Gwen Stefani always tries to get at least one young girl on her team on The Voice each season because she feels a special connection and ability to coach them because of her personal experience as part of No Doubt.
So, when 15-year-old Sydney Sterlace from Buffalo, NY turned up on The Voice stage and earned a four-chair turn for her performance of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License,” Gwen wasn’t above pulling out all the stops to land the teen on her team.
Gwen first asked, “Are you a big Olivia Rodrigo fan?” and when Sydney indicated she was, Gwen continued, pulling out her phone, “I don’t know if you saw her come up on stage with me at Coachella, I just happen to have her text right here.”
Then Gwen got down to the serious business of convincing Sydney to choose her as her coach.
She said, “It took me a minute to push my button because it was so unbelievably close to [Olivia’s] talent. Now, finding out that you’re 15 years old, for me, it would be all about finding out about you and how we could make your style of singing even more saturated with Sydney. That’s why this show is so amazing because it’s like a boot camp and you will learn so much so quickly. I know what you need. I’m like your mom right now. I’m like the cool mom, though.”
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Michael Bublé must have felt he didn’t have a chance against Gwen, because what he had to say was interesting, but he didn’t sell himself enough.
“Gwen was right when she said you sound a lot like Olivia Rodrigo. That’s okay. I got to work with my hero Tony Bennett. And I said, ‘Mr. Bennett, I have stolen everything from you.’ And he said, ‘You know, kid, when you steal from just one person, you’re a thief. But when you steal from everybody, you can call it research.’ We stand on the shoulders of the people that we love and then we find ourselves. I love that one of us is going to get to be a part of you finding yourself, so thanks so much for coming to our show.”
Snoop Dogg was more invested than Michael. He had jumped out of his chair even before Sydney had finished her audition and he went crazy when he learned she was 15.
He told her, “You captivated me like I was in church. The way you just held control of the audience. You made me move, you made me get up, I didn’t even let you finish, I’m sorry. I haven’t heard anybody who sounds as good as you. You have a beautiful spirit. I would love to coach you but I’m like, ‘Damn, what can I give you when you’ve got everything?’ What I can give you is some love and a blank canvas so you can paint on it who you really want to be in life.”
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Then it was time for Reba McEntire, who said, “You’ve got a maturity to your inner self that comes out from your heart and your soul, and we felt it. Gwen over here, she’d be your mama; I’d be your grandma. I’m just so thrilled you came on this show and we’re all here to help, so welcome to The Voice and I’d love to have you on my team.”
Photo by: Art Streiber/NBC
Did I mention that Gwen pulled out all the stops? After Reba spoke, Gwen surprised everyone by getting up and walking to the side of the stage where one of the stagehands handed her a kitten.
“You know, Sydney, I had this thing happen to me,” she said. “This little creature, barely alive, came to my porch, and I was like, ‘I love you. You’re my new cat, but I don’t have a name,’ and then I thought, ‘Maybe I could name it Sydney. This cat’s name is Sydney.”
Snoop threw down a yellow penalty flag on the play, telling Gwen, “Illegal use of an animal.”
And Michael, who must be allergic to cats, said, “That’s so cute. I’m actually taking a Claritin right now.”
But Gwen plowed ahead, asking, “For real, for real, for real, Sydney. Who do you choose as your coach?”
Sydney said, “I would love to work with any of you, but I have my heart set on Gwen.”
A very excited Gwen said, “Oh, my God, I got Sydney. She’s such an amazing singer. She’s going to grow right before everyone’s eyes.”
The Voice airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and streams next day on Peacock.
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