Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Two lads from Pennsylvania stole the show on the first night of auditions on Season 5 of The Voice.

James Wolpert, 22, of Lancaster and Matthew Schuler, 20, of Yardley, were the only contestants to entice all four judges to turn around on opening night.

Matthew Schuler turned four chairs during his blind audition on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

So how did they decide which coach to chose?

Both discussed that during a conference call with the media Tuesday afternoon.

Matthew, a sophomore at West Chester University and Pennsbury High School grad, said he entered the blind auditions expecting to select Adam Levine or Cee Lo Green.

“One of the producers came up to me before my blind audition and said, ‘Make sure you have an open mind going out there,'” recalls Matthew, who auditioned with “Cough Syrup,” a song by the rock band Young the Giant.

“We have the battles coming up. We have the knockouts coming up. We need to survive those rounds. We need a coach who’s really going to fight for us. There was some tough bidding. There was just something about Christina.

“She has that mothering quality, that nurturing quality. And she’s such an amazing, amazing vocalist. And I really feel like she wants to win this season. I think she’s really going to fight for me.”

James Wolpert of Lancaster earned a coveted four-chair turn-around on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

James, a 2009 grad of Lampeter-Strasburg High School, didn’t get the chairs to turn quite as quickly as Matthew.

But by the end of his cover of Jack White’s “Love Interrupted,” all four were facing in his direction.

It’s the second attempt at televised singing competitions for James, who made the top 10 on ABC’s “High School Musical: Get in the Picture” back in 2008.

He admitted hearing all the coaches lobby for his services got kind of confusing. And that selecting a coach comes down to listening “to this voice in the back or your head.”

“I was drawn to Adam because he seems like a very genuine guy. He’s someone I definitely want to work with based on the genres he’s into, which are pop and rock, because I’m into those genres too.

“And I think the experience he’s had, like working with Maroon 5, I think it was a good fit. It’s mostly a gut feeling decision right there when you’re on stage.”