Spoiler alert! This story contains spoilers for The Voice’s Season 25 premiere that aired February 26.
A new season of The Voice is upon us, as Season 25 introduced Dan + Shay and welcomed back second-timers Reba McEntire and Chance the Rapper, as well as veteran John Legend. Spirits were definitely high, as the coaches came armed with tricks to entice artists to their team, from McEntire showing off her Grammy to Legend inflating a dancing tube man. Chance, however, didn’t need anything but his voice to pull off the slickest move of the night, and the way he stole an artist out from under the EGOT winner has me excited to see what else Chance has up his sleeve this season.
Nadège, a 26-year-old singer from Florida wowed John Legend and Chance the Rapper with her audition, and the veteran mentor seemed to have the battle won after he got on stage to duet with the artist on his hit single “Ordinary People.” Chance was not to be deterred, though, and he offered to sing the song with her too — an offer she obviously accepted — and he took the stage to give his “best John Legend impersonation.” You can watch it all go down below:
Nadège has @chancetherapper and @johnlegend going head to head on #TheVoice after her SOULFUL rendition to @DanielCaesar’s “Get You” 🤭 pic.twitter.com/IZMb5OBkbxFebruary 27, 2024
OK, so Chance the Rapper definitely showed he’s got skills, and it seemed like he even surprised himself at how much he sounded like John Legend. The move, which Reba McEntire hilariously dubbed “almost shameful,” paid off, too, as Nadège shockingly joined Team Chance. Chance reveled in the moment, telling the other Voice coaches that he felt like he just won the show. His disbelief continued, as he said:
That was probably one of my greatest victories. It goes, like, having two beautiful children, Grammys, beating John Legend at a John Legend contest.
This organically hilarious moment was better than any of the manufactured silliness that the coaches used to try to best each other, and I loved seeing Chance the Rapper finally get to shine.
I thought he was great on his initial run on The Voice in Season 23, but it seemed like he kind of got overshadowed. It’s not hard to see how that happened, considering who he was up against: There was Kelly Clarkson, who famously never stopped talking; Blake Shelton, whose final season was mentioned with such regularity he was probably playing a drinking game from his Big Red Chair; and Niall Horan, who spent the season bonding with the cowboy as his adopted son.
However, in the Season 25 premiere we got a clearer look at just how funny and talented Chance the Rapper is. After the stunt he pulled — not to mention blocking Reba McEntire on the opening artist — the other coaches won’t be underestimating him as a threat this season. The Voice continues at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, February 27, with episodes available to stream the next day with a Peacock subscription. Be sure to also check out our 2024 TV schedule to see what other premieres are coming up.