A mystery singer wowed ‘The Voice’ coaches in blind auditions — until they realized he was a TV icon
'The Voice' coaches ended up getting pranked by a famous crooner in an unexpected turn of events during the 2023 blind auditions. Late-night host Jimmy Fallon gatecrashed the talent show stage with his power-packed rendition of Michael McDonald's 'I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near).' Fallon's flawless vocals kept Kelly Clarkson, Niall Horan, and Chance the Rapper guessing, and they eventually pressed the buzzer, succumbing to his charms with only close pal Blake Shelton staying put in his seat. The comedian had to walk over to Shelton and press his buzzer to solidify his mock fourth-chair-reveal success.
Shelton hilariously revealed that his gut instincts were right when he figured it was Fallon on stage, reported Deadline. “It didn’t take me long to figure out that it was Jimmy Fallon, and there was no way I was going to hit my button. He does not deserve a chair turn on this show,” the 'God's Country' singer explained during the confessional. “Jimmy’s impersonation is the equivalent of walking up to Michael McDonald and slapping him in the face as hard as you can.” "You can't do that; you broke the rules," Shelton quipped as Fallon's presence invited cheers and laughter from the audience and the other three coaches.
"I had to do that," the television host joked before lauding Shelton on his 23 seasons of a successful run. "Hey, buddy, 23 seasons, congratulations!" he added. "I'm on Kelly's team," Fallon joked before breaking into another impersonation of McDonald and winding up the segment. Fans enjoyed Fallon's hidden talent: "He actually can sing, and it's always fun to see him having fun," a viewer pointed out. "Ooh, wow! Jimmy has a good singing voice. Also, his stage moves seem like a good performer's. This was hilarious and fun," a fan gushed. "Chance is the only one who didn’t know who it was until he turned, but he knew something was up, so he turned, and his reaction was priceless," an online viewer mocked.
"Blake not turning for Jimmy is basically their friendship in a nutshell," a netizen chimed. This is not the first time the seasoned host pranked coaches on 'The Voice'; the same year, he planted himself in the audience disguised as an old man. "Is this part of the show where you take questions from the audience? I have a couple of questions for everybody. I wanted to know if the winners of this show get to go on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,' because that's a quality program." Fallon entertained the audience with his banter. "He's a good guy. He's a good guy. I think that would just be great for the winner. It'd be a treat. It'd be a treat for the winner, I think, if they could go to New York City," he continued by heaping praises on himself.
I got caught singing in the car by myself at a red light and tried to pretend I was just having an animated conversation over bluetooth. #IGotCaught
— Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) February 24, 2021
Fallon then went on to serenade the coaches with a mesmerizing rendition of Tony Bennett's 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco?' John Legend was left feeling "emotional" and confessed that he would "totally turn his chair" after listening to Fallon's version. Gwen Stefani agreed with Legend and admitted that she would press the button, too. Former 'One Direction' member Horan also agreed, while Reba McEntire was the only coach not so impressed with Fallon's singing skills.
