Juliette Ojeda’s “Rollercoaster” Audition Had Gwen Stefani Begging to Be Picked
Ojeda's Spanish-language performance of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" resulted in a Three-Chair Turn.
Most of the time on The Voice, the titular voice that the Coaches hear is singing in English. However, Juliette Ojeda’s Blind Audition was a genre-blending performance in Spanish that had three of the Coaches eager to have her on their team. But, none was more eager than Gwen Stefani.
Ojeda, 20, is a first-generation Cuban-American who grew up in Miami with her parents, both of whom were originally from Cuba and left to escape communism. Ojeda was brought to tears thinking about how much her mom and dad gave up to help ensure that she has the life she currently has.
“To have such supportive parents means that I can blindly trust what I want to follow, what I want to do,” she said.
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Ojeda, who learned about music from listening to her dad play Salsa songs and mariachi artists on the radio and eventually picked it up by ear, performed a Spanish-language take on “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” Ojeda hoped the Coaches would recognize that she could “be unique and take two completely different genres of music and make them my own.”
Watch Juliette Ojeda Perform "Hopelessly Devoted to You"
The fiery performance resulted in a Three-Chair Turn, as John Legend was the only holdout — but even then, he was grooving while Ojeda sang. Reba McEntire offered to teach Ojeda stage performance in exchange for Spanish lessons, and Niall Horan had the benefit of Ojeda being a self-proclaimed “Directioner” (aka a fan of Niall's time in One Direction) in his pitch, saying that the young singer was “about ready to blossom, and [he] would like to be there for that.”
But, in the end, it was Stefani who made what essentially amounted to an ultimatum, and Ojeda went with the seven-time Coach.
“She has that fire,” Stefani said of Ojeda. “I fought so hard.”
How far will Ojeda go? Find out by watching The Voice Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC and next day on Peacock
