The teams are filling up on Season 27 of The Voice! Because each coach will begin with only 12 artists each, it’s getting competitive between Adam Levine, John Legend, Kelsea Ballerini and Michael Bublé. As their teams fill up, they want to ensure that their last few selections are the right ones, so they’re being very selective. That means when they do turn, the battle is on to land the artist.
Even so, 19-year-old Hailey Wright from Redwater, TX, had all the right stuff to get two coaches–Kelsea and Michael–to turn for her performance of “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” By Freddy Fender. The performance stood out because she has a very unique yodel to her voice.
“I thought your performance was excellent,” John told her. “I love the little yodel in your voice. That’s really nice. You have a lot of maturity in your voice for someone so young, and I am so excited you have these two coaches ready to fight over you.”
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Then Adam explained to Hailey, whose grandmother was a fullblood Choctaw, “It wasn’t that I don’t turn around for things that lean so heavily country. But sometimes it’s so far out of my wheelhouse that I’m just going to leave it to these guys, and by these guys, I mean Kelsea.”
“Don’t underestimate Michael’s knowledge of country,” John teased. “I’ve seen his mullet.”
Related: Watch The Voice 4-Chair Turn Artist That Kelsea Ballerini Says Has ‘A God-Given Voice’
Then it was down to the business of wooing Hailey onto their teams.
Kelsea was up first. “Your voice is undeniably country,” she said. “It reminds me of Wynona, you have so much Trisha [Yearwood] in there. I was your age when all this started for me. I know how to navigate it. I know this genre.”
Then Kelsea stopped her pitch to ask, “Do you know ‘Blue’ by LeAnn Rimes?” And she proceeded to demonstrate by singing–and yodeling–a few bars. Hailey did indeed know the song, and she sang it beautifully.
“Yeah,” Kelsea said at the end. “I just wanted to show you that I get you. I can’t wait to get to know your voice more as we work together, hopefully.”
Related: Watch The Voice 4-Chair Turn That Michael Bublé Says Has a Voice Blessed By God
Adam teased Michael, saying, “It’s looking like it’s game really over, Bublé. You better come through.”
Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC
Michael isn’t a complete stranger to country; it’s just not his main genre. So he gave the best pitch he could, dropping a few country icon names along the way.
“Listen, if you go to my phone, you’ll see country. My last record, I called Willie Nelson, and I said, ‘Would you do a duet with me?’ The record before, Dolly Parton. I feel we each have a superpower on the stage. We do. Each of us has our thing. Right now, I feel like Wonder Woman vs me, the guy who can shoot a bow and arrows.”
At this point, John couldn’t resist pointing out, “Wonder Woman has a lasso, to be honest.”
Michael ignored that and continued saying, “Here’s the deal. Those are the songs I listen to. I listen to Hank. I really love you, and I know it’s a long shot. I know there’s girl power, but I would love it if even a part of your consideration would be going a little off the board and choosing Team Bublé.”
Related: Watch The Voice Artist Who Uses ‘A Little Prayer’ for His Blind Audition to Win a Four-Chair Turn
Tme was up, and Adam announced, “Hailey, it’s that time. Who do you pick as your coach?”
Hailey said, “Thank you all for the kind words. But I feel in my gut, I have to go with Kelsea.”
Kelsea said, “Hailey picked a song that highlighted her voice, and she wasn’t afraid to try something else when I suggested it. I love that she knows exactly who she is. I am really looking forward to digging in with Hailey in the Battles.”
The Voice airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Streams next day on Peacock.
Next, Get the Details on The Voice Season 27, Including the Amazing Four-Chair Turns
