Pharrell and the rest of “The Voice” gang made a lot of artists “Happy” as the Blind Auditions continued! (Photo property of NBC)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
Last night, The Voice kicked off their eighth season with the returns of original coach six-time Grammy winner Christina Aguilera and the Blind Auditions.
Both Pharrell and Blake each scored three artists, while the Queen of The Voice successfully recruited two artists. As for Adam….let’s just say that he has a lot of catching up to do.
Will Adam score his first artist of the season tonight? How will the coaches continue to recruit their artists? Read on to find out…
Up first to face the coaches was 27-year-old Motown enthusiast Anthony Riley. He also a veteran street performer who has worked with Philadelphia and New York City, now he was ready to take The Voice stage by storm! Anthony chose to cover James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good)” for his Blind Audition. His electrifying cover of the soul classic broke Season Five’s Matthew Schuler’s record of the fastest four-chair turn in show history! As the coaches clawed each other out for Anthony, he decided to go with Pharrell, who picked his second four-chair artist in a row!
26-year-old Gabriel Wolfchild brought his unique artistry to the Blind Auditions. It was an intriguing to hear his cover of Bob Dylan’s heartbreaking “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” While his vocals caught the attention of all three original coaches and eventually got a spot on Team Christina, his Blind Audition bored me to tears.
16-year-old Brooke Adee was inspired to get into performance after seeing a performance of Annie. Now, Brooke was ready to turn performances at restaurants to performing at the Live Shows! Her cover of “Skinny Love” featured lovely notes and a superb tone that caught the attention of both Blake and Adam. While both coaches delivered good pitches, Brooke became the fourth member of Team Blake.
35-year-old Tonya Boyd-Cannon has a passion for music. After completing a degree in music education, she is the choir director for a New Orleans jail and overcame the crucial loss of losing very precious personal items during Hurricane Katrina. I think there were shades of Frenchie Davis and Kim Yarbrough in her interpretation of Pharrell’s “Happy.” She caught the attention of Adam, Pharrell and Christina and in the end, the powerhouse chose Adam and was the first member of Team Adam.
While Tonya celebrated, 21-year-old Joe Tolo traveled all the way from American Samoa to Los Angeles to establish a music career. He had to overcome his parents’ divorce to make his dreams of superstardom come true. With the little help of Extra, Joe landed an audition for the NBC hit. His cover of “To Love Somebody” gave me chills and caught the attention of both Christina and Blake with his powerful high notes. One of my favorite moments of the night was seeing the harmonization between Joe and Xtina and that sealed his place on Team Christina.
The youngest contestant of the night might be the antithesis of Ariana Grande. 15-year-old Mia Z wanted to transfer her talents from her family act to the Voice stage. Her cover of “The Thrill is Gone” was outstanding and man…her falsetto was unreal! She caught the attention of both Blake and Pharrell, leaving fellow Pittsburgh native Xtina in the dust. While Blake desperately wanted Mia on his team, she chose the “Come Get It Bae” singer as her coach!
The final audition of The Voice: Season Eight premiere week was returnee DeAnna Johnson. She has come a long way from her fifth season audition. The rodeo singer’s self-confidence reemerged when she sang at church; her father’s encouragement and Blake’s remarks helped her audition for a second time. DeAnna’s vocals were 100,000-times stronger and her impeccable control moved me. Her amazing performance caught the attentions of all four coaches. Adam, Christina and Blake were impressed with DeAnna’s growth, while Pharrell stated that if he was on Season Five…he would not have turned her away. At the end of the night, DeAnna chose to enlist with Team Adam.
Next week, the Blind Auditions continue!
