Celia Babini auditions on “The Voice”; Tyler Golden/NBCThe blind auditions wrapped up on Monday night’s episode of The Voice as each coach picked their final team members.
Seventeen-year-old Celia Babini, a native New Yorker, began the show with an intense performance of “idontwannabeyouanymore” by Billie Eilish. All four coaches turned their chairs, noting Celia’s obvious vocal maturity, even comparing her to Fiona Apple. But Adam Levine‘s praise cut through: “There’s a certain kind of intensity and a certain kind of raw power that singing can have, you embody all of that…” he said before Celia joined his team.
Arguably, Cecily Hennigan from South Carolina gave as impressive of a performance, but somehow only earned one chair turn. The 16-year-old, who stars in a viral video of herself singing a McDonald’s order at a drive thru, belted out Jewel‘s “Foolish Games.” Blake Shelton quickly turned his chair and spent the rest of the performance seemingly mystified that none of the other coaches turned. “What in the hell just happened?” he wondered incredulously, welcoming Cecily to Team Blake.
Later, it was Kelly Clarkson‘s turn to react in disbelief of her fellow coaches. Hers was the only chair to turn for 24-year-old David Owens from Indianapolis. The new father sang “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” by Bonnie Raitt. Kelly said she enjoyed a man singing that particular song about the pain of a one-sided romantic relationship. As for why none of the other coaches turned: “They’re all nuts,” she said.
Kalvin Jarvis, 29, is an assistant manager at an IHOP in Arizona. His mom is the manager. His bold song choice, “A Good Night” by none other than John Legend, got John moving in his chair but he did not turn it. “I’m probably too picky on my own songs,” he admitted. But Adam and Kelly did turn and it was Adam who ultimately won out.
Presley Tennant, 16, is a self-proclaimed tomboy with a singing back story that sounds like the plot of an episode of Hannah Montana. She was discovered during a singing competition by the mayor of her small California town, who then introduced her to the manager of an all-girl group called 5 Little Princesses. She joined Kelly’s team after her performance of “Stone Cold” by Demi Lovato.
Rod Stokes, 34, from Alabama describes himself as a gospel country singer, but chose the Bee Gees “To Love Somebody” for his performance. It may have confused Adam, who mistakenly referred to it as a James Morrison song before Blake quickly corrected him. “It’s a famous cover of a Bee Gees song!” Adam tried to clarify. Rod sided with Blake, marking the completion of Blake’s team as we head into the battle rounds.
Adam completed his team thanks to another country singer. Andrew Jannakos doesn’t look the part of a country musician, but the Georgia native’s performance of “Beautiful Crazy,” by Luke Combs, left no doubt. Adam’s final team selection is also his first country singer of the season.
Kayslin Victoria from Florida is a volunteer at a horse rescue. The 16-year-old got to choose between John and Kelly after her performance of Portugal. The Man‘s upbeat “Feel It Still.” She decided on John, who described her as having a “really good voice for pop music.” And with that, team John is complete.
It took until the final performance of the night for Kelly to fill out her team roster. Jackson Marlow, 18, also fit within Kelly’s often expressed desire to coach at least one male country vocalist. The Alabama native, whose uncle was a member of Blake’s team in season 13 of The Voice, performed “Troubadour,” by George Strait. Pointing out that she almost always loses out to Blake when it comes to country artists, Kelly said that Jackson was “so worth the wait.”
Other contestants in the blind auditions included:
Ava August, 13 years old, youngest to audition in Voice history.
Sang: “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals.
Judges: No one turned.
Calista Garcia, 17 years old, father appointed asst. secretary of the Navy by President Obama.
Sang: “Wishing Well” by Terence Trent D’Arby.
Judges: No one turned.
Maddi Fraser, 24 years old, has a twin sister.
Sang: “Get It While You Can” by Janis Joplin.
Judges: No one turned.
The battle rounds begin on The Voice next Monday, March 25 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
