Kayleigh Mathews Stuns ‘The Voice’ Coaches With Vince Gill’s ‘When I Call Your Name,’ Earns Four-Chair Turn

Kayleigh Mathews brought so much talent to her blind audition for Season 30 of The Voice, that she nearly started a four-way fight between each of the coaches as they all desperately wanted the talented singer on their team.

The 31-year-old from Tucson, AZ commanded the stage with her performance of Vince Gill’s “When I Call Your Name.” Her delivery had so much grit and intention behind every word and, as the judges would later point out, also had a touch of soul coming through.

Returning The Voice coach Adam Levine was first to turn. Just as she reached the chorus of the song, Levine was joined by the rest of the three judges, proving how quickly she made a good impression on them.

Levine was first to speak, pointing out that while Riley Green might be the obvious choice with his background in country music, he believes that he could offer Kayleigh better guidance on all the “strategic moves” that will have to be made in order to make it to the end of the competition.  

“The way that you fill the room with that voice, you are such a magnificent talent. I would be honored to be a part of it,” Levine stated.

Queen Latifah then explained that she turned her chair because she believes the contestant deserved to have all four of the chairs turned for her.

“That was absolutely gorgeous. You took me to church. It became a spiritual moment for me. The more you sang, the more I felt in touch. That, I can translate and help you find songs that will bring out that beauty in your voice and that will help you to continue to touch people as you go on through it. So amazing job. And you’re beautiful. You’re a beautiful woman.”

Green offered up just as much praise, as he commended her on tackling Vince Gill, who he believes to be “one of the greatest vocalists in country music.”

“That’s big shoes to fill and you really did it. It was awesome,” he continued. “That’s so what I grew up listening to and the vibe of it took me back to growing up in Alabama, literally closed my eyes and I was back home. And I’m a long way from home right now. So thank you for that on top of everything. But I’d love to work with you. I think that we could really do something great.”

Kelly Clarkson admitted she instantly became a fan and noted that she could hear hints of Patty Loveless combined with LeAnne Rimes in the tone of the rising star’s voice. The veteran coach also made sure to highlight her connection to Gill, whom she recorded a duet with called “Don’t Rush,” released in 2012.

“I’ll be honest with you. I know that Adam said he turned around first, but Adam maybe don’t know that song like we do. And I was waiting to see if you were going to go there because Vince gets real big in that song and I’m sure Riley was waiting for that too…I come back because of voices like yours. I like to be moved.”

Levine attempted to give one more convincing statement, however, the “Worst Way” singer quickly blocked him by getting out his duck call and signaling production to bring in a duck blind to cover up Levine’s chair. This hilarious set-up shielded him from being able to see or speak to the contestant from his chair.  

“Adam, you had a lot of time to talk. You said a lot of stuff. I’m going to put you in a duck blind and you have to sit there and be absolutely quiet,” Green told him.

“You really think resorting to this kind of thing is classy?” Levine said in response as he stepped out from behind the duck blind. “What I was going to say before these shenanigans, I was going to ask you, is country music where your heart lives as far as…is that what you want to do?

Kayleigh said, “Country music is where my love started, but there’s a lot of soul in what I got to do…”

Levine added, “I really want you on my team. So I’m just going to tell you, you on my team would occupy the only space in country music.”

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At this point, Green was not going down without a fight. He noted that bringing out the hilarious tactic to try and shut Levine out just showed how much he truly wanted her on his team.

Queen Latifah was last to speak and she took the moment to remind Kayleigh that before all the antics, she had just “sang the hell out of that song” and earned a chair turn from all four coaches.

“That is what happened and then all this ensued. So just so you remember, you are amazing.

This seemed to be exactly what she needed to hear because moments later, Kayleigh chose Queen Latifah as her coach.

“I got to just go with my heart and my gut and what I know, and I would love the opportunity to work with Queen Latifah.”

The icon jumped out of her seat and threw her hand over her mouth in absolute shock that she had one the battle between her fellow coaches.

“I’m excited to work with country. I love country music, but she’s beyond country. Country is also soul, rhythm, blues, but who knows where she wants to fly to? I’m a hip hop artist who’s put out jazz albums and done musicals. I’m just here to make sure that she has fuel in plane.”

The Season 30 blind auditions continue tonight, airing at 8/7c on NBC.