Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani during the Season 7 opening performance on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Pharrell, Adam and Blake each landed a four-chair turn recipient during the Season 7 premiere of The Voice Monday night.

Word has it there will be at least one more four-chair turn tonight.

Time to meet some more artists.

1. DaNica Shirey, 25, York, Pa.: Hey, and it’s time to hear from a York County singer on The Voice, the first ever after six seasons. DaNica says she grew up listening to Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey and likes to sing “anything soul.” She talks about singing at The Apollo in New York at age 15 during an adult competition that she won. She also says she traveled to California and recorded a four-song demo at one point. But DaNica describes herself as “a daddy’s girl” who was never nervous singing because her dad was around. He was diagnosed with cancer three years ago and “ended up passing away.” “It’s harder without him,” says DaNica, who says she hasn’t performed since, hasn’t been on stage for three and a half years. She now describes herself as a stay-at-home mom. She’s singing “Big White Room” and singing it very well. Almost immediately, Adam turns his chair. DaNica is showing off really nice range. Look, at that, Gwen and Pharrell turn around as well. Dang, DaNica is showing off one big voice. Really nice ending, too. Gwen calls her performance “gorgeous.” As it turns out, the only coach not facing her is Blake. Adam says he thinks DaNica has one of the best voices he’s heard in a long time. Gwen says she just wants to turn around and listen again because it was so beautiful. Pharrell calls her a “snake charmer” her voice is so good. And DaNica joins Team Pharrell.

Whew, OK, I’m back with the program now. I got severely sidetracked by the first audition, which I had to post everywhere I could think of. Wasn’t DaNica great?

Here we go with the rest of the auditions.

2. Joe Kirk, 17, Nashville, Tenn.: Joe says his parents divorced when he was young, but have stayed close. His mom got a job singing in Myrtle Beach and the family moved there. She would pull her children on stage, and Joe says that’s how he got started in music. He’s also performed with his brothers. He’s singing “Lego House” and gets two coaches — Gwen and Adam — to turn their chairs early in his performance. They’re soon joined by Blake and Christina as well, making Joe the fourth four-chair turn recipient of Season 7. Joe displays a nice, crystal clear voice throughout that performance. Blake pulls out the Nashville card, but Joe’s getting high praise from all the coaches. And Joe joins Team Adam, giving him a pair of four-chair turns on his team already.

3. Menlik Zergabachew, 19, Silver Springs, Md.: His parents were born in Ethiopia and came to America looking for a better life. He works as a janitor and she worked at McDonald’s until they could start their own business. Menlik sings reggae music and dropped out of high school to pursue his musical dream. He admits that decision didn’t make his parents happy, but he appreciates the fact that they’re both with him at his audition. He’ll be singing “Santeria.” Menlik has the coaches bobbing their heads to his performance, but he’s well into it before Blake becomes the first coach to spin his chair. And it looks like he’ll be the only coach to do so for a long time before Gwen pushes her button at the last minute. Blake calls it a technically perfect performance, but admits he’s probably going to lose Melink to Gwen, who says she appreciates his style and looks. Menlik joins Team Gwen. No surprise there.

4. Jimi Milligan, 35, of Philadelphia, Pa.: This guy says he’s been singing since he was 13. His father was a singer who preferred the oldies. His dad died when Jimi was 19, and he says he considers himself “living his father’s dream.” He performs in the Big House Band, and has done so for 18 years, playing about 250 gigs a year. He’s a big guy, and says that makes The Voice perfect for him because he can intrigue the coaches with his voice. He’ll audition with “Get Ready.” Unfortunately, the coaches are proving difficult to intrigue, and Jimi can’t entice them to turn around, despite a fine ending to that performance.

5. Reagan James, 15, Burleson, Texas: Yep, that’s Burleson, Texas, as in the hometown of Kelly Clarkson. In fact, Reagan says she went to a concert in 2006 and met Kelly backstage. Her stepdad is her guitar player and his biggest influence musically, Reagan says. She says she performed for the first time at age 8 at a festival and knew it was what she wanted to do. She admits pre-performance, she’s leaning toward Pharrell, because she considers herself an R&B singer with a pop twist. She’s auditioning with Ed Sheeran’s “Give Me Love.” Dang, heck of an opening from Reagan. She gets Gwen and Blake to turn around in a heartbeat. Wow, I’m really surprised Adam and Pharrell didn’t turn. Given her age, Reagan was pretty darn impressive. Gwen said it’s amazing that Reagan has that much control over her voice at such a young age. Blake says we “haven’t ever heard anyone like you on this show.” Pharrell now seems to regret that he didn’t push his button. And Reagan opts to join Team Blake. Wow, that was a surprise.

6. Taylor Phelan, 25, Sherman, Texas: He says he was 16 when he started playing music with his youth group in church. He then formed an indie rock band called The Canes (hope I got that right) in 2011 that enjoyed a lot success. Two years later, his daughter was born. He says he decided he couldn’t be the kind of dad he wanted to be and a member of the band at the same time “so we had to hang it up.” Now he and his wife have a successful business and he’s giving music another shot. He’s singing “Sweater Weather.” He has a unique delivery. And a good deal of stage presence. And he isn’t halfway through his performance and already has all four coaches facing in his direction. Adam compliments him on his voice and his “happy feet.” Gwen says, for the first time, she felt she was at a concert rather than a coach listening to an audition. Pharrell says he appreciated Taylor’s performance as well and calls Taylor “melodically meticulate.” He gets high praise from Blake as well. And Taylor joins Team Pharrell.

7. Caitlin Lucia, 18, Huntington Beach, Calif.: She describes herself as “an awkward person … a musician in the corner, just writing music.” Oh, and she collects Pez dispensers. She has almost 1,000, and says some of them might be worth a couple hundred dollars. She joined choir in her Catholic school, but says she was told she was too different. At 15, she started gigging at a local mall and had to grab people’s attention while they shopped. She’ll audition with a stripped down version of “You’re the One that I Want” from “Grease.” The idea is a great one; the execution seems to be suffering from a case of the nerves. And no one turns for Caitlin.

8. Sugar Joans, 24, Los Angeles: This young lady’s dad was a singer in the 1980s and toured with Alice Cooper. He also sang on albums by Patti LaBelle and Janet Jackson, but she says the bulk of his career was spent performing with Sergio Mendes. He still plays shows. Sugar looks up to him because he’s had a long and successful career, but Sugar says she wants to “pave her own way.” For a day job, Sugar manages a shoe store; she plays shows with a wedding band in her off time. Of course, she’d like to make music her full-time job. She’s auditioning with “Chain of Fools.” That rasp in her voice should be good for at least one chair turn, right? Still, the judges are a bit slow to react. And a big ending finally prompts Gwen and Blake to turn their chairs. Blake’s pitch: “Everybody likes Sugar.” He also compliments her on her unique voice, which he calls “so awesome.” Gwen calls her “soul singer” flavor very impressive. And Sugar joins Team Gwen.

9. Taylor Brashears, 21, Nashville, Tenn: She’s a country singer who’s always on the move, Carson Daly tells us. She works as a cashier on a food truck, and calls it “one of the coolest jobs” a person could have. But her real passion is music, which she says she’s been into since age 8, when she started playing the fiddle. She started a band out of high school and describes her music as “retro country.” Her audition song: “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man).” Blake, of course, knows the tune. Taylor has a lot of sass to her performance, and entices Pharrell and Adam to turn their chairs. Blake holds out, but turns around at the last second, of course. Adam encourages her to embrace a unique collaboration. Pharrell compliments her “swagger” and calls her “a star.” Blake, of course, plays the country card. And it works. Taylor joins Team Blake.

10. Andy Cherry, 28, Charlotte, N.C. Though from Charlotte, he now lives in Washington, D.C. He got his start in music at church and is a worship leader. But he also worked at a coffee shop, and that’s where he met his wife. He got signed to a Christian music deal just before he got married, but sales were tepid and he was released. “That was one of the lowest days of my life.” He got a job in retail and says the couple “were really scraping by.” His wife encouraged him to audition for the show. He’s going to sing “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” The performance is a little rough. Andy’s voice seems to be cracking quite a bit. And Andy walks off without turning a chair.

11. Maiya Sykes, 36, Los Angeles, Calif.: Here’s another contestant where music runs in her family. She says her mother sang background for Earth, Wind and Fire, Meatloaf and Neil Diamond and her dad is an instrumentalist. Maiya wound up going to Yale, but decided to try to make a career of music. She has done session work, coaches vocals and sings at weddings. Though she’s been working for two decades as a singer, she considers The Voice a chance to “launch herself in a way I’ve never been able to do.” She’s going to sing “Stay With Me.” Wow, what a voice. About one line in, she has all four coaches facing in her direction. Yet another four-chair tune. Number six for Season 7 if I’m counting right. And Maiya deserved it with that vocal, which wasn’t only technically perfect, but filled with emotion. Blake says Maiya made his day. Her performance has Pharrell on his feet. Gwen calls her voice “ridiculous” but says she thinks she can help Maiya work on her image and bring out something unique. Adam says he’ll help Maiya improve over the course of the show, rather than taking her talent for granted. And Maiya decides to join Team Pharrell.