The Voice Recap: Another Four-Chair Turn Has the Coaches Battling It Out

Night three of the Blind Auditions on The Voice found judges Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Pharrell Williams pulling out all the stops to get the right combination of artists for their teams.

Elementary school teacher Hannah Houston, 24, from Lincoln, Nebraska opened the show with “Unaware” by Allen Stone. Just seconds before time ran out, Christina, Blake and Pharrell pressed their buttons. Christina told Hannah she understands her sassiness. Blake told her while she is not in his wheelhouse, he pushed his button anyway. Hannah picked Pharrell because he has a soulful vibe and knowledge of music that she wants to learn.

Brian Nhira, 23, from Tulsa Oklahoma, was there with his parents, who moved to the U.S. from Zimbabwe. Brian took a chance with Pharrell’s “Happy.” Did it work? Again, last minute, two coaches turned their chairs around: Pharrell and Blake. Blake said he has so much respect for Brian, he pressed his button even though Brian was singing Pharrell’s song. Pharrell told Brian he sang “Happy” better than he did. He said Brian can do some runs that he can’t. Even though Brian is from Oklahoma like Blake, he picked Pharrell as his coach.

Next up was Aijia, 29, from Los Angeles, whose grandfather is a jazz musician, and whose grandmother owned a club. Aijia is married to singer Andy Grammer. She sings backup for Andy and also for Selena Gomez. She performed Christina’s “Say Something” but none of the coaches turned the chairs.

Brittany Kennell, 26, from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, said seeing Shania Twain perform was what made her decide to pursue music. Brittany attended the Berklee College of Music and now lives in Nashville. She sang “Strong Enough.” Blake pushed his button immediately and was pretty confident, until Pharrell turned his chair at the last minute. Blake told Brittany that her voice was magical, and a little like Gwen Stefani. Pharrell told Brittany she has a great tone and a crispy vibrato. Brittany joined Team Blake because of the Nashville connection.

Natalie Yacovazzi, 28, from Chicago was a return performer from Season 9, who didn’t get a chair to turn around last time. Natalie, a single mom, said she went home and focused on her singing and on being healthy. She performed “Mr. Know It All” by Kelly Clarkson, and she got Adam to turn around – the coach she really wanted. Christina tried to press her button, but it was too little too late.

Malik Heard, 19, from Dallas, Texas went from playing sports to performing. He chose Nick Jonas‘ “Chains” for his Blind Audition and got Christina and Pharrell to turn for him. Christina told him he had accurate, amazing runs, and they would make a great team. Pharrell told him he had worked with Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears when they were the same age as Malik. Christina pointed out she knew both Justin and Britney before that. They were on the Mickey Mouse Club together. Malik had a hard decision to make, but in the end he joined Team Christina.

Malik was followed by Peyton Parker, 20, from Kennesaw, Georgia. The former cheerleader was forced to quit her sport following a serious injury. It was then she picked up the guitar. Peyton now lives in Nashville. Her dad has to work six days a week to support the family, and she is hoping to be successful enough to put a stop to that. Peyton sang Fleetwood Mac‘s “Dreams.” Peyton got a three-chair turn: Blake, Christina and Pharrell. Christina tried to convince Peyton to join her team because she doesn’t have anyone else like her on her team. Blake told her, “Let’s do this right.” He said her pitch was perfect and he heard some Ashley Monroe in her voice. That was what it took for Peyton to go with Blake.

Blake also picked up indie artist Gina Castanzo, who sang “Cecilia and the Satelite,” and pop rocker Trey O’Dell, who performed “Geronimo,” in a fast-forward segment.

Kristen Marie, 20, from Oklahoma City, OK, is pursuing indie jazz, which is not easy in Oklahoma, while she attends college and works in a coffee shop and at a law office. She sang “Mad World” by Gary Jules. Christina and Blake turned their chairs. Christina told her she would be honored to have Kristen on her team. Blake said Okies need to stick together. Christina said she heard a little Adele and a little Sia in Kristen’s performance; and Kristen said that is exactly what she is going for. Kristen surprised everyone by joining Team Christina.

Evan Taylor Jones, 25, from Orlando, Fla. performed “Homegrown” by the Zac Brown Band. He said it was a risk because it is a country song and back in Florida, he sings soul. Unfortunately, Evan’s risk didn’t play off and none of the coaches turned for him.

Next was Nate Butler, 19, from Shamong, New Jersey. His early influences were Dean Martin and Tony Bennett, which was the music his dad played in the house. Nate said he doesn’t look like what he sounds like, which he proved when he sang “The Walk” by Mayer Hawthorne. Again, the coaches waited for the last minute to turn their chairs. And it was a three-chair turn: Adam, Blake and Pharrell. Pharrell told Nate he wants to work with him on diving deeper into who he is and who he is going to be. Adam said he would work with him on mastering making the transition from his falsetto to his regular voice. Blake said he hit his button because listening to him was fun. And he did like his chest voice. Nate went with Adam.

The final performer of the evening was Ryan Quinn, 25 from Westmoreland, NY, who knocked out the coaches with his performance of “Can’t Find My Way Home.” He got the only four-chair turn of the night. He originally said he wanted to work with Pharrell because Pharrell knew many genres of music. But in the end, Ryan chose to join Team Adam.

Blake picked up four new team members, Christina picked up two, Adam three and Pharrell added two, bringing the grand totals to:
Team Blake: 8
Team Christina 7
Team Adam 8
Team Pharrell 8

The Voice continues the Blind Auditions on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.