waiting to emerge. Two rounds later, Bohanan beats the competition and is on his way to the playoffs. “Adam is a force of nature,” Reba said. “He’s a great guitarist, he’s got a great attitude, and then he opens his mouth and it’s just this amazing voice.”

Watch new weekly episodes of The Voice on NBC, Mondays and Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Miss an episode? Don’t worry – stream it on Peacock the next day!