John Legend and Khalid's star power proves too much for 'Voice' contestants

It takes a lot to tick off the cucumber-coolest, calmest, and most collected coach on The Voice, John Legend. But every once in a while, he’ll practice some Adam Levine-like tough love. Voice diehards may recall that time when a contestant screwed up the words to one of his songs, back when he was an adviser in 2017, and he was none too pleased. And this Monday, as Season 16’s new full-time cast member, a stankfaced John wasn’t afraid to call out two of his team members when he wasn’t feeling the magic during their Battle Rounds rehearsal of a popular Police song. Young contestants Jacob Maxwell and Talon Cardon were understandably intimidated by their EGOT-winning coach and his team adviser, five-time Grammy nominee Khalid, and they became even more nervous when John halted them halfway through their "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" run-through and barked, “Stop! I don't like that harmony choice. I don't think it works.” On a coddling show like The Voice, which has historically eschewed reality TV’s typical Simon Cowell-style approach for an enabling, everybody-gets-a-cookie, feelgood vibe, John’s bluntness was admittedly refreshing. But he should have taken some responsibility for this Battle’s failure -- because it was his song choice. Why the Police? Because both Jacob and Talon are the sons of cops? Well, they’re both waiters, too -- why not have them do Billy Joel's “Scenes From Italian Restaurant” while they're at it? John explained that he wanted to see how these guys would fare on a more uptempo tune, but Sting is a very specific stylist and not easy to emulate. In the ring, the guys worked out their wonky harmonies, for the most part, aside from Talon’s one unfortunate voice-crack. My attention gravitated towards Jacob, who radiated a Harry Stylish star quality, although John claimed he ultimately went for Jacob because of that singer’s rounder, fuller tone. Whatever the reason for John’s verdict, I do think Jacob, who is two years older than Talon, benefited more from John’s constructive criticism. And I still think he could be Season 16’s heartthrob. But I also don’t think he should do any more Police songs.