‘The Voice’ Semi-Finalist Sends Message to Fans After Near-Elimination

“The Voice” season 22 top 8 contestant Kim Cruse, who is part of John Legend’s team, has not always been confident on stage. After a semi-finals breakthrough, she’s thanking fans for getting her through to the next round of the competition.

During the top 10 results live show on Tuesday, November 29, Cruse was sent to the Instant Save, where she had to rely on votes to get through to the next round. She performed the song “Believe” by Brooks & Dunn for the Instant Save, and she pulled through, sending both Rowan Grace and Kique home from the competition.

“THANK YOU!” she wrote on Instagram after the live show aired. “I’m in the freaking semi-finals.”

Cruse Says Performing Felt Like Coming ‘Home’

After performing Rhianna’s “Love on the Brain,” Cruse shared that she felt like performing that song was coming “home.”

“Last night felt like home!” she wrote on Instagram after the performance. “Thanks to all who voted and sent messages! Tune in to tonight’s episode to catch a super groovy performance by #TeamLegend! Hopefully RiRi, my birthday twin, would be proud.”

Team Legend performed “The Weight” by The Band during the live show, and fans loved it, writing in the YouTube comments that all three of Legend’s singers are “amazing.” Legend’s remaining singers are Omar Jose Cardona, Parijita Bastola and Cruse.

Cruse didn’t feel completely comfortable in the competition until after she performed during the top 10 performances, she told People.

“After I finished that song, I just felt like, ‘Finally,'” she told the outlet. “With all of my other performances, they’ve been very polished and I spent [so much] time perfecting. Tonight was really the night where I just let loose and really sang it how I felt in the moment. It felt so good.”

Cruse Has Been a Front-Runner in the Competition

Cruse has been a front-runner in the competition. She has a big voice, and the coaches have loved seeing her grow throughout the season.

During the top 10 performance episode, Gwen Stefani even remarked, “I can see that you were like, ‘I finally got to show the world what God gave me. This incredible gift is so easy for you, it’s incredible. I feel like you’re underrated on this season in the sense that this performance, everyone now is going to wake up and be like, ‘Why weren’t we making a bigger deal about Kim?”

Cruse said that she credits her coach with helping her navigate the competition thus far.

“John is like a safe space to us,” she told People. “For me, I can’t wait to go into those rehearsals and hear what John is gonna say about our performance from Monday. I definitely feel like John has helped bring out the confidence in me that’s been there but I was just too afraid to tap into it. Before I came on this show I either sang sitting on a stand or I sang grabbing a microphone stand for dear life.”

The singer added, “So for me to be up here moving around this stage and just pouring my heart out and being vulnerable – John’s pushed me.”

“The Voice” airs on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.