‘Kellyoke Search’ Winners Revealed, Including ‘The Voice’ Alum & Other ‘Ringers’

Kelly Clarkson

NBC "Kellyoke Search" winners.

Fans who are familiar with former “The Voice” coach, Kelly Clarkson’s talk show know that she includes a segment called Kellyoke, in which she sings covers of classic and new hits.  In June, 2022, she released an EP of some of her most powerful covers.  Shortly afterwards, the original “American Idol” winner decided to take Kellyoke on the road and have singers in major cities virtually duet with her.

Over the summer, the Kellyoke tour bus traveled to New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Chicago to promote “Kellyoke Search.”  The premise was to find some of the best singers in the country and declare a winner in each of the four cities, plus a TikTok winner. In each city, hopefuls could sing a virtual duet with Clarkson of her hit “Since U Been Gone.”

According to MJS Big Blog, although the tour was advertised as an on-the-road talent search, the main purpose of the contest was to promote the upcoming fourth season of “The Kelly Clarkson Show.” The outlet further reports that “While hundreds of fans likely showed up, the folks who wound up on TV already have deep connections to show business.”


WATCH the Winners Perform on Clarkson’s Talk Show

The 2022 winners of “Kellyoke Search” were: Sandy Redd (Chicago), Kyana Fanene (New York), John Battagliese (Los Angeles), Jade Massentoff (Dallas) and Pershard Owens (TikTok). The winners all joined Clarkson on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” for a group performance of “With a Little Help from my Friends” by The Beatles.

If Sandy Redd looks familiar, it’s because she was already on Team Kelly (and Team Jennifer Hudson after a steal) on “The Voice” in season 15. Redd was a four-chair turn and made it to the top 13, according to MJS. Clarkson admitted knowing Redd.  However, MJS called Redd the “most ringery” of all the “ringery” winners.

Fanene also has an NBC reality TV singing competition connection. MJS reports, “The New York City winner, Kyana Fanene (Instagram), is a Berklee College of Music grad. She was a member of the school’s a cappella group, Pitch Slapped, which competed on the NBC a cappella competition show, The Sing-Off.”

Battagliese and Massentoff are also well-established in show business, according to MJS. The only winner who does not seem to have already made it in the business is TikTok winner, Pershard Owens. According to MJS, Owens “only has about 250 followers on the platform, which is a little surprising. He’s the winner with the least experience. Other than winning a showcase sponsored by Lady Gaga’s record label, and dropping a few local singles, he doesn’t have much of an entertainment industry footprint.”

According to MJS, “the tour was really about Kelly promoting season 4, and schmoozing it up with local affiliates. It’s a cool idea, but they could do a better job of actually promoting the winning singers.”


Fan Reactions

Fans did not seem to notice the “ringer” aspect of the competition, or if they did notice, they didn’t seem to be bothered by it. Fans who reacted on Instagram were blown away by the Beatles cover performance. One viewer posted, “Oh good god Kelly Clarkson! And that whole gang of voices right there!! Woohooo I’ve got chills! 🔥🔥.”

“I think #Kellyoke needs to be a new singing competition show. Just sayin!!” commented another.  “EPIC!!! WE NEED MORE OF THIS!!!! Can you guys, like, do a group and sing together, always?” another fan wrote.

The winners themselves also made comments. TikTok winner Pershard Owens posted, “This is seriously so wild that I was part of such an amazingly talented group of people.”  New York winner Kayana Fenene commented, “I CANT BELIEVE THIS HAPPENED. Truly doesn’t feel real! I am unbelievably grateful. I don’t have the words to explain how grateful honestly.”

“The Voice” alum Sandy Redd wrote, “Feeling So Incredibly Lucky to be apart of such an amazing performance with such phenomenal talents…Thank you for this experience.”

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