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Kendall Eugene Got The Voice’s First-Ever Coach Replay & It Made Snoop Dogg Bawl
For the first time, The Voice Coaches have the chance to save a singer before they're even on a team.
One of the most exciting things about the Blind Auditions on The Voice is the tension of the selection process. You've got Coaches making split-second decisions, vocalists trying to impress four legends in the span of just a couple of minutes, and of course family members wondering if their star will get called up to be on a Coach's team.
Sadly, sometimes those Blind Auditions don't end the way the singer dreamed, but thanks to a new feature on The Voice this year, Coaches have an opportunity to change that.
In the Season 26 premiere, viewers met Kendall Eugene, a 37-year-old singer from Texas who grew up in a musical family, stepped up to help raise his younger brothers after his mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and has battled various setbacks on the road to what he hopes will be musical stardom.
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"The journey to get here has been extremely long," Eugene said. "I've gone through many things in my life that just kind of halted my progress as a professional musician, and I feel like now, it's finally my time."
In an effort to make his time count, Eugene selected for his Blind Audition a song by former Voice contestant Morgan Wallen, "Don't Think Jesus," which he hoped would lead him to success similar to Wallen's.
"It's so crazy. Just a few years back Morgan was right here at The Voice, trying to get his start," Eugene said.
Finally, with his song chosen and his family watching, it was time for Kendall Eugene to take the stage.
Watch Kendall Eugene's Performance of Morgan Wallen's "Don't Think Jesus" During Blind Auditions for The Voice Season 26
As Eugene launched into "Don't Think Jesus," it was clear that host Carson Daly and Eugene's father and brother were expecting the Queen of Country, Reba McEntire, to turn her chair. But McEntire waited, and listened with the rest of the Coaches. Even as you could see them feeling the music, the Coaches didn't turn, and the wait got longer, until finally, Eugene finished his song without a single chair turned.
"This sucks, because when it came to the choruses, it was believable, it was heartfelt," Coach Gwen Stefani explained when the song was over. "I didn't press because in the beginning, even though I loved the tenderness of your voice, there was a lot of tuning things going on. I just think you should come back."
New Coach Michael Bublé offered similar thoughts, and suggested that maybe it all had to do with song choice.
"I openly wonder if you chose a different song with a different range, would I have turned the chair? Probably," Bublé said.
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Meanwhile, new Coach Snoop Dogg explained that he didn't turn because he kept expecting McEntire to turn and didn't want to have to compete with a country legend for a country artist. McEntire, for her part, was puzzled by her own indecision.
"I don't understand why I did not turn around," she said.
Then, as the reality of leaving The Voice early was beginning to sink in for Eugene, McEntire revealed that she would, for the first time in show history, deploy the Coach Replay button (which allows a Coach to select a contestant even after they're done singing), and select Eugene as part of Team Reba.
"After the song was over, I felt kind of numb, and I knew in my heart I wanted him on my team," McEntire explained. "I'm so glad for the very first time we have a Coach Replay button. It's the second chance for the Coaches when we realize we missed this moment."
The moment McEntire pressed the Replay button, Eugene burst into tears, and the moment grew so emotional that even Snoop Dogg began to cry as he demanded that his fellow Coach go to the stage and give Eugene a hug. McEntire sealed that hug by saying, "I believe in you," cementing Eugene's place as an early member of Team Reba.
"I feel like he has a lot more to show us, and I'm really anxious to hear him sing again," McEntire said.
How can you watch The Voice?
Catch a new episode of The Voice next Monday at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC. Every episode also arrives on Peacock the next day, so if you missed it the night before, you can always catch up.
