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Niall Horan Totally Found His Twin on The Voice: See His Blind Audition
Eli Ward's performance of "Bruises" earns a 2-Chair Turn on The Voice.
Eli Ward, 21, from Waterloo, Illinois arrived at The Voice with his parents behind him. That’s par for the course, because they’ve been backing Eli since he was a kid.
At a young age, Ward's dad taught him how to run and his mom taught him to play piano and love music. For the last several years, he ran track and cross country before turning his toes toward a new dream and running full speed ahead.
Eli Ward's "Raw Talent" Earned a Two-Chair Turn from the Coaches
Ward hit the stage with a gentle piano backing and broke into a crooning performance of “Bruises” by Lewis Capaldi. Gwen Stefani was the first Coach to turn, and the shock of it momentarily broke Ward. His voice cracked for a few notes before recovering and, almost as if to make up for the slip, he nailed a run of killer notes a moment later. It was enough to impress Reba McEntire, earning Ward a Two-Chair Turn just before his song came to a close.
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Last to turn but first to talk, McEntire opened the bidding. “Well, Eli, that was really wonderful. I liked the song you sang and it’s totally different than anybody else I’ve got on my team. I love your voice, it’s a different tone. I love your approach to everything, It really appealed to me. So, that’s why I turned around and I’d love to have you on my team,” she said.
Next on the microphone was none other than Niall Horan, who didn’t turn for Ward but did notice an undeniable connection between them. “Eli, I just noticed. Look at this,” Horan said, gesturing to their nearly matching outfits before joining Ward on the stage.
“Your style’s really cool,” Ward said. “You too! We’re just two cool guys. Look at us, we’re so handsome together,” Horan responded before rejoining the Coaches. Back in his seat, Horan had a few more words of wisdom to share.
“Eli, there’s a couple of pitch issues, out of pure excitement, I’m sure. It’s not easy to come out here and do what you did and take a song — I’ve actually covered that song with Lewis myself — you gave it a really good job and you’ve got two unbelievable Coaches ready for you,” Horan said.
RELATED: Every Blind Audition on The Voice Season 24, Broken Down by Team
“Honestly, you started off so good, that tells me that you have so much potential,” Stefani began. “But as soon as I turned, I could hear the whole performance went to another place. I was like, ‘What happened to him?’ You were so solid, but that’s okay because you already got two Turns and you’re here to be Coached and it’s an amazing place to do that. I think that you’re really, really talented. I love raw talent and I would love to have you on Team Gwen.”
Ward may have suffered a case of nerves during the performance, but he claimed a seat on The Voice without hesitation. “I’m gonna go with Gwen,” he said.
“I want to get to know Eli and pick songs for him and figure out what his potential really is. I really needed some more guys on my team so I’m really happy I got Eli,” Stefani said.
Eli Ward is off to a good start, but can he run the distance? Find out on The Voice Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC and next day on Peacock!
