Brandon Montel crooned his way to the coaches’ approval during his Blind Audition on The Voice. The 29-year-old singer from Memphis was calm, cool, and collected with his performance of H.E.R.’s “Hard Place” which showed off his smooth voice. New coach Reba McEntire was the first to turn her chair, taken by the R&B flavors of Montel’s voice. She blocked John Legend, who was oblivious to this as he swayed and sang along to Montel’s performance in his chair. That’s when fellow coaches Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani pressed their buttons at the same time as Legend, the latter of whom was disappointed to see he’d been blocked.
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Montel shared that he’s been living in Los Angeles for six years and working mostly as a background singer. He also revealed that he’s involved in the underground ballroom culture for members of the LGBTQ+ community who are Black and Latino that originated in the 1900s in New York City. Montel showed off some of his moves, treating the stage as a runway as he strutted and posed.
“We’ve been unceremoniously prevented from working together,” Legend said in regards to being blocked, but hinted that if there’s ever an opportunity to steal him from McEntire’s team, “I will be first in line.” “That was so good,” praised Horan, saying that Montel’s vocal runs are “tasteful” and his tone is “so good.” “Something that we actually haven’t heard.”
“Brandon, you’re the reason why I blocked on John,” McEntire professed as she rose to her feet to make her case. “I have been holding my block waiting on this opportunity because you are so special. I don’t have anybody like you – you’re pitch, everything about your soulfulness. I knew you were a performer, so then when I turned around and I saw you I thought, ‘Oh man am I so glad I blocked John.'”
“I thought your performance was gorgeous, beautiful and very original-sounding,” praised Stefani, who listed off her credentials as a coach, citing how she’s band in a band and had a successful solo career and has “bounced around in so many different genres of music.” Stefani’s words of wisdom won Montel over, picking her as his coach, much to her excitement.
Photo by: Greg Gayne/NBC
