‘The Voice': A Band Perry Cover Gets Three Chairs to Turn
The Voice's Season 15 Blind Auditions moved right along on Monday night (Oct. 1), featuring coaches Adam Levine, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Blake Shelton.
One of the best confrontations of the night came in the form of a pint-sized teenager, Chevel Shepherd, a self-avowed country music fan who tried her pipes out on the Band Perry's hit "If I Die Young."
The 16-year-old, from Farmington, N.M., wowed all of the judges, with the one holdout—Levine—even admitting it was "a four-chair turn" but that by the time he'd made up his mind it was too late.
"I love you," Levine told Shepherd, who responded promptly, "I love you too!" Levine looked as if he might have even blushed at that!
Clarkson got right down to business, however, dismissing Levine neatly with "He knows," and adding "I have been dying to get a female country singer." Clarkson added that Shepherd had a flexible voice that would work in pop as well as country, noting that her vocals were very "Dolly" but also could be "Sarah McLachlan."
Hudson admitted that she was in the game partially because she wanted to see the ensuing battle between Shelton and Clarkson, but told Shepherd, "I'm here for you. Mama Hud is here for you, I'm here to save you if you want to be saved."
When Shelton greeted Shepherd, she responded with an overwhelmed, squeaky "Hi Blake!" which caused Clarkson to jump out of her chair and scream "Nooooo...other people are in country music...I hate you!" at Shelton. ("If you want somebody sane, you just come here to J. Hud," sagely noted Hudson, to this outburst.)
Shepherd, who although young clearly knows her own mind, noted that she shares the same birthday with Shelton. Shelton responded, "For your birthday I'll get you the trophy, the championship to this show."
The tension was palpable, but despite Clarkson all but throwing in the towel, Shepherd decided to join Team Kelly after all.
We'll be following all the Voice shenanigans from start to finish this season, with a focus on country music's offerings, so check here each week to see how your favorites are faring. We'll keep you up to date!
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