The coaches fight dirty for a gifted piano player on 'The Voice'

This week’s episode of The Voice (Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on CTV2) saw some of the best artists this season, but surprisingly only one four-chair turn. Even more surprising? Some of the strongest artists to make it through Monday’s Blind Audition were only one-chair turns. This feels like a good time to remember that Jake Hoot, who won last season of The Voice, was a one-chair turn by coach Kelly Clarkson. Do not underestimate the one-chair.Monday’s episode featured a wide range of musical styles, including pop and rock. Okay, not that groundbreaking. What about Rag Time and Opera? Now we’re getting into uncharted territory. Coaches Blake Shelton, John Legend, Nick Jonas and Clarkson all found themselves slightly out of their element throughout the night, but isn’t that one of the reasons we love The Voice? To watch uber-successful, hugely famous musicians fight over regular Joes? It’s cathartic.

MIKE JEREL

Monday’s only four-chair turn was piano player Mike Jerel, whose voice was the audio equivalent of sex and drugs and pain and ecstasy and love. Too much? Nah. It must have been all his years spent performing at nursing homes (srsly). Decades of life experiences manifested themselves in the 31-year-old's voice and helped him deliver one of the best auditions of the year. “Everything you did was done with a level of confidence, note for note,” said John. “It was fire.” The assumption was that piano player Mike would choose John as his coach, but sometimes artists surprise us. This was not one of those times. Team Legend is poised and ready to take Season 18.

MANDI THOMAS

We don’t know a lot about opera and neither does Kelly Clarkson, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t going to be a great coach for Mandi Thomas. The classically trained opera singer gave a soaring and frankly intimidating performance of “Time to Say Goodbye,” which could be why Clarkson was the only coach to turn. Kelly doesn’t scare that easily and isn’t about to pass up a singer that she described as "heaven-sent." Because Mandi is classically trained, she can sing anything, including but not limited to opera, which makes sense. If you can sing opera, you can probably handle a little pop ditty.

JACOB MILLER

From opera to folk, Monday’s episode included time-traveler Jacob Miller, who sang Bob Dylan and wants to bring Rag Time music (back) to the radio. Like, this year. In 2020. Nick, Kelly and Blake all turned and gave their best pitch. Kelly wants Jacob to do a Postmodern Jukebox take and perform current music but in a Rag Time style. Blake wants Jacob to be protective of his sound on the show and make sure he stays true to who he is. Nick is excited that Jacob is a songwriter and is looking for new songs for the Jonas Brothers. Jacob Jonas does have a nice ring to it and we may see the famous trio become a foursome, because Jacob landed on Team Nick. Now that we’re thinking of it, “Lovebug” does have an old-timey feel.

ZAN FISKUMS

Also earning a three-chair turn on Monday night was Zan Fiskums, who found new fans in Kelly, Nick and John. The 22-year-old from Seattle delivered a big and beautiful rendition of Maggie Rogers’ “Light On” and delivered both power and emotion with her performance. Nick connected with Zan over taking a break from her band to try going solo for a while, a journey that he can relate to (but also Jo Bros 4EVA). Kelly focused on Zan’s unique tone while John pointed out that his wife Chrissy Teigen is also from the Seattle area. That, plus just being John Legend, got John a new team member. Location, location, location. And we're assuming EGOT.