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'The Voice' Season 20: Why did Kelly Clarkson cry? Here's how judge was welcomed after absence from show

Kelly Clarkson could not hold back her tears when she heard contestant Corey Ward crooning her song 'Already Gone'

Kelly Clarkson is back on 'The Voice' after taking a break for a few weeks. While there is still no clarity on what ailed Kelly, in case she needed a boost, she found it in Team Kelly's contestant Corey Ward. Ward decided that for the Knockouts he would be singing his coach's song 'Already Gone' and it seems that after what has possibly been an emotional few weeks for Kelly, she couldn't stop herself from holding the tears back.

The song, which is obviously a deeply personal one, brought back many memories for Kelly. Kelly was so impressed that she felt that Corey did a better version of the song than her. The other judges certainly seemed to agree with her, and Corey walked away as winner of the Knockout.

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Kelly was extremely stressed since Corey and Ryleigh Modig were pitted against each other. But she need not have worried because not just one or two but all three of the other judges tried to steal Ryleigh. However, Ryleigh finally chose Team John Legend. Kelly couldn’t believe that Corey Ward ‘killed’ her song so well. She said that hearing him sing made her feel this was the way it was supposed to be sung. 

Fans were impressed at the quality of this Knockout. One fan tweeted, "@ryleighmodig and @_coreyward_ that was the most flawless knockout battle I’ve ever seen in the Voice history! Truly magical both of you. Finale for sure. Already calling it!!"

Next up was Team Blake with Jordan Matthew Young and Ethan Lively having a face-off. Blake said if he knew that he could take sick days like Kelly Clarkson, he would have taken a sick day so that he didn't have to choose between Jordan and Ethan. But ultimately, Jordan who sang 'She Talks to Angels' trumped Ethan's 'Help Me Hold on'. Ethan was not stolen by any of the other judges, which shocked fans. However, they felt that Ethan would become a huge country star irrespective of this. One fan tweeted, "Ethan may not win the Voice, but he's just getting started. Guarantee you he'll be a force in the Country world. He doesn't need The Voice anymore."

The next duo to face off was Pia Renee and Ciana Pelekai. Renee lost her mother during the Battle Rounds, and she put her heart into singing 'What The World Needs Now Is Love'. Snoop Dogg said he felt like Whitney was up there. Ciana performed 'Cuz I Love You' by Lizzo. 

When Dana Monique performed 'Nutbush City Limits', Snoop Dogg felt like Tina Turner was in the house too. Monique got a standing ovation from the judges, leaving Keegan Ferrell with quite a task on his hands. Keegan sang 'Just My Imagination', but he couldn't defeat Monique's power-packed performance.

One fan tweeted, "No disrespect to the guy, who's a good singer, but this was no competition; Dana Monique ran away with this knockouts round."

Up next it was Team Legend again with Victor Solomon and Gean Garcia. Garcia was recently stolen from Team Kelly by John Legend and sang 'Afterglow' by Ed Sheeran. Snoop was trying to get Gean to shake off his nerves. Solomon didn't have issues with confidence as he took to the stage singing 'My Girl'. While Garcia managed to overcome his stage fright, the victor here, as Blake loved to say, was 'Victor'. Gean was surprisingly not stolen by Nick Jonas, who Jonas has tried to steal several times before. 

Up next it was Team Blake again with Peter Mroz and Andrew Marshall. Marshall was stolen by Shelton from Team Nick. Andrew, who has battled cancer, sang rather appropriately 'I Won't Give Up'. Mroz sang 'Before You Go' and got some advice on how to bring a little rap to his style. Blake also got a rap on his knuckles from Snoop for thinking that his old music buddy Peter Mroz was dead before he landed on 'The Voice'. Snoop jokingly called Blake a 'damn fool'. The winner of this round was Peter Mroz and in a huge twist and a homecoming, Nick stole Andrew back to Team Nick. It certainly was an interesting full-circle moment. 

To find out more about how your favorite contestants fare, you can catch new episodes of 'The Voice' on Mondays at 8/7c on NBC.