This season of The Voice is Blake Shelton‘s 23rd as a coach. He’s been with the show from the start, but is leaving once Season 23 ends.
After so many years on the show, Shelton knows talent when he hears it. Even after all this time, certain singers still have the power to move him with their performances.
One such singer was EJ Michels, a 31-year-old from Utah. He took on a challenging song for his audition, opting to perform Adele‘s 2021 single “Easy on Me.”
Anyone who tries to tackle an Adele song has a lot to live up to. But Michels rose to the occasion, and immediately impressed Chance the Rapper. For the longest time, Chance was the only coach who turned his chair for Michels’ audition.
Finally, toward the end of the performance, Shelton turned his chair too. This was much to Chance’s dismay, and he geared up to vie for Michels’ attention.
Chance expressed how excited he was about the possibility of working with Michels. He said, “I think we can do great stuff together, and I can not wait to be your coach.”
Knowing Michels is not a typical Team Blake singer, Shelton poured his heart out, letting him know how much he believes in his talent. He started by complimenting his voice, saying, “Your voice is so raw and honest.”
From there, Shelton shared how Michels performance made him emotional. He said:
“Sometimes people come out here and there’s imperfections in their performance that just make you feel as a listener more of a connection.” He recognized times when Michels’ voice broke in his audition. But that didn’t pull him out of the performance. Instead, Shelton said, “All that did was create an angst in the performance, and emotionally kind of had me on the edge.”
Describing himself as “the most calloused person” out of the four coaches, Shelton said, “If you can make me feel that, I can’t wait to see what you do to America.”
You could tell Shelton’s comments touched Michels. What he said resonated…which led to Michels choosing him as his coach!
Head to the video below to watch Michels sing “Easy on Me” and see how Shelton got him to join his team.