Did Reba McEntire set Ruby Leigh up? 'The Voice' fans fume over Al Boogie's 'unfair' exit during battles

'The Voice' Season 24 coach John Legend lists reasons why 16-year-old singer Ruby Leigh was better than Al Boogie
UPDATED OCT 31, 2023
Reba McEntire faces criticism for song choice as Ruby Leigh wins 'The Voice' Season 24 Battles leaving Al Boogie's fans upset over his exit (NBC)
Reba McEntire faces criticism for song choice as Ruby Leigh wins 'The Voice' Season 24 Battles leaving Al Boogie's fans upset over his exit (NBC)

UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA: In 'The Voice' Season 24, both Al Boogie and Ruby Leigh from Team Reba McEntire performed Dolly Parton's song 'Jolene.' However, Ruby's victory in the Battle round prompted fans to express concerns about the fairness of the competition, as they believed the song wasn't suitable for a male artist.

During the fourth part of the Battles, Team Reba's singers went head-to-head. Following their rendition of 'Jolene,' all the judges, including Reba, favored Ruby, ultimately declaring her the winner.

Seeing this a fan questioned, "How was that a fair competition? Jolene is for a female voice." Another slammed the show, "@NBCTheVoice #TheVoice Terrible choice of a song for a guy, you know she's gonna take it."



 



 

One clearly mentioned, "Bad song choice when you have a male artist." "Sorry but whoever is picking these songs out on @NBCTheVoice but they are not fitting the artist!!" tweeted a fan.



 



 

A fan called out Reba, "That is not right. I love @reba but that song choice when you have a male artist is unfair. #TheVoice." Another believed, "I think it was really unfair to Al giving him the song Reba herself said she wanted to hear Ruby sing."



 



 

Ruby Leigh wins 'The Voice' Season 24 Battles round against Al Boogie (NBC)
Ruby Leigh wins 'The Voice' Season 24 Battles round against Al Boogie (NBC)

'The Voice' Season 24 judge Gwen Stefani calls her decision 'not fair' as she sides with Ruby Leigh

After listening to Ruby sing, Gwen Stefani couldn't believe that a 16-year-old was performing on the stage. She said, "Just the way your presence is on stage, just didn't look like a teenager, you didn't sound like a teenager."

Gwen confessed that she had "chills up and down" her body as she listened Ruby sing. The coach dubbed her performance to be "stunningly perfect." 

She then made her decision, "I would say Ruby in some ways but that's not fair because Al Boogie you are amazing."

'The Voice' Season 24 judge Gwen Stefani calls her decision 'not fair' to Al Bogie (NBC)
'The Voice' Season 24 judge Gwen Stefani calls her decision 'not fair' to Al Bogie (NBC)

John Legend counted reasons why Ruby Leigh was better than Al Boogie in 'The Voice' Season 24 Battles

John Legend believes both singers, Al and Ruby, were compelling and they made their best effort to connect to the song. He then went on to claim why Ruby was everyone's pick in the Battles round and not Al.

John claimed Al was one chair turn and Ruby was a 4 chair turn contestant. He added, "Two (2nd reason), because you are singing a song that's about being a woman scorned, you don't exactly look the part."

John went on to accept that inclination was all pointing towards Ruby.

'The Voice' judge John Legend counts reasons why Ruby Leigh was better than Al Boogie (NBC)
'The Voice' judge John Legend counts reasons why Ruby Leigh was better than Al Boogie (NBC)

'The Voice' Season 24 airs at 8 pm ET on Mondays and 9 pm ET on Tuesdays on NBC

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