The Voice Season 28 Playoffs Night 2: Major Cuts and a Mic Drop Champion
The Voice Season 28 turned ruthless on Playoffs Night 2: after the remaining artists lit up the stage, the coaches locked in one finalist, America crowned another, and multiple singers were sent packing. Who went home—and who scored the mic drop?
Playoffs Night 2 on The Voice Season 28 packed a lot into one hour: two more finale spots opened up, coaches made the tough cuts, and a separate side competition unexpectedly flipped one eliminated act into a different kind of winner. If you blinked, you probably missed something, so here is the clean version of what actually happened.
Quick hits from Night 2
- Finalists picked: Team Snoop chose Ralph Edwards; Team Niall chose Aiden Ross.
- Eliminated: Ava Nat, DEK of Hearts (more on them in a second), Kirbi, Mindy Miller, Toni Lorene, and YOSHIHANAA.
- One of the eliminated artists could still be revived by America’s Save, which will be revealed later.
- The episode unlocked two more finale spots overall: one selected by the coaches and another decided by America’s vote.
- Mic Drop winner: DEK of Hearts, earning a performance at The Rose Parade Presented by Honda on January 1, 2026.
- The Voice airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, with next-day streaming on Peacock.
How the night actually shook out
The artists from Teams Niall and Snoop took the stage, and when the dust settled, each coach named a finalist. Niall went with Aiden Ross. Snoop chose Ralph Edwards. Those choices, combined with the ongoing audience decisions, mean six artists are now locked for the live finale.
The cuts were rough. Ava Nat, DEK of Hearts, Kirbi, Mindy Miller, Toni Lorene, and YOSHIHANAA were sent home. But there are two wrinkles worth flagging:
First, one of those eliminated singers could still come back via America’s Save, which has not been announced yet. Second, DEK of Hearts may have been eliminated from the main bracket, but they immediately turned around and won the Mic Drop competition, which comes with a pretty legit prize: a live performance spot at The Rose Parade Presented by Honda on January 1, 2026. Not the usual reality-show consolation prize.
Snoop on growth, grief, and a tough choice
Snoop was especially complimentary of YOSHIHANAA even as he sent her home, calling out how much she leveled up this season and how ready she sounded to make her own record.
I am so proud of you, Yoshihanaa. I am just honored to have you on my team to be able to coach you. You need to be making your own record. You just sound so good. I think Yoshihanaa grew so much in this competition. Her performance was so powerful. It showed who she is.
When it came time to pick his finalist, Snoop chose Ralph Edwards and made it personal.
Oh, man, you touched me. You brought back some memories of special people in my life that’s not here no more. And the way you sang that, it’s a pleasure having you on my team, man. It’s a pleasure being able to work with you to call you my brother, so thank you, Ralph.
Why Niall went with Aiden
Niall kept it straightforward with Aiden Ross, echoing something Michael Buble said during the episode about doing what you should do, not just what you can do.
It’s what Michael said, it’s not what you can do, it’s what you should do. Congratulations, Aiden. Great job. Aiden is a special, special talent.
Bottom line: Night 2 cleared up a lot of the finale picture, but there’s still one big variable hanging out there with America’s Save. And even if your favorite got bounced, DEK of Hearts proved there’s more than one way to walk away with a win.