The Blind Auditions for season 24 of The Voice continued on Monday night (October 2). Among the potential contestants was Nashville native Claudia B. The soulful singer took on Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.” After just seconds of her performance, three out of the four judges turned around–much to Claudia’s surprise.
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“I was not ready for y’all to turn around,” the singer told the celebrity judges after she wrapped up the song.
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Claudia, a Berklee graduate, added a jazz flare to the 1982 track. Hitting stunning low notes and meandering around the melody seemed to work wonders for the singer. Judges Reba McEntire, Niall Horan, and John Legend all expressed their interest in having her on their respective teams.
“It was such a bluesy version,” Horan told the singer. “I see why you chose that song, so you could show off that side of your voice. You could tell you are a musician,” Horan added. “They have a way of working their way through a song like they’re sitting there playing it.”
Claudia went on to tell the judges a little more about her career and how she has made “gigging” her full-time job in Music City. While explaining her journey, she dropped a fun anecdote about McEntire.
“I’m actually gigging full-time now, but when I first moved to Nashville I actually waited on Reba,” Claudia explained before Legend added, “Was she a good tipper though?”
After the fun exchange, the judges got down to brass tacks.
“I’d love to work with you on my team,” Horan said. “I think that was such a brave song choice. I’m excited to see what you could do in the future because if that’s your bar, I can’t wait to see what you could do with something more straightforward–there is mad stuff going on in my head right now.”
“I was thrilled to see your reaction when everybody turned around,” McEntire added. “That’s what makes your performance more special to me because you were vulnerable enough to say, ‘Oh my gosh, they turned around for me.'” Keep those feelings showing all the time.”
Legend leaned into the fact that both he and Claudia are piano players.
“I feel like I really understand where you’re coming from as an artist and we could do a lot of great things together,” Legend said.
In the end, Claudia decided to go with Legend based on their mutual influences and music styles. Check out her audition, below.
Photo by: Greg Gayne/NBC
