'The Voice': Kelly Clarkson hits back after Blake Shelton says she doesnāt 'have time' for show
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Although Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and Blake Shelton welcomed Nick Jonas back to "The Voice" with open arms, that doesn't mean they took it easy on him.
Jonas learned just "how ugly it gets here," in the words of Shelton, after the country crooner hit him with a block on the second night of Blind Auditions Tuesday.
"Iām having a tough time here," said returning coach Jonas, who replaced champion Gwen Stefani this season after coaching on Season 18 in 2020. "I thought they were going to play nice. But it turns out, Blakeās a bully."
Shelton blocked Jonas from 19-year-old Gean Garcia, who earned three chair turns from Shelton, Jonas and Clarkson with his rendition of Kodaline's "All I Want."
"Iām saving my block just for (Jonas)," Shelton said. "Heās screwed."
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And in typical Shelton fashion, he lied about his sabotage.
"If I was the guy who blocked Nick, itās only because Iām that passionate about your voice," Shelton pleaded to Garcia. Clarkson joked, "Do you want to be on a liar's team?"
With Jonas out of his crosshairs, Shelton moved on to undermining Clarkson's chance of landing the Texas artist.
Shelton suggested that Clarkson "doesnāt really have time for this" while juggling her Emmy-award winning daytime talk show, "The Kelly Clarkson Show." He added that the "American Idol" alum has "completely gone Hollywood now" and "forgot her roots."
"I have time to do it all and nail it while doing it," Clarkson hit back. She also said it's "ironic" that Shelton is "trying to serve us up on a Hollywood platter" because "heās always the one on covers of magazines and heās dating Gwen Stefani."
Garcia ultimately picked Clarkson as his coach. Take that, Shelton.
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Jonas also got his revenge.
Zae Romeo earned four chair turns for his emotional performance of "Falling" by Harry Styles. Shelton called the 21-year-old "unique," Legend said he has a "beautiful gift," and Clarkson appealed to the contestant's Texas roots.
Jonas took a different approach and focused on his own shortcomings on "The Voice."
"I havenāt won this show," he said. "Iāve got an enormous chip on my shoulder, and I feel like I could get there with you to that finale."
Romeo was sold and selected Jonas, who triumphantly declared, "After a couple of heartbreaks, it was nice to get this four-chair turn."
The power play landed Jonas on everyone's radar.
"Heās showing up this season. Iām keeping my eye on Nick. That Jonas, I donāt trust him," Clarkson said. Legend strategized, "I still have my block left, so Iām thinking ā¦ Iām going to have to block him."
Blind Auditions resume on "The Voice" Monday on NBC.