Last night (3/6) was the premiere of The Voice Season 23. How did things go for Team Blake on night one of Blake Shelton’s final season on the show?
The very first artist to sing in the Blind Auditions was 34-year-old Neil Salsich from St. Louis. Neil chose to sing “Honky Tonk Blues” by Hank Williams. Blake was the first to turn his chair by pressing his button to “Block” Kelly Clarkson. Kelly turned her chair second to find she had been Blocked. Chance the Rapper pressed his button a short time later with Niall Horan then making it a Four Chair Turn. The battle was then on to convince Neil to join their respective team.
In the end Neil chose to join Team Blake.
Tasha Jensen is a 20-year-old originally from Pakistan who now lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She chose to sing Leon Bridges’ “River” for her Blind Audition. Blake pressed his button for Tasha after a little bit followed almost instantly by Niall. Chance also pressed his button near the end of the performance. The new coaches battled hard against the veteran coach to bring Tasha to their teams.
Tasha said Blake’s “finger point” to himself pushed her over the edge to pick Team Blake.
Alex Whalen lives in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. However, the 43-year-old is from London. He sang Kris Kristofferson’s version of “Help Me Make It Through the Night.” Sammi Smith covered it and had a big hit with it. After listening for a while, Blake hit his button. Near the end Chance also turned his chair. Kelly tried hard to get him to choose Chance. Blake encouraged Niall to choose Blake. Blake played the “This is my Last Season” card as he did all night long.
Ultimately, Alex chose to join Team Blake.
Emily Rhyne is from Blake’s hometown of Ada, Oklahoma. She sang “The First Cut Is the Deepest” by Cat Stevens. The performance just fell short and no chairs turned for her. However, she brought some presents for Blake. The first was a shirt signed by musicians from their hometown of Ada. The send was a recording of Blake when he was 13-years-old made with her grandfather singing the Kentucky Headhunters’ song “Dumas Walker.”
Blake ended the night with three artists on his team, the most among the coaches. Kelly, Niall and Chance all claimed two artists each on their teams. Find out everything about The Voice at their website here.
The Blind Auditions continue tonight (3/7) on Season 23 of The Voice beginning at 8 p.m. central time (9 p.m. eastern time) on NBC.
By: Buck Stevens
