Celebrity Guests Maluma and Saweetie Bring Fresh Energy to The Voice Playoffs

This week marked the beginning of the Playoff rounds in the 25th season of The Voice, bringing in some major talents on Monday night to help trim each coach’s team from five to three singers before the live public voting rounds commence.

John Legend‘s team showcased a franchise veteran, the Colombian superstar Maluma, who has coached in two seasons of The Voice, both in his home country and in Mexico. Meanwhile, Dan + Shay‘s team received a boost from the rapper Saweetie, with each guest bringing their own set of skills.

Maluma appeared completely at ease with the job, offering positive feedback and encouragement, along with some professional insights on performance and creating the right ambiance. In a previously teased clip, Maluma had plenty of good advice for team members, from encouraging them to write their own songs to suggesting they ditch their instruments while singing live to focus on their vocals.

That experience came to life when Nathan Chester was gearing up for his powerful rendition of The Beatles’ ‘Oh! Darling.’ After Legend, whom Maluma cheekily dubbed ‘Juan Leyenda,’ suggested that Chester put more urgency into his performance, Maluma seconded that sentiment and offered a technical note on stepping back from the microphone a bit to let his voice truly shine. The dynamic duo clearly knew what they were talking about as Chester ended up advancing to the live rounds.

Maluma also seemed to connect with the Venezuelan singer Mafe, who wowed with a touching version of Adele‘s ‘Someone Like You’ but fell short of making the final cut. The other members in Team Legend’s Playoffs include Bryan Olesen and Zoe Levert.

While Saweetie may have seemed like an odd choice to work alongside the country duo Dan + Shay, they had good chemistry, and the ‘Best Friend’ MC really connected with the singers on their team, offering advice as poetic as ‘there’s no deadline for dreams.’ When 17-year-old Anya True began rehearsing her rendition of Taylor Swift‘s ‘All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),’ Saweetie suggested she maintain more eye contact to connect with the studio audience.

Admitting she’s not well-versed in country, Saweetie suggested that singer Karen Waldrup try to focus less on being technically perfect and more on her ‘personality,’ which definitely benefited her in her version of Lainey Wilson’s ‘Heart Like a Truck.’ That was enough for Waldrup to advance, along with Madison Curbelo and Tae Lewis.

The Playoffs continue next week with performances from Team Reba and Team Chance.

Check out some of the Monday night performances from Team Legend and Team Dan + Shay below.