‘The Voice’ season 24 episode 7 recap: Coaches complete their teams in ‘The Blind Auditions, Part 7’ [LIVE BLOG]

John Benutty and Denton Davidson
·9 min read
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Tonight on “The Voice,” coaches Niall Horan, John Legend, Reba McEntire and Gwen Stefani all vie to discover and coach the next singing phenomenon on the final night of blind auditions.

The four-time Emmy Award-winning musical competition series returns with the strongest vocalists from across the country invited to compete in the show’s newest season, which premiered September 25 on NBC (8pm PT/ET). The show’s innovative format features five stages of competition: Blind Auditions, Battle Rounds, Knockouts, Playoffs and Live Performance Shows. 

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SEE Everything to know about ‘The Voice’ Season 24: Premiere date, coaches

Below, read our minute-by-minute “The Voice” recap of Season 24, Episode 7 to find out what happened Monday, October 16 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite artists on NBC’s long-running reality TV show, which coach you’re rooting for and who you think will ultimately join “The Voice” winners list for this 24th season. Carson Daly hosts the Emmy-winning program.

Keep refreshing/reloading this “The Voice” live blog for the most recent updates.

8:00 p.m. – “Previously on ‘The Voice’!” In episode 6, the coaches continued to build their teams with the sixth set of blind auditions. Joining Team Reba was Caitlin Quisenberry. Joining Team Niall was Olivia Eden. Joining Team Gwen was Kara Tenae. Joining Team Legend were Willie Gomez and Caleb Sasser. Let’s see what Night 7 has to offer!

8:02 p.m. – The last night of auditions kicked off with metal band frontman turned acoustic guitar player Huntley with “She Talks to Angels.” As soon as his voice entered the track, Gwen and Niall were exclaiming how beautiful his voice is. Shortly after, all four judges were hitting their buttons in unison. Reba called his voice “incredible” and likened it to Chris Stapleton, Niall added that he sings “direct” with power and control, Gwen liked that he’s comfortable on stage, and John said his voice has “so much polish” and “ready for the radio.” As a huge fan of Reba, Huntley’s daughter was hoping that Reba would turn for her dad so it was a surprise when Huntley gave her the option to pick his coach for him and she chose Niall!

8:13 p.m. – Next up was Azán from Texas with a rendition of “Golden” that impressed both Reba and John to turn their chairs. John said he knew about her voice from the “very first run” and he liked what she did with the melodies. Gwen said she didn’t turn because she “felt some tuning stuff,” but she acknowledged that she has really good spirit and then pushed for Azán to choose Reba. Reba said she liked the song choice and Azán’s energy when she sang. Despite both Gwen and Niall siding with Reba on this one, Azán went in her own direction and joined Team Legend.

8:24 p.m. – College track and field athlete Eli Ward made the tough choice of leaving the running world in order to pursue his passion in music. Hoping to earn validation in his decision, Eli auditioned with “Bruises” and earned the respect of Gwen and Reba with chair turns. Reba pointed out that he’s different from everyone on her team and that his approach to the song appealed to her. Niall said there were “some pitch issues” and John thought he got too excited when Gwen turned her chair and it threw him off. Gwen thought he started the song off really well and that meant he has potential, despite it kind of falling apart at the end. It seemed as though the writing was on the wall for Eli to choose Gwen and that’s exactly what he did.

8:35 p.m. – 33 year old Brailey Lenderman from Nashville took the audition stage next within the self-described “coffee shop pop” genre singing “If It Makes You Happy.” With this one, Niall and Gwen turned their chairs for yet another head-to-head decision to be made. Reba noted some “pitch problems” and that’s why she didn’t turn her chair. Gwen noticed the “weird choices” at parts, but she turned because her voice has character and personality. Gwen said that she’s the “obvious choice” for Brailey to choose. Niall jumped in to add he could tell how much thought she had put into certain words and would like to work with her to fix the nerves she had that were apparent. In the end, the choice wasn’t as obvious for Brailey who decided to join Team Niall instead.

8:49 p.m. – Colby Cobb brought his guitar to the stage for “Somebody Else,” but all the coaches held back from adding to their nearly full teams. Gwen said he has “one of my favorite voices” because of his instinct, but thinks he needs to “focus on the tuning.” Niall wanted him to match the beat a little better because he lost his way with the pitch.

9:00 p.m. – Colby was followed by Dylan Carter performing “I Look to You,” a song he hasn’t taken on since he tried to at his mother’s funeral. Right away Gwen noticed the charm in his voice, hitting her button before the other three judges hit their buttons as well. Reba liked his song choice and the emotion that she felt through his performance. She got emotional herself because of how “emotionally involved” he was in the song. Niall called it “spectacular” even if he did hear “pitch issues” that he attributed to nerves. Gwen was sold on his voice “the moment you opened your mouth” because of its warmth and texture. She positioned herself as a “cheerleader” to help him through the “boot camp” of the television show. John was touched that the song was a tribute to his mother. With all the options available to him, Dylan became the final member of Team Reba.

9:12 p.m. – The next artist to perform described herself as “indie with a little bit of country.” Claire Heilig‘s version of “Tennessee Orange” had the intended impact of getting Gwen to turn since that is the coach she wanted to work with the most. John mentioned that he loves the rasp in her voice and Niall thought it was “so good” as well. Claire defaulted to Team Gwen and narrowed the round of blind auditions down to only three spots left, even if Gwen mistakenly thought that Claire was her final artist.

9:21 p.m. – All three coaches were quickly looking to fill their last spot with Lennon Vanderdoes based on their audition to “The Night We Met.” Niall said it was “the first note” that made him want to turn and one of his favorite voices of the season. He stressed that his voice is “pure and clean” with a ton of character. John referred to it as a “tour de force” and said he should be “out there making records” and touring. Gwen felt like she was outmatched by the guys, but wanted to fight for someone she thinks is “so cool” with an amazing and unique voice. Gwen’s intuition was right and with Lennon’s decision to close out Team Niall, she was left with no option but to go head-to-head with John for the remaining auditions.

9:32 p.m. – Taylor Deneen had two opportunities to make the cut with her take on “Redbone” and right away impressed John for a spin of his chair. Gwen wasn’t going to sit back and let John get her easily so she hit her button as well. Without a spot on their teams, Niall and Reba were sad that they couldn’t turn for her “flawless” performance. Still, Reba threw her support behind “fellow Okie” Gwen, but Gwen was already threatened by how much of a fan Taylor was of John’s. John said that she “kept getting better and better” and found “new places” for the notes in the song. As a treat for the coaches, Taylor showed off her songwriting prowess by performing a ditty about the four of them. With it, John added that she has a “gentleness” to what is otherwise a powerful voice. Gwen called out “how feminine” her voice is and that it creates a sneakiness to what she accomplishes in the song. Gwen acknowledged that she’s outside of Taylor’s soul lane, but that it could be a good decision to do something different. Unsurprisingly, Taylor took her spot as the final artist of Team Legend.

9:46 p.m. – Becoming the first person to audition for the show during pregnancy, Katie Wheatley needed to impress Gwen with “The Middle,” but it didn’t happen for her. Niall said she got off to “a shaky start” and “it never ramped up.” Gwen explained there are “special” nuances to her voice, but she needs to find more control over the vocal to make it more dynamic.

9:54 p.m. – Another artist from Nashville took the stage next. Once again all the balls were in Gwen’s court in order to determine Calla Prejean‘s fate in the competition. Luckily, “You’re So Vain” hit Gwen exactly where it needed to almost immediately. John and Niall both said they would have turned for Calla had they been able to. Gwen was excited to get someone with a “warm and rich and round” tone and said that they’d be able to work on mapping out her performances in order to find the right places for her runs.

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