The Voice Recap: Season 9, Episode 5

With the blind auditions coming to an end, the judges were pickier than ever but the contestants certainly stepped up their game.

Kicking off the show was Dustin Christensen, 35, from Nashville who sang “Downtown Train” and quickly got all four judges to turn. Pharrell said he was a natural who sang with heart and range. Blake said he had a voice like a Neil Diamond. Dustin was originally gunning for team Adam to fuel his rock-and-roll side, but was swayed by a stunt pulled by Blake Shelton. Prior to the show, Blake handed out cutouts of his face to the audience then got the viewers to raise them when he asked whom Dustin should choose as his coach, which won the contestant’s heart. Of course, having a cutout of Blake’s face only prompted Adam to further impersonate Blake.

Next up was 19-year-old Berdine Joseph, originally from Haiti, who sang “Hey Mama,” hoping to land a spot on Team Pharrell. Unfortunately, she didn’t get a coach to turn, but both Blake and Pharrell encouraged her to come back with a song she could really cannot with.

Dustin Monk, 26, from Georgia took the stage signing “Bright Lights,” which got both Black and Adam to turn. Adam said he heard a kernel of brilliance in his voice, but Blake said he could hear the whole cobb. Adam said Dustin reminded him a lot of himself. Blake respectfully disagreed, saying that Dustin actually sounded like a man. But in the end Dustin decided to go with Adam.

Chase Kerby, 30, from Oklahoma auditioned to “The Scientist” and got Gwen Stefani to turn. Chase then surprised his new coach with a box of chocolates from his family-owned candy shop, making him a pretty sweet pick for Team Gwen.

Dawson Daugherty, a 17-year-old surfer from California, took a risk singing “Problem” by Ariana Grande. While his rendition was certainly a creative one, with all coaches down to one spot left, Dawson didn’t quite have what they were looking for.

Next up was Shelby Brown, 16, from Alabama who got all four coaches to turn with her first high note while singing “Stars” by Grace Potter. After a standing ovation, all four coaches fought to have Shelby fill the last spot on their teams. Considering herself to be a country singer, Shelby originally hoped to be on Team Blake, but after singing a rock song, she was won over by Adam Levine.

Amy Vachel, 27, from Brooklyn, New York sang “Dream a Little Dream of Me” while playing along with her guitar. She got the remaining three coaches to turn, praising her for her voice, her creativity, and her beauty. Adam even went as far as to say the producers purposefully waited until his team was full to finally bring out the most talented and most beautiful singer. Amy ultimately went with Team Pharrell.

Blaine Mitchell, a rock singer from Fort Worth, Texas got Gwen and Blake to turn for him. Blake certainly played the Texas-card but Gwen challenged him to mix it up. In the end Blaine settled his country roots in Blake’s team, making him the last member on Team Blake.

The teams came down to the wire with only one spot left on Team Gwen and Team Paharrell. But both artists turned for Summer Schappell, a 21-year-old singer from Lakehead, California who sang “Strawberry Wine.” She found her spot on Team Gwen, which left Pharrell with the pressure of filling his last spot.

We’ve all heard that great things come in small packages, but no one expected 15-year-old Caroline Burns from New Hampshire to carry such a powerful voice. Taking the stage at just 4’11, Caroline sang “A Thousand Years” and there was no denying her talent. However, Pharrell said he didn’t turn for Caroline because he already had a similar voice on his team, but promised the young singer that she would get a four-chair turn if she came back next season.

Pharrell listened to twelve more auditions before finding the voice he was looking for in 16-year-old Sydney Rhame from Georgia who sang Ed Sheeran’s “Photograph.” She started out subtle but continued to grow in range. While the other coaches couldn’t push their chairs to turn, they physically turned around to see the girl that completed the auditions for season 9.