Reba McEntire’s team is bringing the emotion in a big way during The Voice Battle Rounds!
On Monday, Reba paired up two of her younger team members, Alison Albrecht and Angelina Nazarian, for a Battle duet of “You Say” by Lauren Daigle — a song Reba told the singers is one that “touches my heart.”
That was evident throughout the rehearsal, as Reba teared up multiple times while instructing Alison and Angelina to bring the emotion to their performance.
“When you are singing this song, it’s very humbling,” she explained. “It’s baring your soul.”
Their second run-through hit the nail on the head for Reba, who broke down once again as she praised the singers.
“By the time they finished, I was bawling,” Reba said, through tears. “That’s the kind of reaction you want from an audience.”
“If you can can touch someone’s heart the way you just touched mine, you’ve done something terrific,” she praised.
However, when they took the stage, the performance was powerful, but, for Reba, it was missing some of the heart that they brought during rehearsal.
“Emotion, to me, means a lot,” she reiterated. “You did that in rehearsals. You were still, you were meaningful. You saw what it did to me, I was crying. Today, you went back to the way you did it the first time.”
However, Reba assured, “You’re both great vocalists, and I’m very proud of you.”
With that said, Reba followed the recommendation of fellow coaches Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani, naming Alison the winner of the Battle.
ET spoke with Gwen ahead of this season’s Battles, where she opened up about how surreal it is to return to The Voice without hubby Blake Shelton by her side. The Cowboy departed the NBC singing competition earlier this year, after 23 seasons.
“It feels kind of like [my] first season, before I knew he existed,” she shared. “It’s kind of weird, but it’s also like, I’m having so much fun.”
“Like, I’m only here because it’s fun,” Gwen added. “The coaching and actually getting to know your team after the Blinds is my favorite thing, ’cause it’s like, the dream’s there.”
She admitted, however, that it is a little nerve-wracking to look to Blake’s chair and instead see The Voice‘s newest coach — the Queen of Country herself.
Of how Reba’s handled her first season so far, Gwen recalled the Blind Auditions with a laugh.
“She did great. She didn’t have to do anything,” she remembered. “She’d be like, ‘I think you were great. I’d love to have you on my team,’ and then they’d be like, ‘I pick you!'”
The Voice airs Mondays at 8 p.m. PT and Tuesdays at 9 p.m. PT on NBC.
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