Trinidadian-born, Seattle-based singer-songwriter Payge Turner, has advanced to the knockout round of The Voice after her battle round performance on Monday night.

“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 performed JP Saxe’s “If the World Was Ending,” featuring Julia Michaels. 

“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.”

Turner says she grew up being inspired by a family who loved music, then later moved to the States – specifically, Kansas City, Missouri – and began taking music even more seriously and beginning to write songs at just 15-years-old.  As an adult, she moved to Seattle, where she’s been practicing and playing gigs ever since.

“One of the biggest reasons I moved out here was, obviously, for music,” Turner says.

Turner says she was on tour in 2019 when a casting producer for The Voice approached her about trying out for the show. At the time, Turner didn’t have the chance to tryout. But at his encouragement, she decided to act on the opportunity. Turner went through the initial tryout stages and got the chance to sing on The Voice stage on national television the day of the show’s newest season premiere.

Thankfully, for Turner, she got two of the four judges to turn their chairs during her “blind audition.” That meant Turner could take her pick from pop star Stefani or country star Blake Shelton to be her new coach. Turner says, she knew from the start whom she needed, picking Stefani as her coach.

Turner will now proceed to the knockout round.