Michigan singer Chechi Sarai could already be 'The Voice' frontrunner

Michigan is coming on strong again in the new season of NBC's “The Voice," with contestants from Team Gwen and Team Reba representing the state.

Chechi Sarai, 32, who's from Pontiac and now lives in Los Angeles, landed a spot on Gwen Stefani’s team Monday night after delivering a dazzling version of the Minnie Riperton classic “Lovin’ You” during blind auditions.

All four judges — Stefani, Niall Horan, John Legend and this season's newcomer, Reba McEntire — turned their chairs around seconds into Sarai’s octave-soaring performance and pleaded with her to join their teams.

“Who are you and which planet do you come from?” asked Horan, who said he he could see a finalist already in Sarai.

Legend said about Sarai's soaring “whistle tone” — the crystal-clear high notes that made Riperton’s number-one hit from 1975 so memorable — that while it can be a "one-trick pony kind of thing,” Chechi's voice has “so much more" going for it.

In the end, Stefani convinced Sarai to join her team, praising her for what "felt just like I was watching a Grammys performance.”

More: Lauryn Hill books Detroit stop on Nov. 21 for 'Miseducation' 25th anniversary tour

Sarai, who moved to the West Coast six years ago, has been writing songs and impressing audiences with her amazing vocal range since she was 13.  At this year's Grammys, the Nigerian-American singer, who originally went to college to pursue medicine, sang background vocals for Lizzo.

Another Michigan hopeful, Alison Albrecht, 23, secured a spot Monday on Team Reba after her blind audition performance of Alanis Morissette's "Ironic."

Said McEntire of Albrecht's performance on the 1996 hit from Morissette's blockbuster "Jagged Little Pill" album, "You had the range, but then you also had that sincerity in your voice, too, that I absolutely love."

Albrecht is from the Detroit area and graduated last year from the University of Michigan with a degree in biopsychology, cognition and neuroscience.

A metro Detroiter almost won the grand prize of "The Voice" last season. Grace West, who grew up in Canton and has been pursuing a music career in Nashville, joined former judge Blake Shelton's team and finished in second place in May.

Contact pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'The Voice': Michigan's Chechi Sarai wows coaches, picks Gwen Stefani