“The Voice” has finally reached the live portion of the competition, allowing viewers to weigh in and cast votes for their favorite singers. 

This week, the show revealed the results of the first voting round, announcing the nine singers who still remain in the running for the $100,000 prize and a record deal.

Here’s a breakdown of Season 25′s top nine singers.

After performing Nate Smith’s “Whiskey on You” for his audition, Josh Sanders had his pick of country music giants on “The Voice”: Reba McEntire and Dan + Shay. 

Although all of the coaches praised the power in Sanders’ voice, the 35-year-old from North Carolina opted to join McEntire’s team — “I can’t turn down the queen of country,” 

He said. Sanders has remained on McEntire’s team throughout the competition.

Sanders’ performances on “The Voice” have included Thomas Rhett’s “Angels (Don’t Always Have Wings),” The Doobie Brothers’ “Black Water” and Corey Kent’s “Wild as Her.”

Asher HaVon got everyone but John Legend to turn around for him with his gospel-infused rendition of Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain.”

Chance the Rapper, in particular, had high praise for the 31-year-old artist from Selma, Alabama, telling him he deserved to win “The Voice.”

“I instantly turned around ‘cause I could tell you’re trying to win this competition, and you should,” he said. “Everything you did was phenomenal — like it was next level. I was blown away by it.”

But despite that endorsement, HaVon opted to go with McEntire, and has been on the country music legend’s team throughout the competition.

HaVon’s performances have included “Titanium,” Toni Braxton’s “Unbreak My Heart” and Tina Turner’s “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome).”

Legend has a reputation for being one of the more selective coaches on “The Voice.” But he was the first to turn for Nathan Chester’s rendition of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River.”

Chester, a singer from Chicago who is a cruise ship performer, told the coaches that he wants “to bring back James Brown-style Motown.” Legend said it’s a good lane for him to be in, and that he believed Chester has the ability to do it.

“I’m always just waiting for somebody to inspire me, excite me,” he said. “And Nathan, when I heard you singing, I turned very quickly because I was like, ‘This man’s got it.’”

Chester’s performances on “The Voice” have included “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” “Oh! Darling” and Jackie Wilson’s “Higher and Higher.”

To the “Voice” coaches, Bryan Olesen’s blind audition felt more like a rock concert than a tryout. The 49-year-old from Lincoln, Nebraska, took on OneRepublic’s “Love Runs Out,” and impressed all of the coaches with his rocker persona, style and voice.

At one point, Dan + Shay’s Shay Mooney joked that he thought the coaches were being pranked and that someone famous was performing on the stage — “Your voice is next level,” he said.

“I want to be clear about how great that performance was,” Legend said. “That was the best audition we’ve seen.”

Legend added that Olesen had a superstar vibe and compared him to Bono. The contestant ended up joining Legend’s team and has stayed there throughout the competition.

Olesen’s performances have included Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” Toto’s “Africa” and Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”

Maddi Jane has been singing for a while — she appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres” show when she was 11, and her cover of Shontelle’s “Impossible” from 13 years ago has 81 million views on YouTube. Now, at 24, the artist from Chicago has wowed all four coaches on “The Voice.”

The singer got a four-chair turn with RAYE and 070 Shake’s “Escapism.” — and the performance marked one of the few times a mix of rapping and singing has been featured on the show.

“You’re a star,” Legend said, noting how fun it was to watch her perform. “Having somebody with that level of confidence and stage presence, but also with the voice to back it up. It is not easy to rap-sing. All of that takes a lot of breath, takes a lot of rhythm and flow, you did all of it really well, and we don’t get a lot of artists like you on ‘The Voice.’”

But in a move that didn’t seem to surprise the coaches, Jane ended up joining Chance’s team, where she has remained throughout the competition.

“We’re not used to rappers coming on the show,” Chance the Rapper said. “I like to genre blend, and also like my whole job here is just to platform young artists, and then give them an opportunity to tell their story and show the songs that they grew up listening to, and just be a support system for that.”

Jane’s performances on “The Voice” have included Rihanna’s “Stay,” Lauryn Hill’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” and Dua Lipa’s “New Rules.”

After hearing her performance of Sam Fischer’s “This City,” all of the “Voice” coaches were surprised to learn that Serenity Arce is only 16 years old. Dan + Shay, in particular, really wanted Arce on their team, using their one and only block of the round to prevent Legend from snagging the Florida teen for his team.

The coaches were also surprised to learn Arce had previously auditioned for Season 21 of “The Voice” when she was 14. Legend commended her for coming back after that initial rejection, while McEntire said she would love to use her decades of experience in the music industry to help Arce enhance the qualities she has as an artist.

But ultimately, Arce opted to join forces with Chance, who called her audition “a real dedication to giving a great performance.”

Arce’s performances on the show have included Olivia Rodrigo’s “traitor,” Rihanna’s “Unfaithful” and Selena Gomez’s “Lose You to Love Me.”

Season 25 marks the first time in “Voice” history that multiple coaches have been a part of the country music space — and Karen Waldrup had Dan + Shay and McEntire fighting over her following her rendition of Joe Dee Messina’s “Bye Bye.” But Dan + Shay used their block of the episode to prevent McEntire from getting Waldrup.

Legend told the singer, who currently lives in Nashville and has been performing for over 12 years, to take it as a “sign of respect” and “love for your talent” that the country music artists were fighting over her.

“You’re a pro,” Dan + Shay’s Dan Smyers said. “So much charisma, no nerves. You were working the crowd like you’ve done it your whole life. So you’ve got what it takes to do well on this show.”

So far, Waldrup’s other performances have included Trisha Yearwood’s “Georgia Rain,” Lainey Wilson’s “Heart Like a Truck” and Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance.”

Madison Curbelo is another contestant who has returned to “The Voice” after initial rejection — the 21-year-old from Massachusetts first auditioned for Season 20 of the show. This time around, Curbelo’s Spanish-infused rendition of “Stand By Me,” featuring her playing the guitar, earned a four-chair turn.

Legend asked Curbelo what changed in the years between her “Voice” auditions, and Curbelo said she believed she had grown in confidence and had also been working hard to discover her own sound. All of the coaches praised her style and stage presence.

“I heard your smile before I turned around, because your voice has like this brightness and this charisma to it,” Legend said.

“You radiate light, and just joy,” Mooney agreed. “Your voice was just flawless.”

In the end, Curbelo opted to join Dan + Shay’s team and has stayed there for the entire competition. Her other performances have included The Beatles “Yesterday,” Jason Mraz’s “Lucky” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.”

Tae Lewis, a 31-year-old singer from Nashville who has been a country artist for roughly seven years, had his pick between McEntire and Legend following his performance of Keith Urban’s “Somebody Like You.”

Legend had a strong pitch for the contestant, telling Lewis that he doesn’t often select country singers for his team and that Lewis would be in a lane of his own and have a good shot at making it far in the competition.

“Your voice is so electric,” he said. “You just look like you belong on the stage singing the music that you’re singing.”

But Lewis couldn’t turn down a chance to be on McEntire’s team. He stayed with the country music legend until the Knockout round, when he got stolen by Dan + Shay.

Lewis’ performances on the show have included Carly Pearce and Chris Stapleton’s “We Don’t Fight Anymore,” Randy Houser’s “Runnin’ Outta Moonlight” and Dan + Shay’s “19 You + Me.”

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Source: The Wall Street Journal