So much for the big Twin Cities presence on NBC's "The Voice" this season. Both of the Minnesota singers who came out strong in the blind auditions a month ago were eliminated in Monday night's knockout round.
St. Paul native Ashley DuBose, a 23-year-old single mother with a mathematics degree from St. Catherine's University, seemed to impress the coaches once again with her spirited version of Train's "Hey, Soul Sister" but still lost out to Tessanne Chin singing Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger."
Their coach Levine called it "a tough choice," and Cee-Lo Green offered these words: "Ashley, you have this star quality about you. Tessanne, you have a lioness quality."
DuBose sent out this message via Twitter soon after her loss was televised:
"Thank you ALL for the love and support you've shown me on my The Voice journey! This is not the end!"
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Hopkins High School grad Holly Henry took on the tricky Radiohead hit "Creep" and made a lesser impression than sass-man Nic Hawk did with "Genie in a Bottle" by – guess who? – Christina Aguilera.
Their coach Blake Shelton said afterward, "I'm happy and I'm sad. I don't think there's a better display of two artists who have a vision of who they want to be."
Henry offered up similar words via Twitter:
