The Voice 23 Blind Audition: Gina Miles Auditions with Katy Perry Ballad
The final week of blind auditions for The Voice 23, also known as Blake Shelton’s last season, kicked off on Monday night (Read our Recap. The episode continued the season trend of artists performing interesting song choices which are rarely covered on The Voice. The show also featured one four chair-turn. One of the more interesting song choices of the night came from indie pop vocalist Gina Miles who covered a song from an American Idol judge.
The 18-year-old from Paxton, Illinois moved to Sacramento, California with her aunt after her birthday. In her package, the singer mentioned her shyness, but said, “when I sing, I am a very different person.” She also noted that “a lot of people are shocked by the contrast of my singing voice and my normal voice.” The camera didn’t reveal her until she got a chair turn. It was the classic shocker audition which contrasted a singer’s higher pitched talking voice to her rich huskier sounding singing voice. Her dad, a DJ, said they were aware of the shock factor of “how deep her voice was.” Gina started performing when she was 14 using her dad’s connections. She calls her audition, “the best decision” she ever made.
Kelly turns first
Gina sings, American Idol judge Katy Perry’s “The One That Got Away” for her audition. It’s rare that The Voice features songs by rival singing show judges. But this is the second time this song has been featured. Lana Scott covered it on Season 21. Gina’s version, which showcased impressive dynamics, is indie pop rock infused with some grit and gorgeous phrasing. Her intriguing voice would sound great on a HAIM song.
Kelly Clarkson turned in the middle of the first verse, followed by Niall Horan after the first chorus. Kelly is in awe over Gina’s “small speaking voice” contrasted to her “giant singing voice.” Niall could sense nerves, but observes that she has “proper control” which was “incredible.” Kelly mentions how early she turned, saying it was a “beautiful whisper and then exploded in the chorus” and says she can help with nerves.
“I am not the biggest singer that ever walked the planet”
Blake Shelton gives Niall a note that says, “Kelly can’t coach nerves,” which Niall uses to his advantage. He says “Kelly is one of the best singers of the last 10 generations. I am not the biggest singer that ever walked the planet, but I feel like I try and sing with a bit of feel and a bit of character,” noting she has both. Both coaches note their competition experience. Chance the Rapper says, “I didn’t turn around because my team was filling up”.
Gina chooses Niall as her coach which is a good fit stylistically as he is the closest match to the type of indie music Gina sings.
The other standouts of the night were 17-year-old soulful pop singer, Mariah Kalia (Team Chance) who gave a creative take on a Billie Eilish song, 4 chair-turner and voice actress, Cait Martin’s (Team Kelly) take on Harry Style’s “As It Was”, and angelic rock singer, Rachel Christine’s (Team Kelly) version of Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited”.
