Best Breakout KO Moment (or in any performance after blinds) Ever!

[VoiceFan!]

S20: I'm gonna go with Anna just because her knockout and PO were so much better than her BA and battle. She was on an upwards trajectory her entire run and it's a shame she didn't get the chance to perform for wildcard. Same with Gihanna, she shined in the KO and Semifinals.

S19: Maybe Carter because we always knew he was good, but we don't know he could also deliver emotion. HM to Madeline/Jim/Payge in the KO's (and battles for Payge!)

S18: There are A LOT here. But the one that really impressed me was Megan + CammWess. Roderick was also great in the battles/KO. HM to Zan + Joana.

S17: There is a CLEAR answer for this one and that's Max Boyle in the KO/PO. HM to Jake Hoot, DAMALLI, Gracee, & Rose Short in the Knockouts. Hello Sunday POPPED OFF in the battles and knockouts too. 

S16: Rod Stokes. Literally everyone else was consistent at their level.

S15: I'm gonna go with Zaxai. Like SHEESHH that was great.  HM to Chevel, Mackenzie, etc.

S14: Brynn. Sharane.

S13: Obviously Chloe. Janice was great too!

Edited June 30, 2021 by VoiceFan!

[Hamza Tufail]

Out of the recent seasons I'd say

 

Carter - You Say

Madeline - DFABH

Rachel - Foolish Games

JMY - GDW

[Cookie73]

Biggest Knockout Breakouts

S20- Gihanna

S19- Carter

S18- CammWess

S17- Max

S14- Kyla
S13- Chloe

S12- Brennley/Vanessa

S10- Hannah/Shalyah

S9- Jeffery

 

Honestly, most winners since S5 have had great KO performances. But this is limited to who really has a breakout (someone I didn’t see going far until their Knockout happened). I excluded playoff eliminees for obvious reasons

[VintageVoice]

S20: Corey's KO took him from "pretty good" to "holy sh**" and it got Kelly's original song trending on iTunes along with international news coverage.
S19: Lauren had a breakout moment in the battles where most of IDF went from "meh" about her post-audition to "okay yeah that 1000% deserved a steal" - off IDF, Carter's KO is probably the better answer to the question.

S18: If CammWess hadn't had a moment in his KO, he wouldn't have gotten the finalist spot for Team Legend (though admittedly the format change definitely helped).

S17: Hoot might've won the season with his KO, but Max's KO remains talked-about every time "when the party's over" gets done on the show.

S16: Rod Stokes's Cross Battle deserves the nomination here, considering he was up against John's front-runner and as part of Team Adam (at the time) should've been toast. Spoiler: he wasn't. Carter's CB was also a pleasant surprise, considering he came off as rather shy in the blinds and was a battle montage.

S15: Zaxai's KO literally came out of nowhere. HMs to Chevel, MaKenzie, and Kameron's KOs.

S14: Brynn's KO was one of the strongest of the season; I wasn't crazy about her run on the show, but that performance alone deserved to get her through to the finale.

S13: Chloe mf'n MK. Next.

S12: Brennley and Vanessa's KOs likely helped both stay around until the semifinals, and I have no complaints about that.

S10:  While Hannah Huston is one of the few contestants to commit an uncensored murder during the KOs, Shalyah shouldn't have had to have been stolen to survive the KOs (and I liked Emily).

S8: Lexi Davila came out of nowhere and crushed it in the KOs. HM to Koryn's "Make It Rain" though.

S5: Cole Vosbury went from one-chair Team CeeLo mid-pack guy to the only double-steal recipient in the KOs, which likely helped get him through to the semifinals; James Wolpert's "A Case of You" landed him a PV on a very stacked Team Adam; Jacquie Lee's "I Put A Spell On You" remains iconic 7+ years later; Will Champlin's KO and Top 8 successes likely helped him outlast Matthew Schuler, who post-blinds many assumed was a finale lock.

 

[TeamAudra]

I view this question differently than many people. “Breakout” to me means vaulted them to immediate contender or frontrunner status. It doesn’t matter if the performance was “good,” if it didn’t move the needle for them. That is not a “breakout” moment. 
 

Chloe, Brynn, Chevel, Jake, Carter for sure, based on what I can remember. I’m not the Voice historian some of you are. 

[QueenCami]

7 hours ago, VintageVoice said:

S8: Lexi Davila came out of nowhere and crushed it in the KOs.

I totally agree with almost everything on your list, but I wanted to single this out because I just listened to it for the first time recently. I wasn't too amazed by the KO at first, but it got better as it went on and the run on "Alright" remains forever iconic, I was SO impressed by it! I also love her studio version of her battle ("Unwritten") which was unfortunately montaged. 

[Mistake006]

I'm surprised no ones mentioned Loren Allred