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Hear Why "Potential Winner" Nini Iris’ 4-Chair Audition Was Named Best of the Night
"I want to show the world that I deserve to be here," the Georgian native said during the Season 24 Blind Auditions.
"It just feels like I'm missing so much back home. I want to make it so my mom can say that she went for a reason ... I want to show the world that I deserve to be here," Contestant Nini Iris said while fighting back tears on Monday night's (October 9) episode of NBC's The Voice (where the Blind Auditions continue).
Iris actually competed on the show in her native Georgia (the Eastern European country, not the state) and made it to the Battles round before she was eliminated. She moved to New York City in 2016, leaving her entire life behind, to pursue a musical career. "It's been a tough journey," Iris said, recalling how she was homeless and living on the subway for a number of weeks.
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"I had to start getting my life together. I had to get a place, get a job, and start going towards my goal that I came here for." After that rocky start, she's now singing full time at restaurants, bars, and weddings.
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The ultimate goal, however, was to land a spot on the American iteration of The Voice, and that's exactly what happened as Coaches John Legend, Gwen Stefani, and Niall Horan turned their chairs around at the exact same time during a fiery rendition of Everybody Loves an Outlaw's "I See Red." Reba McEntire followed suit just seconds later.
Watch Nina Iris sing "Everybody Loves an Outlaw's" "I See Red" on The Voice Season 24 Blind Auditions
"That was the best vocal of the day, without a shadow of a doubt," said a hyped-up Horan (winner of Season 23). "It was so strong, powerful, commanding, the whole room was with you all the way. I think we're looking at a potential winner here."
"I'm thrilled that I watched you perform," added McEntire. "Your singing is absolutely spectacular, I love your stage presence. I think you could sing anything; you could probably sing the phone book, and all of us would have turned around."
Iris was particularly starstruck by Legend, who insisted that she call him "John."
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"You had all of these things going on with your physical presentation, but the first thing we heard, of course, was your voice," he said. "The nuance and the tone [were] really subtle and cool. You gave us kind of a soulful rock performance today."
"That was just incredible," Stefani continued. "The fact that you can flip so easily between different styles in your voice is just so exciting for this show. This is like a boot camp, and you have a big job ahead of you because you've already given us a Grammys performance. And the confidence that you have is just supernatural."
To find out who Iris picks as her Coach, watch The Voice Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC and next day on Peacock.
