There was a whole lot of begging and groveling by coaches during The Voice ‘s Season 8 premiere , and when the night was done, two coaches took him three shiny new singers for their teams, one landed two team members, and one went home empty-handed.
Pharrell Williams, the least experienced Voice coach, and original coach Blake Shelton jumped out in the lead with three team members added Monday night for each.
So how did Pharrell woo so many contestants despite being a relative newcomer? Pharrell is a great example of what separates The Voice from other singing shows. While the bromance between Blake and Adam is entertaining and fans love to see Adam and Christina bicker, Pharrell has brought a whole new energy to the series, showing not only a true passion for helping young singers and an ability to console those who walk away without a coach.
Dare we say he knows how to make people “Happy?” In fact, when Bryce Sherlow failed to land a coach and confessed she had sang “Happy” with her acapella group, Pharrell asked her to sing it for him and joined in with her, encouraging her to “Sing it Bryce, sing it baby.”
How can anyone leave sad after that?
As they were leaving the stage, you could hear Pharrell telling Bryce to come back next year. It’s refreshing to see young singers who fail to make the cut on The Voice built up and encouraged, instead of torn to pieces by ridicule and humiliation like some other shows.
And if you think he’s great with singers who don’t make the cut on The Voice , here are some words of wisdom he gave to retro crooner Lowell Oakley, when he started downplaying himself as new to singing.
“You’re not new, you’re at home with it. You’re not regular. You’re not the same. You’re ‘other.’”
Pharrell was battling it out with Adam Levine to win Lowell to his team, and after Adam assured the young singer he knew what Lowell wanted to do and would be the best coach, Pharrell laid some more zen wisdom on Oakley like only he can do.
“He’s saying he knows what you want to do. I’m saying I don’t because it hasn’t been done yet and I’d like to be the one to help you do it. I’m not trying to rebuild your house… you tell me where the nails are and I’m going to help you hit them.”
Oakley chose Pharrell.
Pharrell also picked up the heavily contested Meghan Linsey and the epic battle of the night — the last audition by Sawyer Fredericks , as previously reported by Inquisitr .
Don’t cry too much for coach Blake Shelton, who picked up Sarah Potenza for his team right out of the gate, and country singer Cody Wickline. Christina added a couple of new singers to her Voice team, including Treeva Gibson, whose parents are deaf and who has a slight hearing impairment as well, and Rob Taylor, who has a voice even higher than Adam Levine.
And speaking of Adam, he is the lone Voice coach leaving Monday night empty-handed. While The Voice may not ridicule contestants who fail, coaches are another matter, and Blake Shelton was amused by the Levine shut-out.
“Adam was truly heartbroken, and that makes me so happy.”
As Adam was walking off stage after his final failure of the day, Blake called after him, “Do you want us to call Usher?” Blake and Adam may have a bromance, but it’s a somewhat abusive relationship, and NBC made a video of outtakes to prove it.
The final breakdown of teams after the first episode of blind auditions:
- Team Blake: Sarah Potenza, Cody Wickline, Joshua Davis
- Team Xtina: Rob Taylor, Treeva Gibson
- Team Pharrell: Lowell Oakley, Sawyer Fredericks, Meghan Linsey
- Team Adam: None, zip, nada
The Voice continues blind auditions Tuesday night on NBC .
[Photos by Brian Bowen Smith/ NBC ]