The Voice coaches Usher, Shakira, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton continued to fight during the blind auditions, with standouts Deja Hall and Cary Laine inspiring great debates.
After the first round of blind auditions, Usher had already filled three spots on his team, Shakira and Adam had two a piece and Blake only had one singer to his name. During the second episode of The Voice’s blind auditions, all judges came out to play, ridiculing each other and themselves in their shameless attempts to win over contestants.
First audition of the night was Delvin Choice, 24, the Starbucks barista who auditioned last year and failed to get a chair to turn around. In the pre-audition reel, Delvin said he spent his year focusing on his work and singing with his father in church. He returned to the stage with “A Song for You” by Donny Hatahway after being told last year that he should choose a song that was more emotional. Delvin had barely said two words when Adam, Shakira and Blake turned around. Usher waited until the very end to push his button, after listening intently to all of Delvin’s runs and notes. Adam told him that he didn’t even recognize his voice from Season 5 and that he has become “twenty times” the singer he had been.
The campaign for Delvin got pretty heated, with Usher accusing Shakira of lying when she swore on her home country of Colombia that she would take him to the top. Shakira’s response: “My hips don’t lie – and the rest of me doesn’t lie, either!” But, for all their bickering, neither Usher nor Shakira won over Delvin and the singer went with Team Adam.
Next up was 16-year-old Madilyn Paige who loves movies and is an aspiring filmmaker who sings around the house with her sisters. She performed David Guetta’s “Titanium” and inspired heated pitches from coaches Shakira and Usher. Shakira tried to relate to Madilyn because she too started her career at a young age, but Usher won out after bringing up his teenage-girl trump card: Justin Bieber. Adam and Blake had so much fun watching Shakira and Usher fight, they giggled like tween girls at a Bieber concert over in the corner.
Noah Lis, 22, was the first contestant of the episode to capture the hearts of audiences with a sweet backstory. In his pre-audition interview, Noah teared up while talking about his late grandfather and he dedicated his performance to him. Noah got Adam and Blake to turn their chairs with his jazzy soulful rendition of “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul, and ended up going to Team Blake even though Adam promised to make him the next Frank Sinatra.
Keith Shuskie, 28, aka ‘that guy with the mustache’ auditioned next with Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know.” His audition was flawed and a bit off key. None of the coaches turned around; however, they all encouraged him to come back next year.
Shakira was able to redeem herself from losing Madilyn to Usher by winning over Deja Hall, also 16, who auditioned with Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors.” Deja was all charm, and her voice got Blake, Shakira and Usher to hit their buttons. Shakira was so enthusiastic, she missed her button on the first try. Shakira expressed her passion for Deja and her desire to nurture her. Blake joked about adopting her, promptly sending her straight into Shakira’s nurturing arms.
Cary Laine, 28, inspires the most active debate of the night after she performs “Better Dig Two” by The Band Perry. Adam is the first to turn around, with Shakira and Blake joining him soon after. The campaigning for Cary got serious when Adam invited her to sit in his red chair, starting a trend for the coaches. Usher even tried to seduce Cary onto his team. After more coach bickering, Cary ended up choosing Team Adam even though Blake tried to win her over with his ability to create country stars.
The Voice will pick up with more blind auditions Monday at 8 p.m. on NBC.
– Olivia Truffaut-Wong
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