The Voice Recap: A Rasp-Kicking Blind Audition Leaves Niall Horan Begging a Singer to Move In His One Direction
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Monday’s episode of The Voice teed up at least one Blind Audition that qualified as “out of this world.” In fact, when Nini Iris was done, a gobsmacked Niall Horan had to ask, “What planet do you come from?” But, would his enthusiastic entreaties sway the standout to join his team and not John Legend, Gwen Stefani or Reba McEntire’s? Read on, and you can not only watch Nini’s performance but find out who she picked to be her coach, which performances at least I liked better, and who else advanced to the Battles.
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Lila Forde (Team Legend), “Can’t Find My Way Home” — Grade: A- | After this four-chair turn described music as meditative and sacred to her, she invited us to enter an altered state, singing so much like an angel, she might as well have accessorized with wings. “It was like listening to full-on Joni Mitchell stuff,” Niall suggested. Or kinda Eva Cassidy. In any case, it was, as John said, “magical.”
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Angelina Nazarian (Team Reba), “The Trouble With Love Is” — Grade: B+ | A teenage jet-setter who’s already lived in six countries thanks to Dad’s job, Angelina had never performed professionally until she hit the Voice stage. But if her biggest gig to date had been in front of her mirror, it didn’t seem to matter. The two-chair turn sang with the poise and polish of a possible Christina Aguilera in the making.
Tanner Massey (Team Niall), “Before You Go” — Grade: B- | This 19-year-old — who looks like the picture in the dictionary next to the definition of “boy band member” — may have bitten off more than he could chew with his Lewis Capaldi cover; the song wanted a vocal that was a mite bigger than Tanner could pull off. But he’s got something. If his coach keeps him within his limitations, he could go far.
JaRae Womack (Team Legend), “Back to Black” — Grade: A | Bobby Womack’s niece hit the stage rocking what may be the season’s most striking look. But the second she opened her mouth, the four-chair turn’s shaved head became the least interesting thing about her. Radiating diva vibes, she unleashed a powerful voice that made me think, “Oh, this is what it would sound like if Nina Simone had done a massive James Bond theme.” Dying to hear more!
Brandon Montel (Team Gwen), “Hard Place” — Grade: C | Brandon wasn’t bad or anything, but I couldn’t fathom what inspired not only a four-chair turn but Reba’s use of her Block on John. Though the 29-year-old seemed like a lovely fella and struck a memorable ballroom pose, his Blind Audition kinda epitomized “average.” Maybe he’ll surprise me in the Battles?
Al Boogie (Team Reba), “Pickup Man” — Grade: B | After trying out for Season 23 and failing to get a chair turn, Al and his impressive beard returned to deliver a rendition of Joe Diffie’s hit that was full to overflowing with personality. Whether the performance really showed off the range of what Al could do, I’m not sure. But it was a heckuva lot of fun, and he got the one chair turn that made the most sense for him.
CORii (Team Reba), “Scared to Be Lonely” — Grade: C- | Ah, another singer whose name autocorrect is gonna fight me on! Would love to have been able to evaluate her Blind Audition better, but we only heard a few notes of her performance, and out of context, it just sounded shrieky.
Crystal Nicole (Team Reba), “Only Girl (in the World)” — Grade: B- | Once again, we spent more time on Reba handing out tater tots than we did listening to the actual audition. All I really know from the snippet that we got was that Crystal has a pretty big voice, and the queen of the one one-chair turns dug it.
Elizabeth Evans (Team Legend), “All I Wanted” — Grade: C- | There were cool moments here and there during this Nashville collegian’s performance, but in between, there were enough pitch problems to give the impression that we’d turned into a baseball game. Memorable look — kinda “severe cotton candy” — less memorable performance. Perhaps, as John thought, she’d be more impressive with a number that had been better mapped out.
Nini Iris (Team Niall), “I See Red” — Grade: B+ | She’s come a long way from writing One Direction fanfic. This native of Georgia (the country, not the state) earned a four-chair turn and a standing O with a rollicking cover of Everybody Loves an Outlaw on which she bent notes as easily as Wonder Woman does bars of steel and shredded her voice so vigorously that even Janis Joplin might’ve been like, “Damn, save some for the Battles!”
What did you think of Monday’s advancing artists? Vote for your favorite below, then hit the comments.
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