The wait is over! The first-ever super saves have been revealed on The Voice.
One week after host Carson Daly revealed that each coach had the opportunity to bring back one previously-eliminated contestant to the live shows — they were announced on Monday, May 12.
The super saves, which proved to be a major “plot twist” this season, are Olivia Kuper-Harris, Kaiya Hamilton, Jaelen Johnston and Connor James.
Speaking with PEOPLE, the coaches opened up about their decisions.
“There’s no right or wrong answer, right? So someone’s going home, someone’s gonna be disappointed and I can’t make a decision for anybody other than what I think is best,” Adam Levine, 46, says, adding that sending “people home is not fun” and he’s glad he was able to give James another chance.
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Kelsea Ballerini, 31, says it was “hard” to make her decision for the live shows — and she’s relieved she got to super-save Johnston, whom she calls her “country boy.”
“He’s the only country artist on the show still and he’s such a storyteller and he has grown so much even in his rehearsal for this, for this show. He’s just been working his butt off and he’s so talented, so I’m glad I got to,” she says.
Meanwhile, Michael Bublé, 49, says he was “really struggling” when he watched Hamilton — who’s “a killer soul singer” — “walk away.”
Griffin Nagel/NBC (4)
Olivia Kuper Harris, Kaiya Hamilton, Jaelen Johnston, Conor James
“I knew it was unfair. I knew that she deserved to be there. She easily could win this competition. And so the second that I found out, I literally ran and they stopped me,” he says. “The producers had to stop me and say, ‘Yeah, you need cameras with you to do this’ because I literally wanted to call her right now.”
He continues, “I’ve become really close with these people like… I really genuinely, I like this gig. I was meant to be a coach.”
John Legend was “agonizing” over his decision for the live shows and says he was “so relieved” when he had the super save.
Related: Carson Daly Reveals a Major ‘Plot Twist’ for The Voice Live Shows: ‘How Did You Keep This Secret?’
“Honestly, I picked three people for the lives and I couldn’t… I was agonizing over the decision because I really thought three people clearly deserved it,” Legend, 46, says. “It was painful and they made me go through all that and they were like, ‘It’s all good, you got a third person.’ That was cruel.”
When Daly revealed the news, he said they “always intended to keep the best artists on this show for the longest amount of time.”
In addition to the super saves, Bublé chose Adam David and Jadyn Cree to move on to the live shows. Meanwhile, Legend chose RENZO and Bryson Battle. Ballerini chose Iris Herrera and Alanna Lynise, while Levine chose Lucia Flores-Wiseman and Kolby Cordell.
The live shows will continue Monday, May 19 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
Read the original article on People
