Deion Warren impressed every one of the coaches when he took the stage on Tuesday's all-new episode of The Voice -- so why didn't he earn a four-chair turn?
During night four of the Blind Auditions, the North Carolina native took the stage for a jaw-dropping cover of "Shallow," the Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper song from A Star Is Born -- earning chair turns from Nick Jonas, John Legend and Kelly Clarkson, but not Blake Shelton.
Nick said he felt "emotionally connected" to the surprisingly soulful performance, telling Deion he thinks he could take him "to the end of the competition" on his team.
John also praised the impressive young performer, noting that he has the "skill and musicianship" to take an unexpected song and make it his own. "You showed us all of that," he marveled.
"I've heard a lot of singers cover [that song], and they're doing it more to show off their range, instead of doing it for the reason that the song was probably written and the message behind it," Kelly agreed. "It felt like you were the perfect vessel for the message and the moment, and that is my favorite kind of singer."
So, what happened to Blake?
The country star hilariously admitted that he felt like a "moron" for not turning his chair, but as it turned out, he had a good reason. "I made a promise to an artist that, if they would pick me, I would keep the lane clear for them. For once, I'm gonna stick with my word," the notoriously shady coach shared -- calling back Cam Anthony's performance, and commitment to Team Blake, in the season 20 premiere.
"2021, bringing us all sorts of surprises," John teased.
Blake couldn't help himself, though, when it came to endorsing one of his fellow coaches ahead of the others. "You've got three incredible coaches to pick Nick from," he told Deion.
Ultimately, Blake's strategy didn't pay off, as the young singer chose to become the newest member of Team Legend.
"What I love most about Deion is that passion he sings with, the energy sings with, and that appreciation for soul that you can tell is infused in everything he does, musically," John celebrated.
As The Voice kicked off its 20th season, celebrating 10 years on the air, ET sat down with the coaches, who all noted that there's still something thrilling about the show's "captivating" blind audition process that fans love to watch.
"It's all about the talent and not the aesthetic, right off the bat," Kelly explained. "It's a really interesting thing to just hear something and be moved by it and turn around and go, 'What?!'"
In fact, the performer and talk show host shared that the Blinds for season 20 "were my favorite Blinds to shoot. Like, it was so much fun. I literally kept coming home, thinking on my drive home, 'I can't believe I get paid to just go and hang out and it's really fun.'"
"We're so fortunate we get to do what we love to do and we're so fortunate that we have art as such as an outlet for us creatively and emotionally," John said, also sharing his gratitude for the crew that makes their production a possibility amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's not just a job, because we actually enjoy doing it. It's fun to be around our coworkers and we get to make music with people who have dreams and are inspired and that's exciting."
The Voice airs Mondays at 8 p.m. PT/ET and Tuesdays at 9 p.m. PT/ET on NBC. See more from the upcoming season in the video below!
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