The Voice Recap: Grace Bello, Austin Montgomery — Blind Auditions

As The Voice’s Blind Auditions neared their conclusion Tuesday night, Season 22 was starting to shape up, with each of the coaches’ teams having at least one standout on its roster. (Think Team John Legend’s Morgan Taylor, Team Gwen Stefani’s Daysia, Team Camila Cabello’s Andrew Igbokidi and Team Blake Shelton’s bodie). Were any new frontrunners added to the pack on Night 6? Read on, and we’ll discuss.

Austin Montgomery (Team Blake), “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You)” — Grade: B | This baby-faced old soul may have, as he put it, “done nothing” music-wise before The Voice, but that didn’t stop him from giving such strong Elvis Presley vibes with his baritone that he earned himself a three-chair turn. Possibly the easiest coach selection of the season.

Dia Malai (Team Legend), “Real Love” — Grade: C | Man, I wish this Queens 26-year-old sounded as cool as she looked. She certainly had some strong moments during her performance, where you were like, “Yeah, she’s got it.” But then the one-chair turn so often sounded unsure that you were also like, “Hmm, does she know what to do with it?”

Benny Weag (Team Blake), “Shivers” — Grade: C | Maybe Benny deserved better than a C — his coach liked his tone and pocket — but we literally heard about 10 seconds of his audition. (Yes, I went back and timed it.) So who can say for sure?

Jillian Jordyn (Team Gwen), “Issues” — Grade: C | Gotta think that Gwen will come to regret her early chair turn for this 17-year-old. (Or jettison her in the Battles.) It’s understandable, of course, that Jillian would get flustered at seeing Gwen and John’s faces swivel ’round. But it’s worrisome her performance ultimately felt more like she was forcing it on us than giving it to us. 

Grace Bello (Team Camila), “Ghost” — Grade: A | “Haunting” is probably the best word to describe this 21-year-old’s Justin Bieber cover; it just happens to be punny, too. As John noted, the four-chair turn went subtle and nuanced rather than big and bombastic, allowing us to hear how good she was rather than just how loud she could be.

So, which contestant perked up your ears? Pick your favorite in the poll below, then hit the comments with your reviews.