Contestant Revel Day turned not just one, not two, but three chairs on The Voice Monday.
Coaches Michael Bublé, Niall Horan, and Reba McEntire were taken with his version of Keane’s 2004 song “Somewhere Only We Know,” which Day said he was singing for more than just himself. (Snoop Dogg was pretty into it, too, though he didn’t turn.)
“I’m carrying Altadena with me in this moment,” he said of the California community in Los Angeles County, in a package that played before he walked out onstage. “So many people there lost so much. To represent what our story is on this stage, it’s an opportunity of a lifetime.”
Day noted that his home was one of the many affected by the Eaton Fire that began in January and became the fifth deadliest wildfire in California history, having killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 structures.
He explained that, when the fire broke out, he and wife could see flames from their bedroom, so they went to stay with a friend for the night and thought they would return the next day. But, eight months later, the home is still not safe to inhabit.
“The fire came down our street. Two or three houses burned to the ground,” Day said. “Our house is still standing but, unfortunately, there is severe damage. There is asbestos and lead and smoke damage. We can’t go back. It’s not safe. And I don’t know what’s gonna happen next, and I don’t know where we’re gonna go next. So, being in this process, I’m pinching myself a lot. I’m really grateful right now, for sure.”
For him, the song had special meaning.
“It talks about that place that’s just for us,” said Day, who’s worked as a background singer for artists including Stevie Wonder, Andy Grammer, and Kirk Franklin. “Being displaced from the Altadena fires was so hard. Our house is a family home. It’s the house that I was born in. It’s the city that raised me.”
Bublé was instantly taken.
“Well, you have really beautiful round, very smooth voice,” the “Home” artist raved. “When I heard that roundness and the control, I knew you had it in you.”
Trae Patton/NBC
Meanwhile, Horan made comments referencing his own stint trying out for a reality talent show, the U.K. version of The X Factor. He said that Day “got loose at some points,” but said he doesn’t think people know how hard it is to audition on a show like that.
“I’ve been there,” Horan said. “Wow, I was terrible.”
As for Snoop, the only coach who didn’t turn his chair for Day, it was simply a numbers game.
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“The style of music you got, I was like, ‘Damn, they already got me on that one,” the rapper said. “To me, you would fit with one of them way better than me.”
Day chose to be part of Horan’s team.
The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
