If there’s been one theme on this season
The Voice (Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on CTV2), it’s been laughter, with coaches Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Gwen Stefani, and Blake Shelton being pure joy to watch. If there is a second theme, it’s shocking team choices. We’re five nights into the Blind Auditions and we officially have no idea who anyone is picking. It’s totally b-a-n-a-n-a-s. That means everyone is picking Gwen Stefani’s boyfriend Blake Shelton and we don’t just mean country artists.Monday night’s episode culminated in the most shocking team selection with Ricky Duran, who earned a four-chair turn and a standing ovation from the coaches for his incredible performance of Leon Bridge’s "Take Me To The River." John said he loved Ricky’s song selection, Gwen loved his tone, Kelly loved his rasp and Blake has a river in his backyard. That was literally his pitch and it worked. We always say, invest your money in property and you’ll do great as a coach on
The Voice.
Opening the show on Monday night was 15-year-old Joanna Martinez (viewers love
young talent on The Voice) who may have the strongest vocals so far this season (viewers love good voices on
The Voice). The teen singer put her spin on The Weeknd’s "Call Out My Name," and by spin we mean she added even more runs and high notes, which is saying a lot. It was more than enough to earn a four-chair turn. Sorry, three chair turn; John’s chair was obviously malfunctioning. Kelly wants Joanna to open her eyes and let people in when she sings, while Blake advises she keeps her eyes closed because it works for her and it worked for an unknown singer named Kelly Clarkson. Joanna made the calculated choice to go with Team Blake, picking a team where she’ll stand out as a pop singer and knows that she has a great chance of making the finale based on Blake’s track record. Smart kid.
Some singers we hope will do well because we love their voice and some singers we hope will do well because of their backstory. Lauren Hall checked both boxes for us, having auditioned for
The Voice seven times (!) and finally making it to the Blind Auditions this season. She sang one line and got a chair turn from Kelly. We already wanted a turn for Lauren because of her commitment, but then she took on Adele (Adele!) for her one shot and nailed it. Get it, Lauren.
Matt New’s performance of Post Malone’s "Sunflower" was solid, but more importantly, the reaction from Gwen, Kelly and John was the perfect example of why song selection is important for two reasons. One; it should fit your voice and two; it should be the coach’s jam. This one can be more difficult to pin down, but when an artist picks a song that the coaches love, it can be the slight edge that pushes them to push their button if they’re on the fence. Matt consulted with his wife, who advised him to skip Kelly and Gwen and go with John. Matt was literally in tears talking about his wife before his performance and we’re sure he’s a committed husband, but same, girl.
The Voice airs Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on CTV2.
