The Road just welcomed a new face into the fold. On the latest episode of the CBS series, headliner Keith Urban found himself without Blake Shelton for the first time this season.
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With Shelton busy on tour, Urban tapped Dustin Lynch to join him for the Tulsa, Oklahoma, show.
Lynch’s addition wasn’t the only change this week. While the contestants had been split into two groups in weeks past, this time the top seven singers all performed during one show.
Upping the stakes even further was the fact that each contestant only got the chance to sing an original song this week. Previously, the competitors were tasked with singing a cover song too.
The covers this week, however, were performed as group songs. While the audience didn’t vote on the group performances, they were the contestants’ first moments on the stage. Thus, they set the tone for the whole show.
Cassidy Daniels, Adam Sanders, and Billie Jo Jones were up first. Their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” impressed the audience, Urban, and Lynch, the latter of whom declared it a “Ten out of 10.”
When it was Jenny Tolman, Britnee Kellogg, Cody Hibbard, and Channing Wilson’s time on stage, the group performed Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” That performance wasn’t as impactful to the crowd or its most famous members. Lynch event pointed out that Wilson looked uncomfortable in a group setting.
The Road Contestants Perform Their Original Songs
The individual performances came next, with Sanders taking the stage first to perform his song, “All Summer Long.” Lynch, a longtime friend of Sanders, remarked that his pal looked comfortable and confident on stage.
Jones followed up Sanders’ uptempo performance with a sassy-filled rendition of her track, “Flame.” Though Jones was feeling better after battling an illness, both Urban and Lynch agreed that her song never took off.
By contrast, Daniels blew the crowd away with her “redneck baby maker” track, “That Kind of Man.” Tour manager Gretchen Wilson, along with Urban and Lynch, were all impressed with the “insane” performance.
After Daniels’ stand out time on stage, Urban was disappointed in Kellogg’s performance of “Love Thy Neighbor.” Though he liked the song, he didn’t think that she was able to connect with the crowd.
Hibbard took the stage next with some added pressure, as his fiancée and parents were in the crowd for his hometown show. The nerves may havre gotten to him, as Hibbard was pitchy throughout the performance.
After two times in the bottom, Tolman was determined to give her best performance yet. She did so by singing “Married in a Honky Tonk,” even taking Urban’s advice to take it up a key.
Wilson closed out the show with a standout performance of his “foot-stomping, beer-drinking” track, “Real Damn Country Song.” After his time on stage, Lynch declared the performance the standout one of the night.
The Road‘s Frontrunner Continues Her Reign
While the audience agreed enough to pass Wilson through to the next wound, they wound up selecting Daniels as the winner of the night. It’s the third time she’s found herself in that position, thus solidifying her spot as the frontrunner in the competition.
In the bottom was Tolman and Jones. While Urban praised Tolman for giving her best performance yet, he decided to send her home since it was her third time in the bottom.
While Jones was relieved to make it through another week, she felt frustrated to be in the bottom for a second time, and was questioning how to improve for the next show in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Road airs Sundays on CBS.
Photo by 2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc.
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