The Voice 24: Lila Forde performs classic rock cover, turns 4 chairs
The Voice 24 Week 3 auditions kicked off Monday night (Oct 9) and teams are getting closer and closer to filling up before the final Blind Audition episode next Monday. This season is becoming rather predictable as Reba McEntire continues to turn for nearly every chair-turning contestant among a record number of 4-chair turns. However, show opener, Lila Forde, was worthy of every coach hitting their button. (Read our Recap)
As Lila enters the stage, we hear her breathing in saying, “music is a meditative, very sacred thing to me, and this opportunity is a gift from the universe.” We get right into her singing the rock classic, Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” while accompanying herself on keyboard.
All four coaches turn early on. Lila’s talent shocks them, with John Legend exclaiming, “oh my,” and Gwen Stefani yelling, “what are you talking about!” Her indie singer-songwriter sound features runs with a jazzy feel. And although the words at times feel a bit muddled due to her meshing them together, the vocal is complex and refreshing. She picked a great song, and I must mention that Ryan Quinn (Season 10) had one of my favorite Blind Auditions of all time with this song. Lila’s rendition was stellar but it didn’t quite top Ryan’s.
Niall Horan compares Lila to Joni Mitchell
After the performance, we learn that Lila is a 24-year-old who currently lives in Los Angeles but is originally from Seattle, Washington. She shares about her “spiritual upbringing” as her parents met in a meditation group and run a retreat in a very remote area of Washington. The singer “always has the best song ideas” when she’s up there in the wilderness. She moved to LA to pursue music further.
Niall Horan says, “your tone has so many parts” before comparing her to Joni Mitchell. He attempts to imitate Joni, but isn’t exactly successful. Gwen brings out all the stops to try to win over Lila. She takes off her shoes, saying “This is what the world needs. We want a singer-songwriter with a true point of view that is original, unique, that’s not trying to be like anyone else.” Her pitch to get Lila is very strong.
John says, “what I heard was wisdom,” adding, “It felt like the artist playing, not the band.” Reba calls Lila “mature beyond your years.” Lila reveals that she is gigging full-time as a lounge singer, singing a lot of Joni, Carole King, and The Beatles. John makes a final pitch, saying, “I had those kind of gigs,” noting that lounge singing is difficult as you want them to listen to your voice even if they are there for other reasons.” John notes that Lila “tamed” Niall as Niall tries to put in a final pitch for Lila.
“It feels like she’s lived and seen things”
After strong pitches from all the coaches, especially John and Gwen, Lila picks John Legend as her coach. He says, “it feels like she’s lived and seen things,” and is in awe that she has such “wisdom” at the age of only 24. He is thrilled to have her on his team.
In a season with so many 4-chair turns, this episode had three people that earned every bit of a 4 chair turn as they delivered stellar auditions which were some of the best of the season so far. Those three people were Lila, Team John’s soul singer, JaRae Womack, and Team Niall’s rock belter Nini Iris. Each could go deep as they gave frontrunner level auditions.
