Two area singers landed spots on "The Voice" during the opening nights of Season 9 on NBC's reality TV talent show.
Lee University student Jordan Smith of Harlan, Ky., not only got all four judges to turn their chairs for him in Monday night's blind auditions, they also gave him a standing ovation when he finished singing Sia's hit, "Chandelier."
Judge Gwen Stefani ran up to Smith, gave him a hug and told him, "You shocked me!"
Smith surprised judges and audience with his unique, high voice. He said people often mistake him for a woman on the telephone.
Smith wore black square-rimmed glasses, a red plaid shirt and a gray cardigan for his audition. He told the judges, "I haven't always been the coolest person," and said he had self-esteem issues as a child.
If his quadruple-chair-turn wasn't enough to reassure him he'd given a stellar performance, having each of the four coaches plead with him to join their teams should have been. He ultimately chose Adam Levine to be his coach.
At Lee, Smith is a music business major and a member of the Lee Singers, according to Kendra Gray in the university's public relations office. His profile on "The Voice" website says his father is a professional pianist and his mother is a singer.
Jordan Smith, left, a studentat Lee University, chose Adam Levine's team Monday night. Ellie Lawrence, of Calhoun, Ga., right, was selected for Gwen Stefani's team Tuesday night on "The Voice." Ellie Lawrence of Calhoun, Ga., landed a spot on Team Gwen after singing Jermaine Stewart's "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" on Tuesday night's blind audition.
In her video package before singing, Lawrence said her brother, Josh, had always been considered the musician in the family. His band has opened for Willie Nelson and Luke Bryan, and she said it's been tough for her to break out of his shadow. Her fiancée convinced her to audition for "The Voice." A fan of Gwen Stefani, she expressed hope that the judge would turn her chair.
When Stefani did so, Lawrence pointed at the judge excitedly while finishing her number, leaving no doubt among the three male judges who she would choose as her coach.
"Just go ahead and give her the Team Gwen T-shirt," judge Blake Shelton said to Stefani.
Lawrence says in her "Voice" online profile that she has played piano since fifth grade. She grew up in Crandall, Ga., where finding an "outlet for Indie music in a tiny, country music-loving town was difficult" so she moved to "the larger, Southern city of Calhoun."