‘The Voice’ singer who got zero chairs first time had coaches fighting over her after a crazy comeback
Sophia Hoffman tried her luck on 'The Voice' for season 23 but unfortunately had to leave the stage without witnessing the iconic chair turn from any of the coaches. She reinvented herself and returned for season 24 with her soulful rendition of Demi Lovato's 'Tell Me You Love Me'. This time, Reba McEntire and Niall Horan got the chills during her performance, and Hoffman earned two chair turns. "What's really crazy is I was actually here on Season 23," the California native revealed. "And you came back," McEntire exclaimed. "We always tell people, 'Come back and it might work out.' Now look at what happened," John Legend reacted. "It happened!" Hoffman remained ecstatic.
"I loved your voice. You had such power and strength in it. So congratulations, and welcome to 'The Voice', the Queen of country music, praised. "Wowie. You're back. This is amazing. When you just said you're 18, I can't believe that. There was so much more grit and maturity to it than I was expecting," Horan lauded the teen singer. Hoffman confessed that she was a huge fan of Jennifer Hudson. "I could definitely hear that, like, J Hud grit in there at points. You showed us all sides of your voice, which was so impressive," the former 'One Direction' member applauded. "I would really love to work with you on Team Niall," he added.
At that moment, McEntire pulled a 'queen' garb to impress Hoffman into choosing her team. "You got the queen, Miss Reba here. And the prince. You've got Niall, who won last season," the 'Turn on the Radio' hitmaker said. "I was Googling the queen this morning. I think it was, like, 106 top ten hit singles. Oh, my God. 23 #1 hits. I mean, it's not even possible what she's done," Gwen Stefani backed McEntire as the ideal mentor. "I've been in the business a long time. Not only on Broadway and television and stuff, but lots of time on the stage, so I'd love to share my expertise with you," McEntire heated her pitch before letting Hoffman choose.
The teen went for Horan, "As much as I love you, Reba... I think I'm gonna have to go with Niall." Fans couldn't keep calm over Hoffman's second chance, "Singing Demi Lovato’s song can be challenging and hard because of all the high notes and powerful vocals, but she did it ease and personality damn," a viewer exclaimed. "She deserved a 4-chair turn. What a vocal range," a fan chimed. "I remember this one. What a year of growth can bring, she really got this one for sure. She may be one of my faves for this season," an online user agreed. "I was doing school online while on the show, which was so hard. I had to prepare mentally and physically to perform in front of America and had assessments, quizzes, and fifteen assignments due," Hoffman told ChulaVistaToday after being eliminated from the battleground round.
Hoffman electrified the blind audition stage with her rendition of Rocío Dúrcal's 'Amor Eterno' during her season 23 entrance. However, none of the coaches chose her despite praising her tone. Kelly Clarkson advised her to pick a track that would exhibit all her strengths for the next time, "I feel like next time, pick a song that really does show off the lows, like, the highs, like, all of that, 'cause we have 90 seconds," she said. Hoffman took note of it and made an impactful comeback.