Lillie Kolich surprised fans with a very different take on “(You Drive Me) Crazy” during Season 30’s first Live Show, but her performance was not enough to keep her in the competition.
Carson Daly brought back memories of his MTV days as The Voice launched its Live Shows with a Y2K-themed episode on Monday night.
The first live competition featured all 13 contestants, including Kyle Davis, who earned the final spot through America’s Save. They opened the night with a group performance of the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” setting the mood for a show filled with popular hits from the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The contestants later took on songs by Avril Lavigne, Aerosmith, NSYNC, Bon Jovi, and other major artists from that era. One performance that stood out came from Team Queen Latifah’s Lillie Kolich, who chose Britney Spears’ 1999 hit “(You Drive Me) Crazy.”
Before introducing the song, Daly called Spears “the queen” and reminded viewers that it was her second Top 10 hit in the United States. A photo of Daly and Spears also appeared on screen, giving him a chance to joke about the two of them “playing some sort of dumb game.”
“The one thing I always remember,” Daly said, “is fans always showed up for Britney and they still do.”
For Kolich, the song carried a personal meaning. The 25-year-old singer from Albuquerque, New Mexico, shared that she had loved Spears since she was young. As a shy child, watching the pop star perform inspired her to dream of becoming a pop singer herself.
Kolich described the song choice as “very special and full circle,” making the performance an important moment in her journey on the show.
Queen Latifah, who had used her Save to keep Kolich during Cut Week, praised her artist for having a special and unique approach to music. She also explained that Kolich often made unexpected choices that made people wonder why they had not thought of them first.
The coach promised that her contestant would perform the Britney Spears hit in a way audiences had never heard before.
And Kolich certainly delivered something different.
Instead of keeping the upbeat pop sound that made the original famous, she slowed the song down and gave it a haunting feel. Her version sounded more like an emotional 1980s ballad, bringing to mind Roxette’s “Listen to Your Heart.”
Riley Green was impressed by the unexpected arrangement and praised Kolich for making such a familiar song sound completely different.
“It was awesome,” Green said. “To take a song that’s that popular and that well known and make it sound that different, that unique to you.”
Queen Latifah was equally happy with the performance, telling Kolich that she had “nailed it!”
However, the positive reactions from the coaches did not translate into enough votes to keep the singer in the competition.
After six performances during the first night of the Live Shows, Kolich was eliminated, ending her Season 30 journey.
Her Team Queen teammates BigCountry and Mia Knight received enough votes to advance. BigCountry performed Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life,” while Knight sang Kelly Clarkson’s “Miss Independent.”
Three artists from Adam Levine’s team also moved forward. Connor Closs performed NSYNC’s “This I Promise You,” Dakota Cohen took on Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing,” and Lexi Stephens sang Avril Lavigne’s “I’m With You.”
The remaining contestants from Riley Green’s and Kelly Clarkson’s teams will take the stage during next week’s Live Show.
The Voice airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, with new episodes streaming the following day.
