Seattle’s Payge Turner advances to knockout rounds of ‘The Voice’

It looks like Seattle has another contender on “The Voice.”

Payge Turner advanced to the knockout rounds Monday night after another performance that left the long-running reality contest show’s coaches singing her praises again during the first battle round.

“I’m ready to show her that I’m 100 percent capable of winning this show for her,” Turner said after being selected by Gwen Stefani to advance.

The 27-year-old music instructor and singer beat 16-year-old Lauren Frihauf during the segment of the show when teammates face off with each other. They sang JP Saxe’s “If the World Was Ending,” featuring Julia Michaels, in a performance that was chill-inducing during the shared harmonies. Turner again wowed with the depth of her voice, singing the song in a male octave.

“I mean, that was so intense,” coach Kelly Clarkson said after their performance. “Payge, I could not keep my eyes off of you. There is something so special about your tone. It almost felt a little theatrical in the beginning, but then you were like a character in a movie and I was like, ‘What is this? I want to know the end.’”

Stefani agreed with Clarkson, choosing Turner in what she felt would be her most difficult decision of the season.

“I picked Payge because I feel like there’s so much more she’s going to show me and I’m excited to see it. She’s amazing.”

That wasn’t the end of the run for Frihauf, however. John Legend chose to use a steal and poached her for his team. Frihauf began to cry as he stopped her exit from the stage by hitting a buzzer.

“I’m real excited hearing that button,” Turner said in support of her opponent.

Coach Blake Shelton said he felt Turner had the potential to be a finalist after her blind audition and she now appears headed deep into the competition. She joins Zan Fiskum, a Maple Valley resident who made it to the final few episodes of the show’s last season before being knocked out.