The Voice Recap: Talent Continues to Show Up For Season 17 Blind Auditions
Tammy Ragusa
We’re deep in the throes of the blind auditions for season 17 of
NBC’s The Voice and the teams are filling up quite nicely.
At the start of the third night, Kelly Clarkson was the only coach with a block remaining since coaches John Legend, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani had used theirs in the previous two nights of auditions. As the third night of competition commenced, the team counts were as follows:
Team Blake: 3 Team Gwen: 5 Team Kelly: 4 Team Legend: 3
MENDELEYEV (28), Santa Barbara, California – “Girl from the North
Country” by Bob Dylan
Said that his parents were hippies and his full
name is: Mendeleyev Galileo Einstein Pythagoras Darwin Euclid Leonardo
Allan-Blitz. His mother passed away a month before auditions.
FOUR CHAIR TURN: John, Blake and Kelly turned
simultaneously, Gwen turned in last minute.
KELLY: “I feel like your voice just sounds like
the best glass of Pinot Noir ever.”
GWEN: “My favorite part was just watching you
feel that moment when the song was done and connecting with the audience
because you just looked like, wow, this feels really good.”
JOHN: “First of all, I’m not afraid to pronounce
your name. What I loved about what you did today was it was unique, it was
artistic, no one else is going to do what you did and the way that you did it,
and it was a really powerful moment.”
BLAKE: “Your voice literally does shake the
rafters. That’s what helps to tell a story because those notes don’t just fly
past you as a moment. And it’s something that we do or used to do in country
music. It’s a lost art.”
Picked: TEAM LEGEND
JAKE HOOT (30), Cookeville, Tennessee – “When It Rains It Pours” by Luke Combs
Parents were missionaries, has eight siblings.
Grew up in the Dominican Republic.
CHAIRS: Kelly (threatened Blake – “Don’t you do
it!”)
KELLY: “I know you probably wanted Blake, but
this is a better home, I promise.”
GWEN: “What I loved about the performance was
just the entrance, it was so electric and loud and powerful. And now that I see
you’re gigantic, it makes me sense.” (He’s 6-feet, 6-inches tall)
Picked: TEAM KELLY (default)
CALVIN LOCKETT (25), Durham, North Carolina – “Just My Imagination” by The Temptations
Parents are pastors. Nervous singing outside the
church.
CHAIRS: Blake, then Gwen, then John
GWEN: “I know that John turned and I always feel
threatened by him…”
KELLY: “She’s not threatened by Blake, apparently.”
JOHN: “It was so subtle and so in control, and
your tone, I really have never heard anyone sound like you before.”
BLAKE: “Everything John said is right. I can’t
think of anybody else that sounds like this guy. I got a feeling he’s going to
pick you, so let me go a step beyond that. I hope that when this season is over
with, that you make a record on that guy right there because I can guarantee
you, you can go on to be a star.”
Picked: TEAM GWEN
JOSIE JONES (16), Hamilton, Alabama – “Men and Mascara” by Julie Roberts
CHAIRS: John, then Blake
GWEN: “Do you know who Stevie Nicks is? You
sound a lot like her. A little baby one.”
JOHN: “Josie, you sound beautiful! Your tone is
gorgeous and you just commanded the room with it. And I turned first for you,
you might have noticed.”
BLAKE: “It’s always exciting to me as the only
country coach on this panel to hear a country voice like I never have before…It
gets me excited when I see the next generation of country artists that are
coming along who honor the traditional sound of country music. I appreciate, as
one of the old dudes in country music that’s been around, I literally had my
first hit in country music before you were born.”
Picked: TEAM BLAKE
JOHNNY SANCHEZ (30), Hollister, California – “Seven Spanish Angels” by Ray Charles and Willie Nelson
Has twin boys – Apollo and D’Artagnan
NO CHAIRS
KELLY: “This is a bummer, we know. I just got a
big male vocalist, a country singer on my team and I don’t want to have too
many competing sounds. I do think you have an amazingly cool tone.”
JOHN: “You have a lot of the tools you need to
be a successful singer. I think it’s just going to be a little more confidence,
a little more control and you’ll be really great.”
BLAKE: “I was close, man. I was close.”
MARYBETH BYRD (18), Armorel, Arkansas – “Angel From Montgomery” by John Prine
More people in the audience than live in her
hometown.
ALL FOUR CHAIRS: Kelly (blocked Blake), then
John and Gwen, Blake turned in final seconds – saw Kelly block him
BLAKE: “As you can see, I have been blocked from
having the opportunity, so I don’t get the chance to beg you to be on my team.
Pick Gwen.”
JOHN: “I was in love with your voice from the
first note you sang.”
GWEN: “You could tell that, physically, it feels
good to do it because you know that God gave you that gift.”
KELLY: “I only have one block the entire season
and I chose to block him just in case you were going to go with him.”
Picked: TEAM LEGEND
TAMIKA J. (34), Miami, Florida – “You Got Me” by The Roots with Erykah Badu and Eve
Behavioral specialist with special needs
children, parents are from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
NO CHAIRS
GWEN: “The rapping, for me in a blind audition,
was challenging. I’m sorry I didn’t turn.”
KELLY: “I think you’re fantastic and I feel like
you’re probably going to be the one I’m bummed I didn’t turn for.”
JOHN: “My concern was, on the singing parts, I
didn’t get enough information to know that I could definitely bank on the fact
that you were a great singer, but if you came back and just sang or did a
little bit of rapping, I could assess that.”
KIARA BROWN (21), Las Vegas, Nevada – “Free Fallin’” by Tom Petty
Writes songs with her dad, wrote one about the
Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting.
CHAIRS: Blake, then Gwen
BLAKE: “Your voice is so incredible. Hypnotic.
And you’re doing it a completely different way than the record. When we can
hear that there’s the potential there and the artistry, that’s what they give
these (buttons) for.”
GWEN: “Blake’s right. There’s so much
potential…I love the singer/songwriter side of you.”
Picked: TEAM GWEN
MELINDA RODRIGUEZ (23), Los Angeles, California – “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
Jazz vocalist, brother has myocarditis and is
awaiting a heart transplant.
CHAIRS: Gwen and Kelly simultaneously
GWEN: “It was very creative, it was very
relaxed, and I liked your voice a lot. What I could help you with is more like
stage presence.”
KELLY: “One of my favorite singers is Eva
Cassidy and I just thought it was really, really well done like how she would
do it. And I just feel like there’s a melancholy vibe that she has that I find
similar listening to your voice…not many singers these days could do what you
just did.”
From a big Italian family, plays in a 90s
tribute band.
NO CHAIRS
JOHN: “Your tone is really nice. It has a weight
to it that I think is really good and it takes up a lot of space in the room.
My only concern was a little bit on the enunciation side. I like to hear
artists that are good at enunciating and storytelling in a way that I can grasp
it and it really effectively tells that story.”
BLAKE: “It was a little bit too tribute-y, so
maybe think about that next time you want to come out here and hopefully you do
because you’re a great singer.”
CALI WILSON (28), Salem, Iowa – “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac
Kick-boxing instructor, moved to Nashville at 25, mother was a professional singer.
CHAIRS: John and Blake simultaneously, then Gwen
JOHN: “I turned around for you because your tone is super gorgeous, you have so much control and you just sounded so pure and beautiful down there on those low notes.”
GWEN: “It’s really hard to do a song that is that moving and not mess it up. And you not only didn’t mess it up, I was getting lost in it.”
BLAKE: “I would be honored to be your coach.”
Picked: TEAM ????
Oh no! CLIFFHANGER! Yes, those crafty producers of The Voice left the fate of that final dynamic and talented young singer on the line to be revealed in the fourth installment of this season’s Blind Auditions.
