'The Voice' Season 8 Premiere Recap: C'mon, Get 'Happy'

The Voice Season 8’s premiere Monday night featured several stellar auditions, including a couple that inspired four-chair turnarounds. But the standout performance of the night actually came from a contestant who turned no chairs, after she got a little help from the panel’s arguably most caring coach, Pharrell Williams.

Sixteen-year-old Bryce Sherlow, a real-life small-town gleek, failed to advance with her slightly shaky audition of Echosmith’s “Cool Kids,” but she still must’ve been feeling like the coolest kid on the planet when — after informing Pharrell that her high school a cappella team had won Nationals with a cover of his song “Happy” — Pharrell hopped onstage with her for an impromptu “Happy” duet.

While Bryce seemed a little spooked to be suddenly sharing the spotlight with the Great Hatted One, when Pharrell changed one of the song’s lines to “don’t let this bring you down,” it was an adorable TV moment, probably the best consolation prize Bryce could’ve asked for, and a true embodiment of this show’s feelgood, supportive spirit. “That’s what The Voice is all about!” asserted returning judge Christina Aguilera (who, in a side note, I must say was refreshingly low-key on Monday, in no way acting like The Voice is all about her).

Another person dealing with rejection on Monday — but not taking it nearly as well as Bryce did, and certainly not getting any cheer-up serenades from Pharrell — was Adam Levine. Regular Voice-watchers will remember that just a couple months ago on the Season 7 finale, Adam had a rough night, losing out to Team Blake’s one contestant, Craig Wayne Boyd, despite having three Team Adam singers in the running. And on Season 8’s premiere, Adam didn’t recruit a single member for his team, even though he laid on his snake-oil-salesman pitches with the usual thickness, and even though there were at least two auditioners who seemed like total Team Adam material.

While this was probably all edited out of order for comedic value, hey, it worked: As Adam stormed off the set in huff and Blake Shelton gloated, it was pretty amusing. “Adam was truly heartbroken, and that makes me so happy,” Blake chuckled.

As for the contestants who did make it through, and the coaches who did have a good night, here’s what transpired on Monday’s premiere:

Sarah Potenza – A 34-year-old Nashville rocker from a big Italian family, with a big personality and even bigger voice, Sarah oozed likability from the get-go. This is actually what The Voice is all about, or at least what it’s supposed to be all about: a self-described “ordinary person,” who in no way looks like a typical pop star, receiving a much-needed break. Sarah’s cover of the Faces’ “Stay With Me” had Janis-style grit and sass, and she definitely got the crowd going. All four coaches, with Adam spinning first and Christina holding out till the very end, eventually turned; Adam and Pharrell lobbied especially aggressively for Sarah, even hopping onstage to embrace her and shower her with praise. “I want to make sure that you can be a rock ‘n’ roll star,” said Adam. “You gave this generation something they’ve never seen before,” declared Pharrell. But Blake played the “Nashville card” and sealed the deal, much to Adam’s chagrin. Honestly, although Blake interestingly said his strategy this season is to work with singers of different genres, I don’t know if Sarah will end up being his strongest player. Her old-fashionedness may keep her from building a big enough fanbase among younger voters, which is crucial now that the whole Twitter-dependent Instant Save is such an important factor on this show. Still, Sarah’s vivacious audition was definitely a fun start to the season.
MEMBER OF: Team Blake

Lowell Oakley – Another glee-club type, this 19-year-old crooner seemed to arrive from a bygone era. A snazzy dresser who practices “gliding” across the stage, learned everything he knows from his opera-singer uncle, and loves classic jazz, he warbled a butter-smooth rendition of Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” that seemed more suited for Lawrence Welk than The Voice. But regardless of the era, or the show, the element of surprise made for great television, because this kid’s elegant, gentlemanly vocals did not match the boyish face from which they emanated. I was surprised that Blake, considering his longtime Michael Bublé obsession, didn’t turn for Lowell. I was also surprised that Lowell decided to go with Pharrell, not Adam, even though Adam adamantly claimed that he “knew what to do” with a throwback artist like Lowell. But apparently when it comes to making a case, Pharrell is as smooth a talker as Lowell is a singer.
MEMBER OF: Team Pharrell

Rob Taylor – This superfly soulman had an awesome Jermaine Jackson coiffure, but also a moving backstory: He gave up a Berklee College of Music scholarship to care for his stroke-victim mother. “This moment makes up for everything,” he said, as he hopefully took the stage to sing Luke James’s “I Want You.” Soon, three of the four judges wanted Rob, especially when he hit a CRAZY high note that Pharrell later likened to a “hearing test.” This was a perfectly picked audition song, because it really showed what Rob can do. “I have a high voice, and I was like, 'That is a high voice,’” marveled Adam. But Rob felt no affinity to his fellow high-pitched singer, instead going with Christina, who called Rob her “one star player.” I actually think these two will be a good match. I can only imagine how epic it would be if Rob and Xtina ever dueted together; the glass on my TV screen would probably shatter.
MEMBER OF: Team Xtina

Cody Wickline – Cody is the ultimate all-American boy with a dream: a small-town kid and the first member of his family to attend college, a guy who never even boarded an airplane until he traveled to his Voice audition. But with his killer country voice, he’s destined to leave his small town behind and tour the world. Cody’s emotive cover of George Jones’s classic weeper “He Stopped Loving Her Today” had Adam buzzing in right away, calling Cody a “truly brilliant voice [that can] transcend all genres” and even declaring this the best country performance EVER on The Voice. But Adam had to compete for Cody with three other coaches, and I am sure you can guess which coach Cody picked. Even before Blake compared Cody to Merle Haggard and slyly said, “All you need now is someone to introduce you to Nashville,” it was kind of a done deal. Who knows… despite Blake’s desire to diversify this season, Cody just might be Team Blake’s second country winner in a row.
MEMBER OF: Team Blake

Treeva Gibson – This 16-year-old daughter of two deaf parents, who suffers from a bit of hearing loss herself, seemed to go on The Voice to convince her mom and dad that she really has talent and singing isn’t just a hobby. Her parents appeared incredibly proud and supportive as they stood in the stage wings with host Carson Daly, and though they obviously could not hear Treeva’s lovely cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful,” they must have realized from the reactions of Christina and Blake, the two coaches who turned, that she’s the real deal. This audition was not perfect (Adam said it was “kind of messy”), but it was “captivating,” as Christina put it, and Pharrell even compared Treeva’s cracking voice to Stevie Nicks. There’s something special about this girl. Treeva sweetly signed the word “Christina,” so her parents could see which coach she chose.
MEMBER OF: Team Xtina

Meghan Linsey – Meghan will look familiar to many: She used to be a member of the successful country duo Steel Magnolia, who in fact won another singing competition, CMT’s Can You Duet?, in 2009. Diehard Voice fans might even remember her from an excellent single she recorded with Season 3 finalist Cody Belew, “Baby Get Out.” But amusingly, at her audition this week, there was one person who didn’t recognize her: Blake Shelton, even though Steel Magnolia once opened for him on tour. “Really, Blake?” she gasped incredulously, after Blake didn’t buzz in for her. (“Now I bet you feel extra-bad,” Adam quipped.) To be fair, though, Meghan’s voice might have sounded unfamiliar to Blake because instead of doing a country song, she did Nazareth’s “Love Hurts.” Meghan claimed she now wants to sing soul music, which is probably why she joined Team Pharrell. I’m not really sure if that’s the wisest career move for her; country music is one of the few genres that still sells nowadays, and Meghan has fans in that world who may think she has turned traitor. But, if she really does want to go the R&B route, she’s in good hands with Pharrell, of course.
MEMBER OF: Team Pharrell

Joshua Davis – This 37-year-old blues singer, veteran gigging musician, and family man performed a perfectly workmanlike cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” I didn’t think he was a standout of the night, but I certainly thought he was a good fit for Team Adam. After all, Maroon 5 even once covered this song for a Dylan tribute album! But Joshua instead signed up with… Blake. Even Pharrell looked shocked by that decision. In a rare moment of humility, the usually overconfident Adam actually admitted that he’d “lost his mojo.”
MEMBER OF: Team Blake

Sawyer Fredericks – As usual, The Voice saved the best for last. The first (and really only) contestant to have me totally sitting on the edge of my red chair was this shy, sweet, 15-year-old farm boy with the perfect Hanson hair and intriguingly reedy voice, who sang the traditional folk tune “I’m a Man of Constant Sorrow.” This kid truly is an old soul; how is it even possible that he’s only FIFTEEN? He grabbed everyone’s attention from his first haunting a cappella note, and he came across as a genuine artist. When all four chairs swiveled forward, I knew this was going to be a fight. “You took me to another time,” gushed Pharrell. “It was almost like you were singing into an old vintage microphone,” observed Blake. “You’re not going anywhere until you’re the last person standing in this competition,” exclaimed Adam. I thought Adam had this one in the bag, but Sawyer went with the coach who best sold him on the idea of “originality,” and who synergistically happened to be wearing a similar hat: Pharrell. And thus, Adam was a man of constant sorrow, ending the episode empty-handed.
MEMBER OF: Team Pharrell

So to recap, while Team Adam is still nonexistent, Team Pharrell comprises Lowell Oakley, Meghan Linsey, and Sawyer Fredericks; Team Blake has Sarah Potenza, Cody Wickline, and Joshua Davis; and Team Xtina has Rob Taylor and Treeva Gibson. The season has just obviously just begun, so there’s still plenty of time for an Adam Levine rebound, but right now, I think Team Pharrell is looking pretty solid. Come back Tuesday for another round of Blind Auditions, and find out if Pharrell’s happy streak continues.

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