Reba McEntire to Tour This Fall While Filming ‘Big Sky’ (Exclusive)
Reba McEntire tells USA TODAY’s Ralphie Aversa that she’s touring arenas this fall. McEntire is also looking forward to her role on ABC’s Big Sky.
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John Legend’s reign on The Voice is leading to the Queen of Country taking some un-royal measures.
Legend and trainer Reba McEntire, along with her fellow trainers Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani, competed for singer Lila Forde in the fifth round of the blind auditions on Monday evening. The Seattle singer had a four-seater turnout with her bluesy tone and piano-driven rendition of Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home.”
Stefani was so touched by the 24-year-old singer’s “beautiful” performance that she took off her shoes and walked down the stage for her pitch. “This is what the world needs. We want a singer-songwriter with a true point of view, who is original and unique (and) who doesn’t try to be like everyone else,” Stefani told Forde. “You’re my dream voice girl to work with.”
Meanwhile, Legend was impressed by Forde’s vocal maturity. “What I heard was wisdom. “You understood everything you said,” he said. “But everything felt completely under your control.”
In the end, Forde chose Legend as her coach. The win prompted McEntire to express regret over not using her block button on the self-proclaimed “Four Chairs King.”
“I wanted to wait, but John is on his way,” McEntire said afterwards. “We have to block John.”
Here’s what else happened in Monday’s episode.
John Legend Wants to Help Bobby Womack’s Niece Jarae ‘Fulfill Her Destiny’
Singer Jarae Womack wowed the coaches with her haunting performance of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” earning the Florida singer a seat on four chairs.
“With big songs like this with such distinctive voices, people tend to follow the artist,” Horan said. “You made it completely your own.”
Determined to bring Womack onto his team, Horan knelt on stage to express his passion for training the 35-year-old singer, who is the granddaughter of R&B singer-songwriter Cecil Womack and niece of the Grammy-nominated singer Bobby Womack is.
Aside from vocal abilities, Legend praised Womack for her heartfelt, emotional performance.
“There’s something about soul that’s genreless. And I actually couldn’t tell if you were necessarily a soul singer, but I could tell that you were a soulful singer, which means there’s something about it that’s authentic and true and passionate,” Legend said. “I just felt the drama and energy you radiate from the stage.”
Legend clearly made a soul connection with Womack when she decided to join Team Legend.
“She has such a powerful, unique voice,” Legend said of Womack. “You can tell she feels a sense of meaning and purpose on stage, and I want to help her fulfill that purpose.”
Reba McEntire’s block on John Legend backfires on Brandon Montel
Competing against Team Legend brings bad karma.
The coaches unanimously gave up their spots for singer Brandon Montel, who stunned with his emotional cover of HER’s “Hard Place.” However, Legend found herself in a difficult situation when McEntire hit her block button, preventing Legend from pitching to the Tennessee singer.
“Most of the time she’s a kind queen, but every now and then she does some reckless, cold-blooded (and) dirty things,” Legend said. “If Reba makes a mistake and there’s an opportunity to steal, I’ll be first in line.”
McEntire had no regrets about pulling out all the stops for Montel, whose stage presence enchanted the country icon.
“You’re so special. I don’t have anyone like you,” McEntire told Montel. “I knew you were an artist, and then when I turned around and saw you, I thought, ‘Oh man. I’m so glad that I blocked John.’ ”
By a stroke of fate, Montel chose Team Gwen. Stefani raved about the 29-year-old’s “gorgeous” and “original-sounding” performance.
“Niall blocked me. He didn’t win over the artist he blocked me for,” Legend reflected. “Reba didn’t win over the artist she blocked me for. So the lesson is: don’t block me. It will backfire.”
Niall Horan declares himself the “Four Chair Prince” along with 4 Chair singer Nini Iris
For Nini Iris, reality is sometimes better than (fan) fiction.
The New York-based singer, who hails from the European country of Georgia, turned heads and a foursome with her powerful performance of “I See Red” from Everybody Loves an Outlaw.
“That was, without a doubt, the best singing of the day,” Horan said, calling Iris’ performance “outstanding.” “I think we’re looking at a potential winner here.”
The legend echoed Horan’s praise for the 27-year-old singer. “It was amazing to witness,” he told Iris. “You gave us a soulful rock performance.”
When asked by Stefani who her musical influences were, Iris revealed that she was a huge fan of One Direction when she was younger and even wrote fan fiction about the British boy band with Horan.
With her “Voice” win, Iris brought her directing fantasy to life. The singer decided to join Team Niall.
“John Legend became the king of four chairs,” Horan said. “But the prince with the four chairs is here now.”
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