The Voice
Page: 8
Kelly Clarkson needed a reboot, so she did what a lot of people do when they feel like shaking up their lives: she moved. But in her case, the Burleson, Texas-born singer and talk show host who lived and worked in Los Angeles for 20 years pulled up roots and moved as far away as possible and is rebooting her life in New York.
With a new Rockefeller Center space for her eponymous daytime talk show — which kicked off its fifth season on Monday — the divorced mother of two young children is now closer to her extended family in North Carolina and fully into living her best life in the city.
“At this point, I’m 40 years old. Mama rented something nice!” Clarkson told USA Today. “I was like, ‘I’m not living here unless it’s right by the park and really nice for the kids.’” And though Clarkson has been doing all the New York things, including cheering for her Dallas Cowboys as they stomped the N.Y. Giants last month and watching her friend Chelsea Handler do standup at the Beacon Theatre.
And as much fun as she’s having, the singer, 41, told the paper that after finalizing her divorce from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock last year she wasn’t sure the mid-life time zone refresh was a great idea. “I’ll be real honest: I thought I was making a horrible decision,” Clarkson said of her nerves before pulling up stakes. “I knew I needed a fresh start and couldn’t be in LA. I really wanted to be in Montana, but you can’t really do a show from there quite yet. So I was like, ‘The only other option would probably be New York.’”
But after a couple of weeks, she said she realized she “genuinely” loves New York, “and I love that my kids love it,” she said of daughter River Rose, 9, and son Remington, 7. She immediately leaned in on the show, spotlighting some quintessentially N.Y. apartment/hotel door people during a taping last week in her new space, which was formerly home to David Letterman’s late night talk show.
Clarkson also talked about learning how to dial back her over-busy calendar, which included leaving her spot in a red chair on The Voice last spring after exhaustedly grinning and bearing it for the first four years of her talk show. “Full disclosure, I put on a smile a lot of those times because I was struggling a lot in my personal life,” Clarkson said. “I’ve learned a lot about what I’m capable of handling, and also what you should not handle. That was me saying ‘bye’ to The Voice and having this big move. I love that family, but I was like, ‘I’m struggling. I can’t smile anymore. I don’t feel like smiling.’”
Now, with the move and season five of the show on the air, Clarkson said she’s in “such a great place,” with her kids, her new home, the show and in her personal life. “I feel like a weight has lifted. That move was very needed,” she said. “I think the thing I’m most excited about with Season 5, on a selfish level, is just showing up to work smiling and actually meaning it. That’s a beautiful gift that you don’t realize until you’re out of it.”
NBC’s The Voice has entered into the battle rounds. It’s a place where hopes are dashed, where dreams are kept alive, and where the coaches are made to suffer at decision time.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Niall Horan, who is on good form having coached the winner in his debut season, paired Lennon VanderDoes and Tanner Massey for a toe-to-toe Tuesday night (Oct. 17) to Billy Joel’s “She’s Always a Woman.”
“Wow, wow, wow, that was so incredible,” Gwen Stefani remarked at the close. “Both of you are mindblowing in your own way.” If she had to choose, she’d go with Massey.
“Really, both amazing,” John Legend said. Legend has his own connection with “She’s Always a Woman”; it’s the inspiration for “All of Me,” the “song that changed my life. And hearing you two sing it was just magical.” If he had to make the call, he’d lean “ever so slightly” toward Massey.
Reba McEntire was impressed with both contestants, especially Massey. “To be as young as you are, you’ve got great stage presence.”
There can be only one, and Horan had to wield the axe.
“I think this was always going to be a great battle with the difference in your two voices, the way Lennon can sing up there with such control and, your tone is so captivating.” Tanner, with his flares at the end of some sentences, are just “so beautiful” to hear. “This is one of those battles where I’ve been battling myself.
Horan ignored the advice of his fellow coaches and rivals, and tapped VanderDoes to progress.
The story doesn’t end there. Legend and Stefani both tried to “steal” the young talent. Another decision had to be made, this time by Massey who just minutes earlier had to cope with the bitter disappointment of rejection. He chose Team Gwen.
The popular singing competition show airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC (check your local listings for channel information). Episodes of The Voice will stream on-demand via Peacock the next day after they air on TV, but viewers can also watch live with Peacock Premium Plus.
Watch the season 24 performance below.
[embedded content]
The Voice is officially in the battle rounds, and Reba McEntire’s team members Jackson Snelling and Jordan Rainer went head-to-head to perform a Reba classic. The two traded verses in an emotional rendition of McEntire’s 1993 collaboration with Vince Gill, “The Heart Won’t Lie.” The song was nominated for best country vocal collaboration that year. […]
Huntley looks like a Viking, sings like a rock star.
The 33-year-old from Fredericksburg, Virginia showed his form when he stepped onto The Voice stage Monday night (Oct. 16) for the Blind Auditions.
That muscular voice sits somewhere between country, blues, rock and grunge, with shades of Bob Seger meets Mark Lanegan. It’s a frontman voice, the kind that tells stories and has its own to share.
From the opening notes of his cover of “She Talks To Angels,” Huntley caught the attention. The four coaches’ chairs turned almost in unison.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“Your voice is incredible,” Reba McEntire enthused. “When I first listened to you, I heard Chris Stapleton. So everything about your voice I absolutely loved.” And with that, the pitches started.
Niall Horan chimed in, recounting the vocals of Australian Daniel Merriweather and Brit James Morrison.
“That’s a tone that comes naturally. I bet you were singing like that when you were 15,” the Irishman noted. “You sing your own way, you sing direct, and so much power and the control you have. It’s so beautiful to listen to.”
Gwen Stefani likened his talents to those of Bradley Nowell from Sublime. “Your voice is just so automatic. You know exactly at what point you’re going to be raspy. And it’s pure and honest and you sound like you’ve been singing forever, on stage performing.”
John Legend was blown away. “Your voice sounds so ready. So ready for the world, so ready for the radio,” he explained. It’s “truly one of the best voices we’ve heard. It’s so impressive, dude.
Huntley had a big call to make. He passed down the responsibility to his daughter Stella, who joined him on stage. The youngster went with Team Niall.
Watch the performance from NBC‘s The Voice below.
[embedded content]
Willie Gomez may be used to dancing backup for Britney Spears, but on the Tuesday (Oct. 10) episode of The Voice, it was the star’s turn to support his moment in the spotlight.
Ahead of his blind audition, NBC’s long-running singing competition aired a video message from the Princess of Pop herself for the 37-year-old Miami native. “Willie is a dancer of mine, and not only is he a great dancer, but he is an amazing singer,” Spears gushes in the clip.
“I’m sending all my kisses to you,” the “Toxic” singer added, blowing a kiss. “Love you!”
Gomez has also danced for Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, Kesha and more pop icons, per his IMDb page. He seems particularly close with Spears, though, and even shared photos from her wedding to now estranged husband Sam Asghari last year on Instagram.
But on the latest episode of The Voice, it was Gomez’s turn to be the star. And no, he didn’t sing a Britney Spears song to impress coaches John Legend, Gwen Stefani, Niall Horan and Reba McEntire — all four of who turned around for his lively performance of Latin music star Manuel Turizo’s 2022 hit “La Bachata.”
“You can do all the things you need to do to be a big star,” raved Legend after Gomez finished the song. “It sounded like, ‘Oh, I can hear this guy making a record that would be huge.’ Latin music right now is just so big. It is pop music in a lot of ways.”
“I really think that you’re super gifted, super talented,” Stefani told Gomez, after which Horan jokingly accused her of flirting with the dancer-turned-singer.
“Blake, she is flirting his pants off,” the former One Direction star pretended to text Stefani’s husband, Voice veteran Blake Shelton.
Ultimately, Gomez went with Legend as his coach. Watch his full audition above.
Well, that was quick.
When Caleb Sasser stopped by NBC’s The Voice to deliver a Blind Audition, the feedback was swift.
Sasser, who hails from Goldsboro, North Carolina, hadn’t even finished the first line in his cover of Toni Braxton’s “Another Sad Love Song” when he’d landed the one-two punch of Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani turns.
And when he unleashed a run of delicate high notes, Reba McEntire had heard enough. John Legend pushed the red button last to complete a four-chair turn.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Sasser has his finger on R&B, jazz, soul. The good stuff. “That was magical,” remarked Legend. “I was hearing Toni and I was hearing a lot of Anita Baker in your voice, too.” Both are influences, the contestant told the coach, as are Jazmine Sullivan and Legend himself. At that point, a sigh came over the other three coaches, and a keen understanding of which team the singer would choose.
Regardless, Stefani entered her sales pitch. “I’m really good at stage presence, personality, getting out of your shell, trying to get people to know you as a person through your voice.”
Horan chimed in: “The ease at which you sing, is just so beautiful and the most humble, down-to-earth, smiley way that you could possibly do it.”
McEntire spoke last. “Calab,” she enthused, “your voice made me feel such peace inside. I did a duet album many years ago. And I promise you if I’d have heard your voice, I would have begged you to please come sing a duet with me.”
In the end, there could be only one. There were no more surprises; Sasser chose Team Legend.
Watch below.
[embedded content]
Nini Iris is living out a real-life fan fiction on The Voice. Just a few seconds in to her blazing performance of Everybody Loves an Outlaw’s “I See Red,” all four of the show’s judges turned around for the 27-year-old hopeful, including her longtime idol, Niall Horan.
Horan and co-coaches John Legend, Gwen Stefani and Reba McEntire each pulled out all the stops to convince Iris to join their team, with the “Slow Hands” singer even getting down on his knees and begging, “Please, please, please.” Seconds before, he even warned the others: “I’m gonna fight hard for this one, so you better get ready.”
Ultimately, the power belter went in Horan’s direction — although he may have had a slight advantage. “I gotta say that I was a big One Direction fan,” Iris confessed before choosing her coach. “I’m not ashamed to say that I wrote maybe a few fanfictions when I was a teenager.”
The revelation earned a flattered grin from Horan, meanwhile Legend wanted to know what exactly Iris’ writings entailed. “When you’re young and you love somebody you just wanna meet them so bad,” she explained. “So you write about your dreams of meeting them, that’s all.”
“You know what’s sad is when reality doesn’t live up to the dreams that we’ve had,” the “All of Me” musician joked in response.
“You know what’s been really sad? I met John Legend,” Horan quipped back.
This season of The Voice marks Horan’s second turn as a coach. He’s also the show’s current returning champion, having won season 23 with his protégé Gina Miles.
He and Stefani recently chatted about this season on The Jennifer Hudson Show, where he impressed both ladies with a spot-on impression of Stefani’s husband and Voice veteran Blake Shelton. The “Hollaback Girl” artist also lamented the struggles of building a team with Horan as an opponent, joking that all of the young women who audition (such as Iris) favor the former boy band star.
“I lose every time because all those girls come out and are like, ‘Niall … look at his eyes. Oh my god, he’s so cute!’” she told Hudson. “And then next thing you know, I’m a loser.”
Watch Nini Iris’ audition above.
Sometimes, even a young artist can carry the weight of time, of life lived, in their vocals. Lila Forde showed the world those talents when she stopped by NBC‘s The Voice on Monday night (Oct. 9) for her Blind Audition. Performing at the keys, Forde has a vintage voice. It’s fused at the hip with soul and soil and a touch of country, the type we’ve all heard speaking to us from the radio over the years, wondering where on earth that came from. For the younger generation, think Florence Welch and Freya Ridings. And some of us older fogies, Joni Mitchell and Carole King.Like a hawk, Gwen Stefani swooped fast on that buzzer. John Legend turned next, then Reba McEntire and Niall Horan finished fourth, smacking that thing with his fist.Following her performance of Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home,” and her four-chair turn, Forde gave a wide smile. For a moment, it looked as though emotion had sucked the wind from her sails.“That song could not have been more perfect if you tried,” Niall Horan remarked. “You looked so comfortable up there at the piano. Your tone has so many parts to it.”It was a performance “that reminded me of everything I love about music.” And then, yes, the first sales pitch. Stefani stepped up her game by taking off her shoes, walking towards the contestant, and delivering her own pitch. “What the world needs, we want a singer-songwriter with a true point of view, that’s original, unique, that’s not trying to be anyone else,” she enthused. “And the way you performed it, the confidence, it’s everything I love. It was so good, so beautiful.”The cover “was magical,” reckoned Legend, “what I heard was wisdom, you understood everything you were saying, every nuance…everything felt completely under your control.”Speaking last, McEntire remarked, “you are an old soul. You’re mature beyond your years.”Hailing from Seattle, the daughter of a musical mom, Forde plies her trade on the Los Angeles gig circuit. With four Voice judges beckoning her, begging for her, the choice was all Forde’s to make. And she selected Team Legend. Watch below.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
[embedded content]
Drake‘s 2015 smash “Hotline Bling” got a jazzy update during The Voice‘s blind auditions on Tuesday (Oct. 3), when contestant LVNDR wowed the coaches with her unique, reworked version of the rapper’s track.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The singer took to the stage with her guitar and delivered her soulful rendition, causing coaches John Legend and Niall Horan to turn their chairs before she could even complete the first verse.
“You used to call me on my cell phone/ Late night when you need my love/ Call me on my cell phone/ Late night when you need my love/ And I know when that hotline bling/ That can only mean one thingI know when that hotline bling/ That can only mean one thing,” she sang.
After she gave each of the coaches lavender necklaces in their favorite colors, the commentary on LVNDR’s performance began, with Legend stating he was more than impressed with her take on the song.
“What I loved so much about it was the vibe and the feel, which was just magical and transported me. Your voice, your tone was so slinky and ethereal and felt like this [lavender] smells. It was peaceful, but also musically daring,” the EGOT winner gushed. “You made so many great melodic choices because you changed almost the entire melody. Do you write a lot of your own original material?”
“I only just started taking music seriously a few years ago,” she revealed. “I actually taught myself guitar using YouTube. I never showed anybody that I could sing.”
This cemented Legend’s impression of her. “For me, you can sing and you have a point of view and you have a story to tell and I think that’s really beautiful and it’s really fun for me to work with artists like that, so I would love to work with you,” he gushed. “It would be a joy.”
Horan was equally stunned by LVNDR and stated that he initially was considering turning his chair well before she got through the first verse. “That was something special,” he told the 27-year-old. “I was thinking, ‘Do I let her finish the first sentence before I press the button or what?’ Because I just love character, and you’ve got it in abundance.”
“I felt like I was watching a movie and listening to a soundtrack. To say that you’ve been nurturing this in your bedroom just playing the guitar off YouTube, everything you said, I kind of did the same thing,” he continued. “Those voices that when you’re facing away and you get get goosebumps and your ears perk up — because we’re over there staring at that wall staring and hoping that someone catches your attention, and you absolutely did that.”
While it was a tough decision for LVNDER, she ultimately picked the former One Direction member to be her mentor.
Watch LVNDR’s performance above.
The Voice has found another one.
Teen Kaylee Shimizu showed up big time during her Blind Audition Tuesday night (Oct. 3), with a performance that carried the confidence of youth, and the skills of a professional.
Hailing from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, Shimizu covered the Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers,” peppering it with elite high notes — all stability and control — and with more runs than a track and field event.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The 17-year-old gave us feathery touches, through to the dynamite, and earned a four-chair turn.
John Legend turning first, followed immediately by Niall Horan, Reba McEntire and, after a pause to soak it up, Gwen Stefani.
“We’re just stunned right now. Your voice was just dazzling, it was so creative it was so musical,” remarked Legend. “You know you could win The Voice, right,” he added, before rolling out the red carpet for Team Legend. “You have so much confidence delivering these impossible notes.”
Stefani was “blown away.” The youngster’s “vibrato, it’s so slow,” and it “feels like you have so much control over that,” she added. “I’ve never heard anything like that before and I think it’s because you’re so young and free.”
Horan, as a member of One Direction, has enjoyed several lifetime of experiences. “I cannot believe what I just witnessed,” he enthused. “That was just unbelievable. When we talk about ‘technically gifted,’ I’ve never met anyone so gifted. The song choice was perfect.”
Speaking last, McEntire admitted, “when I was 17 I had not the imagination to be even think about singing like you. I’ve never heard anybody do what you did on stage today. It was spiritual to me.”
Shimizu digs her “soulful R&B” and grew up singing karaoke with her Filipino family, who were invited to join the contestant on center stage.
There could be only one team for Shimizu, and that was Team Legend.
Watch the audition on NBC‘s The Voice below.
[embedded content]