There are a lot of magical moments on The Voice when artists competing in the Blind Auditions hit just the right notes, but there are few moments as adorable as the conclusion of tonight’s Blind Audition when 33-year-old country artist Robert Hunter from Garner, NC, allowed his toddler daughter Mary Blake to select his coach.
Robert, whose day job is a Sheriff’s Deputy in the Raleigh area, chose “‘Till You Can’t” by Cody Johnson for his Blind Audition. Last year, one of his co-workers, who was also a friend, died in the line of duty, which made Robert realize that it’s important to live every day to its fullest.
“The message behind this song is not to take right now for granted because tomorrow is never promised,” he said in his video package. “Working in law enforcement, not knowing what tomorrow holds is a real thing in my family and I feel that this is the opportunity for me to do music fulltime.”
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Robert got a two-chair turn for his performance: Kelsea Ballerini and Michael Bublé with Adam Levine and John Legend abstaining.
“I really loved the power in your voice,” John told Robert. “It really sounded like a passionate performance, and I am so excited to see what you do on the show. Welcome to The Voice.”
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“Robert, listen to me,” Adam said. “This is my 17th season coaching on The Voice. Seventeen Blind Auditions, roughly 80 people each. Eighty times 17 equals a lot. It’s not a number I can give you right now because I’m a musician. I loved what you did. I would have loved to turn around for you, but unfortunately, I’ve retired from turning around for country singers.”
John asked, “Why do you hate country music so much, Adam?”
To which the frontman for Maroon 5 responded, “No, the question is: Why do country artists hate me? That said, you do have two wonderful choices here.”
Then it was down to business with the two coaches who had turned.
It was ladies first when Kelsea said, “I’m going to be honest with you. There were some pitch issues. However, I’m looking for storytellers, writers, artists, and the way you told the story is what interested me. I am new here, but I’m also now. I am also now in country, so I’m going to bring out the big guns, I have boots.”
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She then pulled out the boots she is gifting her team members with. Adam replied, “How could you resist the boots?”
Then Michael tried to woo Robert to his team with the following pitch: “Over and over, beautiful country artists have turned around, and Kelsea has beaten me. I have not been here for 700 seasons like Adam, and I obviously haven’t learned my lesson yet. I really like country. I turn around, and I’m like [In a country drawl.], ‘I really want to be with you and hang out with you.’ Maybe Robert, you’ll respect me, and you’ll say, ‘He’s brave.’ So, thank you for considering me, Robert.”
But Kelsea wasn’t done wrangling for Robert. She said, “One more thing. I would like to see in the next performance something with a little more bass in it,” and she demonstrated with a song.
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That meant Michael had to keep trying. He said, “She is very now in country. But what you might not know is I am also in country. You might not have heard that because it’s Canadian country. We have cowboys in Calgary.”
Then Michael sang a song he made up as he went along about those self-same cowboys in Calgary.
Finally, Adam called for the question: “Who do you pick as your coach?”
Robert said, “My family is the biggest reason I am here. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to see if they could come up and help me make this decision.”
Robert’s wife, Christian, and daughter, Mary Blake, joined him onstage.
Referring to Mary Blake, John innocently asked, “Does she have any musical preferences that would lean one way or the other between these two?”
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Robert smiled as he asked his cutie patootie daughter, “Who’s your favorite singer?”
Mary Blake turned shy as she said, “Kelsea Ballerina.”
Then Robert asked her, “What’s your favorite song, baby?”
And Mary Blake and Christian sang Kelsea’s, “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too),” joined by Kelsea, who ran up on stage and got permission to hug Mary Blake.
“Shall we talk about what happened?” the winning coach said. “Robert’s daughter made the best choice. She said Kelsea Ballerina, so I’m now officially changing my name.”
The Voice airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Streams next day on Peacock.
