The Voice Blind Auditions have officially closed for Season 27, which means the coaches — Adam Levine, Kelsea Ballerini, John Legend, and Michael Bublé — have finalized their respective teams of a dozen individuals. In a two-hour episode that aired on Monday (March 3) night, a bevy of potential winners sang in front of the live studio audience in hopes of landing one of the few slots remaining for a chance to win the grand prize.
Jay Ammo was one of the lucky ones. He placed himself on team Legend after scoring a four-chair-turn, making Legend the first coach to fill up his team. The 31-year-old Ammo, who got his nickname in the military, decided to trade out his army gear for a place behind the microphone, doling out a powerful rendition of Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team.”
“What a lovely voice you have. It was almost floating through the room,” Legend applauded.
Rounding out Legend’s team is 31-year-old San Diego, Calif. native Pablo Herrera. He channeled “Jealous” by Labrinth after sharing that the song was a personal choice because he and his wife of 10 years separated.
“It was beautiful. It was soulful. It was touching. It feels like the story of the song is connected to what is going on in your life,” Legend noticed of the performance. “That’s the main way that I coach when I’m in a session with an artist, is how you convey the story in the song that’s effective in your performance.”
Ballerini and Bublé also turned around for Herrera but didn’t manage to persuade the singer to join their respective teams, with Bublé saying, “There’s no boundaries for you. I can help you gain a connection with the audience to be a huge international star.”
“I love big powerful voices like yours. I know I can bring out texture in your voice,” Ballerini added.
Ballerini did manage to collect Brooke Wood for her team. Wood has had a musical upbringing, telling viewers that her father played guitar in a local band growing up. Sadly, though, he passed away in 2021. But Wood, 33, raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, dedicated her Blind Audition debut of Jelly Roll’s “Save Me” to him, saying she believed he would have been a fan of the “Son of a Sinner” singer.
Wood’s rendition of the Jelly Roll song found her blending together various genres of country, rock, and R&B, and Ballerini and Legend, who both turned around for her, found themselves connecting with the singer on that level.
“Country has been blending genres, and there’s so many country artists that I think are towing that line between different genres in a beautiful way,” Legend, who hadn’t landed Herrera for his team at that point, said. “I know great songwriting, vocal performance, and music, and I feel like I can be an amazing coach for you and help you win the voice.”
“You just killed it! We’re at a time in country music where there are almost all of these subgenres. I hear all of [your different influences]. I see you, and I’d really love to have you on my team,” Ballerini added right before Wood announced her choice to join the Knoxville native’s crew.
Simone Marijic, 20, of Los Angeles, and Alanna Lynise, 21, from Toledo, Ohio, also landed spots on Ballerini’s team after Marijic performed Olivia Rodrigo‘s “Favorite Crime” and Lynise delivered Julia Michaels’ “Issues,” respectively. Aside from the cowboy boots that Ballerini gives her contestants as part of a welcoming gift ahead of the competition, Marijic received a “woman power” engraved trophy, thanks in part to Bublé, who presented it to her and Ballerini after losing out on being picked by the participant.
Lynise, meanwhile, who has eight other siblings and grew up in poverty due to the housing crisis of 2008, received loads of compliments for her Blind Audition, with Legend promising he would have turned around for her if he hadn’t already filled up his team.
“I love that you chose that song. It’s tricky but subdued. You have a distinct quality that makes a voice memorable,” Levine complimented.
“What can I do for you? I want to be there every step of the way so we can cheer and say ‘Look what we did together, we won The Voice,’” Bublé added before Ballerin begged Lynise to choose her team so she could “be her last button push of her first season.”
Ballerini got her wish, which meant Bublé and Levine were last to battle it out for the best potential winners of the season.
Luckily, Bublé didn’t have to put up a fight for 34-year-old Adam David of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who got through to the next round with an impressive reggae rendition of Peter Frampton’s “Baby, I Love Your Way.”
The dedicated musician, who also said he struggles with addiction but has been clean since March 28, 2019, was praised for his “phrasing and timing,” which Legend noted was “patient, tasteful and soulful.”
Ballerini said, “There was an identifiable quality in your voice and that vibrato was something I’ve not heard before.”
Bublé made sure to thank his co-stars for not hitting their red buttons before calling David “A bad man with a character voice. You have absolute control.”
Bublé finished assembling his team with 18-year-old Naomi Soleil of Maplewood, NJ. She gave listeners Grace Potter and the Nocturnals’s “Stars.” Despite her noticeable nerves, which Ballerini called “normal,” Bublé told the singer “I thought you had a cool, interesting voice.”
After selecting to represent Team Bublé, Levine was left to find his last competitor. Bublé took a moment to celebrate the completion of his team, bringing out a kazoo and announcing that his team was full.
Levine, who had wrangled Tori Templet, a 24-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia, who performed “Lover” by Taylor Swift, waited until the final few minutes of the episode to make a selection, rounding out his dozen with 17-year-old Trevon Dawson.
Levine has made it known that he has steered clear of turning around for country singers as he has always lost to former winningest coach Blake Shelton back when the two coached alongside each other. But this time, he made an exception, adding Dawson to the mix after the singer blew all four coaches away with his take on Bailey Zimmerman’s “Religiously.”
“You’re way too together for your age. Your voice cuts like a knife. Your voice is what sails over the top of the chaos,” Levine beamed after the performance. “I’m going to pour all the no’s I’ve gotten in country music into you.”
Ballerini, intrigued by the new addition to Levine’s team, said “Adam’s tough because Blake has broken his heart over and over. Maybe this is fate.”
Perhaps! But there’s still a long way to go as the competition is just about to get even more heated. Next up, the coaches and their teams will reunite for the nail-biting battle rounds. The Voice returns on Monday (March 10) at 7:00 CT on NBC.
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