Spoiler alert! This story discusses the results from the fifth night of Blind Auditions on The Voice Season 21.
The Voice continued with its fifth round of Blind Auditions, as the talented artists continued to choose the musical superstar they trusted most to lead them through the singing competition. And that’s part of the beauty of The Voice — with the artists having some control over whose team they join, you never really know what’s going to happen. And one singer shocked us all with her choice.
Libianca, a soul singer from Minnesota — and formerly of Cameroon, Africa — hypnotized the coaches with her rendition of SZA’s “Good Days.” Ariana Grande and Blake Shelton turned their chairs, and Grande hit fangirl mode as she gave an impassioned pitch for Team Ariana.
Libianca, I’m obsessed with you. I respect you so much for picking a SZA song, because she writes in a way that’s so unique to her. It’s like a huge undertaking to sing a SZA song. And you did such a beautiful job of making it your own. I was so excited. Your low range, you kind of sat in that space for a majority of the performance, and I was like, ‘She’s so good at that, I wonder if that’s, like, her thing. Does she have the highs?’ And then you saved it for the end, and it felt more emotional that way. I’m freaking out, I really hope you pick me. You’re so good. You’re so beautiful. I’m obsessed. You sound divine. You look amazing. And yeah okay, so anyway, nice to meet you, thank you for your time, what a pleasure to hear you, umm, okay, Blake?
This complete word vomiting by Ariana Grande was followed by Blake Shelton simply — and at that point, probably sarcastically — proclaiming that he was the obvious choice for Libianca. But this singer was here for business, and she wasn’t about to accept an empty promise. Libianca's response was boss-level: "Why?"
Yes, girl, make him work for it. John Legend, Kelly Clarkson and Ariana Grande loved it, and their loud laughter gave Blake Shelton the minute he needed to verbalize his pitch. The OG coach fell back on his number of wins, which he’s done with artists of many different genres, and he — like Grande — pointed to the beauty of her lower register and noted that she picked her moments so well.
But the last thing he said really seemed to strike a chord with the soulful singer, as Blake Shelton summed up his role as coach. He told her that his job is to do whatever he can to help her be whatever she wants to be. When the time came to hear Libianca’s choice, Ariana Grande didn’t even seem concerned. But that was when Libianca shocked the coaches, audience, and fans alike.
Somebody said something that gave me a sign. Because I asked God to give me a sign, and somebody said something that gave me that sign. So, Blake, I’m gonna go with you.
Backstage when Carson Daly asked Libianca what the sign from God had been, she pointed to Blake Shelton saying that he’d help her be the best at what she wants to do. Ariana Grande was destroyed, saying over and over that she didn’t understand what happened, and dramatically telling producers she wasn’t ready to talk about it. Check out Libianca’s performance and the divine intervention that followed:
.@libianca3 absolutely nailed this @sza song! 👏 #TeamBlake #VoiceBlinds pic.twitter.com/ln7C2MV5tMOctober 5, 2021
Poor Ariana Grande. It’s tough to go up against the cowboy. Blind Auditions will come to an end, as The Voice returns to NBC at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday for the coaches to complete their teams. Also be sure to check out our 2021 Fall TV Schedule for all of the upcoming premiere dates.
