Olivia Eden impressed coach Niall Horan by singing his song “This Town” on Tuesday night’s episode of ‘The Voice’
One contestant on The Voice may only be 15, but she’s no stranger to reality TV.
On Tuesday night’s episode of the reality competition series, Olivia Eden, 15, who previously competed on Top Chef Junior and Chopped Junior, traded in her cooking chops for her singing ones. She made the bold choice in her blind audition to cover one of coach Niall Horan’s songs, and ended up impressing the Irish star.
The aspiring singer from Long Valley, New Jersey sang a folksy rendition of “This Town,” off the debut solo album from the former One Direction member, 30.
Instantly recognizing his own hit song, Horan gave a warm smile as Eden began singing. The vocalist delivered an endearing performance, showing off her vocal range.
As soon as the track began picking up, the “Slow Hands” artist turned his chair around, and so did fellow judge Reba McEntire. Their positive responses made the young artist start giggling, even as she was still performing.
“Great song choice. I know that one well,” Horan said as soon as she wrapped up.
After nervously moving around the stage and apologizing until she found her mark, each coach — even John Legend and Gwen Stefani who didn’t hit their buzzers — complimented her sound.
“You have two wonderful coaches — one of them is probably a favorite because you picked their song,” Legend, 44, said. “I think your tone is really beautiful. It has this charm to it that’s going to serve you really well on the show.”
The “Hollaback Girl” singer, 54, similarly pointed out her unique voice, calling the “kind of yodel” that she does her “signature thing.”
Horan, though — who she had the risk of disappointing — was by far the most moved. “There’s so much maturity to that voice,” he said.
“I really want to hear you sing country music,” the former boy band star said, leading Legend to joke that he shouldn’t say that in front of McEntire, 68.
“You know what I’m talking about!” Horan said to McEntire. “You can hear that twang that she has.”
He continued by quipping that the young singer performed the track even better than he does. The singer-songwriter said, “You showed off so many different parts of your voice — more than I do and I wrote the thing. It’s a really captivating voice, really refreshing to hear. I’d love you to be on my team. Thanks for picking my song, thank you.”
Although she eventually went with Horan, McEntire also pointed out how “flabbergasted” she was by Eden’s confident stage presence and “vocal ease.”
The 15-year-old’s natural self-assuredness on stage may in part come from her history on reality TV — having already been on two other reality competitions. She appeared on Episode 1 of Chopped Junior’s sixth season, and was among the stars of Top Chef Junior’s second season. According to NBC Insider, Eden made it all the way to seventh place, out of 24 total contestants, on Top Chef Junior.
Singing was always her first love, per NBC Insider, and The Voice is her first time on a musical competition series.
The Voice returned for its 24th season with returning judges Horan, Legend and Stefani, and newcomer McEntire, on Sept. 25. New episodes air Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC.
The coaches have already been impressed by a handful of blind auditions this time around. Last week, a singer who shockingly resembled Legend ended up joining his team, and on Monday a former One Direction fan fiction writer teamed up with Horan.