Niall Horan And Gwen Stefani Broke Down In Tears When Reba McEntire Shockingly Eliminated This Fan-Favorite Contestant On ‘The Voice’
November 9, 2023 by Marissa Matozzo
During The Voice‘s ‘Battle’ rounds last week, coach Reba McEntire found herself in a difficult position when she had to make a choice between Dylan Carter, who was adored by fans and who had a memorable Blind Audition, and Tom Nitti, another highly skilled vocalist. The two contestants had both given an outstanding performance of Cody Johnson‘s “Til You Can’t,” and McEntire had to decide who to keep on the show.
She ultimately chose Nitti to remain, and this surprised her fellow coaches Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani, who had also advocated for Carter to join their teams when he first auditioned (and went viral for his powerful vocals several weeks back). Horan and Stefani were moved to tears during Carter’s exit speech and some viewers online expressed their “shock” after it was revealed that Carter would go home “so soon.”
After Carter and Nitti concluded their duet, all four coaches, including John Legend, were stunned by their harmonies and individual talents. Despite Nitti’s technically superior vocals that contained a pleasing amount of rasp and grit, Legend observed that Nitti had a habit of “hiding” himself behind his guitar on stage, whereas Carter effortlessly delved straight into the emotional core of the ballad and seemed to be in perfect “spiritual” alignment with the lyrics. The song that McEntire chose for them is about cherishing time with family before it is too late.
This seemed to resonate with Carter, who memorably wowed all four coaches during his Blind Audition with his cover of “I Look To You” by Whitney Houston. After all four coaches turned their chairs around for him, Carter explained that this was the very same song he had intended to play at his mother’s funeral last year, but it caused him to falter and break down from the weight of his emotions at the time.