Blake Shelton Lands Soul Singer Josh Hoyer During ‘The Voice’ Blind Auditions
It was a rough start for Blake Shelton during round five of The Voice auditions on Tuesday (March 7), but he finally landed a great talent with funk/soul/R&B artist, Josh Hoyer.
Hoyer's rendition of "Oh Girl" by the Chi-Lites showed off his soulful voice, prompting Shelton and Gwen Stefani to go head-to-head in competition for Hoyer. Shelton said there's nobody like him on the show, telling the Nebraska singer that he has a lot of character and soul in his voice. Though both superstars presented persuasive arguments, Hoyer ultimately went with Shelton. "As far as where I'm at as a musician, I felt the wiser decision was with Blake," Hoyer says.
Several other standout performances occurred during the night's auditions, including Johnny Gates, a native of Providence, R.I., who after hearing Taylor Swift's first single on radio, headed to Nashville with his band to meet with her producer and ultimately landed a record deal. Though the band is on hiatus at the moment, Gates is going solo, singing Stewart's classic "Maggie May" during his blind audition.
Both Stefani and Stefani turned for him, along with Alicia Keys at the last minute, who said his energy "hops throughout the whole place." Stefani praised him for his presence on stage, while Shelton added that Gates has the potential be like Mick Jagger and could leave the show with a fan base. The 31-year-old singer decided to be on Team Gwen.
Adam Levine scored his first contestant of the night with Malik Davage, an R&B singer from Washington, D.C., whose smooth performance of "Sure Thing" by Miguel was the first time his young daughter watched him perform on stage.
Lauryn Judd, a 16-year-old from Draper City, impressed the judges with her unique take on the Cyndi Lauper classic, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Describing her sound as "mellow and acoustic," Judd delivered just that in her performance, prompting Stefani, Keys and Shelton to all turn at the same time, with the young star ultimately choosing Keys as her coach.
Fellow 16-year-old Caroline Sky also earned a spot on the show with her lovely rendition of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by Carole King, who she cites as one of her idols, with both Stefani and Shelton turning their chairs in support. "Blake has never lived your dream like I've lived your dream," Stefani persuaded, adding that she has a lot of "control" and "patience" in her voice. While Shelton made the strong argument that he has a skill set for nurturing young talent, Sky decided to go with Stefani.
Season 12 of The Voice continues to air on Monday and Tuesday nights at 8PM ET on NBC.
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