The Voice is back for Season 6, and Monday night’s premiere featured the best audition EVER in the storied history of the popular NBC singing competition!
At least according to Adam Levine, who returns as coach alongside Blake Shelton. Both of whom have been in the swiveling spaceship chairs since day one.
Interim coaches Shakira and Usher are back in 2014, sitting in, literally, for the newly engaged and newly pregnant Christina Aguilera and just-retired Cee Lo Green.
But back to the Blind Auditions, and particularly Dawn & Hawkes … the favorite opening effort Adam Levine has seen in six seasons! See them for yourself:
They were solid, deserving of a spot on the show and possibly having turned in the best of the night. But was Adam going overboard with such extreme praise?
Their song choice, "I’ve Just Seen a Face," didn’t hurt, as the Maroon 5 singer is a devout Beatles buff. In any case, he wooed the duo to join his Season 6 roster.
Dawn & Hawkes weren’t the only contestants who impressed last night, though. Seven other Blind Auditions earned spots in the next round. Let’s take a look …
Christina Grimmie, the online host of 2012’s "American Idols Live" concert tour and owner of 2.5 million YouTube subscribers, got all four coaches to turn.
A show-stopping "Wrecking Ball" cover will do that. While it felt like Christina would relate to Shakira, instead she went with Adam, making him the early favorite.
T.J. Wilkins’ R&B spin on Elton John’s "Bennie and the Jets" showcased some creativity, albeit a bit in a dated sense, and Team Usher signed him up.
Kristen Merlin, who is openly gay in a country genre that doesn’t tend to embrace that, was a perfect fit for The Voice. It was just a matter of on which team.
When Shakira volunteered to draft Blake’s wife Miranda Lambert as a mentor, ironically, that sealed the deal and the pop star’s enthusiasm won out.
Biff Gore is already one of the most likable contestants in six seasons. Calling his soulful, evangelical singing style "life music," he will bring it to Team Usher.
Jeremy Briggs clearly connected with Blake’s heartland vibe, but Shakira also has a history of gravitating towards rocker types, and snared this one.
Jake Worthington, an awkward high-schooler who tried out in Season 5, got three more coaches to turn around than he did last time, and is on Team Blake.
Bria Kelly and her feisty guitar girl’s cover of James Taylor’s "Steamroller Blues" appropriately rolled over most of the rest of the evening’s competition.
Bria, who once actually opened for Miranda Lambert, inspired a four-chair turnaround (and a standing ovation), and all of the coaches were stunned.
When it came to joining a team, it was Usher’s surprisingly bold comment that swayed her: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have just heard THE VOICE!"
Which coach has the best singers so far? And what did you think of the premiere? Share your comments on all things The Voice with THG below!