EGOT winner John Legend won over OK3 following the Oklahoma pop group’s attention-grabbing blind audition on the new season of “The Voice.”
On the Monday, Feb. 26 “The Voice” Season 25 premiere episode, the Oklahoma City-based vocal trio achieved a coveted four-chair turn with their charming cover of the Meghan Trainor hit “Made You Look.”
The Season 25 coaches — Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Famer Reba McEntire, who is in her second season as a “Voice” coach; Legend, who’s in his ninth season; three-time Grammy winner Chance the Rapper, who is returning for his second season; and three-time Grammy-winning country duo Dan + Shay, who are first-time coaches on “The Voice” and sharing a double chair this season — vied fiercely to convince OK3 to choose their team as the blind auditions got underway.
But Monday’s episode ended on a cliffhanger, so viewers had to wait until the opening moments of Tuesday’s installment to find out which coach the OKC trio will be working with this season.
“I’ve never had a trio before (on Team Legend); this will be fun,” Legend said after OK3 picked him. “I love how vibrant and tight OK3’s harmonies were, and I just felt like they’re going to be so much fun to work with — and so much fun for our audience to watch.”
Which previous ‘The Voice’ contestants inspired OK3 to reunite?
As the group’s name indicates, OK3 consists of three singers from Oklahoma.
The new season of the NBC singing competition is just getting started, but the Sooner State performers are already gaining a lot of attention for their stellar vocal harmonies, sassy stage presence and coordinated choreography they showed off in their blind audition.
Sierra Sikes, who was 23 when the trio auditioned for “The Voice,” is a University of Central Oklahoma alumnus who earned her bachelor of music degree in musical theater in 2021.
Kenna Fields, 22, is a senior at the Academy of Contemporary Music at UCO who is majoring in contemporary music.
Courtney Hooker, 25, is an ACM@UCO graduate who received her bachelor of applied technology in commercial music in 2020. She also earned an associate’s degree from UCO in performance in 2019.
The singers met through their vocal coach, Amanda Earhart, whom they brought onto “The Voice” stage to help them pick their celebrity coach for the show.
The Oklahomans revealed on the series that they have been best friends and musical collaborators since they were teenagers, performing together at various shows and competitions.
They broke up in 2017 because they were in different phases of their lives. After not seeing each other for four years, they were inspired by successful “The Voice” runs for groups like Girl Named Tom and Sorelle to reunite at the Oklahoma Opry and then audition for the NBC music contest.
Coaches battle hard to win OK3 for their team
OK3’s blind audition set off a fierce and funny battle among the Season 25 coaches, who all proved eager to add the trio to their team.
Fellow Oklahoman Reba pushed her button about seven seconds into the group’s performance, followed quickly by Dan + Shay and Legend. Chance the Rapper didn’t turn his chair until late in the trio’s blind audition.
“I loved your performance. … I grew up arranging songs for groups, and then, when I went to college, I was an award-winning a cappella arranger. If there’s nothing else that I do, I do this,” Legend said. “I feel like there’s a lot of space for a big pop girl group right now, and I would love to be your coach.”
Dan + Shay’s Shay Mooney gushed that the trio’s singing made his heart race and declared OK3’s audition “my favorite performance that we’ve seen so far.” He noted that Trainor is a good friend.
His musical partner, Dan Smyers, added, “I don’t want to bash John too bad early. He was saying he’s an award-winning arranger for groups. We’re an award-winning group. We have a double chair.”
“We have two (chairs). We could get a third,” Mooney added with a grin. “I have two sisters. I grew up singing in the church and doing exactly what you guys are doing right now. Your voices are phenomenal.”
To neutralize what he called Dan + Shay’s “unfair advantage,” Legend introduced his “partner,” pushing a button to deploy a blue inflatable tube man emblazoned with the words “Pick Team Legend.”
Despite claiming that Legend’s inflatable tube man had “taken all of my spirit away, it was so loud and distracting,” Chance the Rapper also praised OK3.
“You guys did great. A couple seasons ago, I worked with a trio, and I have a lot of fun working with harmonics, with arranging for groups. I could kind of expand your palette in terms of what genres you want to play around with,” he said, adding that his signature “3” cap matched the trio.
Reba addressed OK3 as “fellow Okies,” reminded the group that she started out performing in her family band The Singing McEntires and praised the trio’s harmonies.
The Oklahoma Hall of Famer also brought props to bolster her argument, pulling out one of her three Grammys as well as a sparkly scepter.
“I would love to have you gals on my team. We’d have a blast,” Reba said. “I am the Queen of Country Music. I’m just saying, I would love to have you in my kingdom.”
Ultimately, OK3 opted to become the first act this season to join Team Legend
“I got my first artist, and it was a four-chair turn. Usually, you see these inflatable guys at the car wash. They’re like, ‘Come get your car wash.’ And I’m like, ‘Come to Team Legend.’ And it worked,” Legend said on Tuesday’s episode. “I’m back: my mojo has not gone anywhere.”
“The Voice” airs at 7 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC. Episodes stream the next day on Peacock on-demand. The streaming service offers full episodes from the show’s previous 24 seasons, too.
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