To kick off the show, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Adam Levine and Pharrell took the stage to perform, and they paid tribute to one another by singing each other’s hits! Blake and Gwen swapped tracks, singing “Don’t Speak” and “Neon Light” respectively, while Adam and Pharell performed their own renditions of “Get Lucky” and “Sugar.” SO GOOD — we love the chemistry between these four.
Before getting the auditions underway, the three guys welcomed Gwen back to the show with some gifts, and the first contestant prepared to take the stage. Mark Hood, an R&B/pop singer, absolutely killed it, and all four judges were feeling his rendition of “Use Me,” and all the buttons were pressed. He eventually went with Pharrell, who was super stoked about the addition to his team.
Next up? A three-chair turn, with Adam opting not to press his button. Kota Wade rocked the stage with “Bring It On Home To Me,” and decided to stick with girl-power, giving Gwen her first team member of the night.
Adam and Gwen went head-to-head for the next artist, Keith Semple, who sang “I’ll Be There For You.” It was a tough fight, but the Maroon 5 frontman officially landed his first team member. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as well for Alyssa Sheridan, who shared a sad story about her stepdad dying in war, and dedicated her performance of “I Will Remember You” to him…but no chairs turned. Hey, it happens! Let’s hope she takes all the expert advice and comes back better than ever next year!
Despite usually being a contestant favorite, Blake was still left without a team member after Siahna Im‘s performance of “Fever.” The singer got three chairs to turn (with Adam remaining stubborn), and chose Pharrell. Next the viewers got to play along, with camera’s purposely not showing contestant Jordan Smith’s face while he sang “Chandelier.” His rendition was absolutely INCREDIBLE, and the judges agreed, with all four fighting harder than ever to land him on their team. After a brutal commercial break, we learned Jordan went with Team Adam — he’ll definitely be a force to be reckoned with.
The next contestant, Dr. Paul, was 66 years old, but, unfortunately, got no chairs to turn. In a cute segment, we got to see the four coaches joking around backstage, and Adam totally intensified his show feud with Blake by making fun of him for not landing team member yet. But he spoke too soon, because when the singers were the only two to turn around for Nadjah Nicole, she ultimately went with Blake. KARMA! Pharell and Gwen got a chance to go head-to-head next when they both pushed their buttons for Braiden Sunshine, and the No Doubt singer’s sweet talking helped her come out on top.
The night’s second to last contestant was Michael Woolery, who’s actually the son of game show host, Chuck Woolery. But his connections didn’t help, because all four coaches declined to push their buttons. Next time, Mike! The episode concluded with an amazing performance of “Angel Eyes” by plane crash survivor, Barrett Baber, who went with Team Blake (those country boys gotta stick together!) after all four judges turned around.
All in all, this season of The Voice is off to an amazing start, and there’s already such great talent — we can’t wait to see what happens next! HollywoodLifers, which coach do you want to win his season?
— Alyssa Norwin