A University of Iowa student finds success on NBC’s ‘The Voice’ after swapping sports for music

Eli Ward was prepared to audition on “The Voice” and not get a chair turn, which would have ended his chance at joining a team of musicians mentored by a superstar coach and moving forward in the singing competition.

He didn’t prepare for what would happen if he did get a chair turn, let alone two.

But that’s exactly what happened when the University of Iowa student, who will re-enroll in spring because of “The Voice,” traveled to California to audition for Season 24 of the NBC show. He also had the "highlight of his life," a.k.a. when singer and coach Niall Horan stood next to him after noticing how the two dressed similarly.

Ward, whose audition aired during the final episode of blind auditions Monday night, performed “Bruises” by Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi and ended up joining pop singer and “The Voice” coach Gwen Stefani’s team.

When Stefani turned to face Ward, he lost his focus for a few seconds. It happened again when country icon Reba McEntire turned her chair, he told the Des Moines Register.

“It was very hard to keep composure,” Ward said. “I think that is mostly from the nerves that go along with it. I aired pretty late. I know that there were, I think, six or five chair turns left when I went so I think it was tough to get a chair turn because they're being picky because they had a lot of artists left and at the same time with (so) few spots left, I didn't even know how I was going to get the chance to audition.”

The 21-year-old ran track and cross-country at UI, but chose to leave the sport his final year at school to pursue music, he said on Monday’s episode of “The Voice.”

It was a dream of the Waterloo, Illinois, singer to run at a Big Ten university, and everything about his experience was more than he could have asked for.

“Making the decision to get rid of running was definitely tough, but like I said, I think a chair turn definitely validates that and I think going forward, the more I learn, the more I get coached by Gwen, it is paying dividends,” he said.

Ward spoke to the Des Moines Register Tuesday morning about his experience on “The Voice” and his music.

Note: Answers are edited for clarity and length.

Des Moines Register: How do you feel now that your audition on “The Voice” aired last night? Did you watch it?

Eli Ward: I did, yeah. It was so, so crazy. It's been super weird to have this big secret basically. And then for it to finally now air is so crazy. A lot of people from my hometown actually were with me when I was watching. We had a little watch party thing and it was super fun.

Des Moines Register: Your parents came to join you on set at "The Voice." What was it like to have them a part of your big moment?

Eli Ward: I think walking out of the big “The Voice” doors right when they say the next artist is going on, right when the doors open the first thing I saw was my parents. I was like, “Oh, that's kind of weird.” It was grounding. It put me back into a place that I know. I've always been a musician and my parents have always been at every gig I've ever played. So having them in the back corner for something that's such a huge gig, basically, for these four coaches, it was really cool.

Des Moines Register: When did you begin pursuing music and what about it called to you?

Eli Ward: Since the womb I've been doing something (with) music. I've always been exposed to music whether that is just listening to it, hearing my family members do it, or when I really started piano lessons. I think it took a bigger turn freshman year of college. I got into guitar more than I ever had because I've played guitar forever, but I took a deep dive into getting a lot better at guitar. And I very, very soon found myself songwriting and gigging and I've always written songs. I have this old song when I was 11 or something. I wrote my first song about my dog. So, it wasn't really a new thing. It was just something that was a little bit more refined than it ever had been. And the last couple of years especially have been really, really focused on writing better music, recording better music, trying to put out content and see where the music path might take me.

More: University of Iowa athlete caught the attention of Reba McEntire, Gwen Stefani on 'The Voice'

Des Moines Register: What's the biggest thing you've learned about yourself after doing something like this or what's the biggest takeaway for you?

Eli Ward: The biggest thing I've learned is that — it honestly echoes something I've been learning for the past couple years in running — confidence is so, so much more important than you can ever imagine. And when I first got to Burbank, I was nervous that I wasn't really the caliber of a lot of the other vocalists and I wasn't. That's how it goes. But being able to grow surrounded by some really cool people and be confident in yourself. It makes the world of difference in your performance and your actual vocal(s). So going forward, that's definitely a little bit more the goal now that the nerves have been shaken out from the blind audition. Going for battles, I think it's just have fun and be confident.

Eli Ward's music is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music. The musician said he'll also be performing in Iowa City soon.

Where can I watch ‘The Voice’ Season 24?

Watch Season 24 of “The Voice” on NBC or stream on Peacock the next day. “The Voice” airs Mondays at 7 p.m. CT and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. CT.

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at PBarraza@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: University of Iowa student Eli Ward turns chairs on NBC's 'The Voice'