'The Voice': Blake Shelton Uses an Adorable Strategy to Win Over Singer During Season 18 Premiere

The Voice Season 18 kicked off Monday night, marking the debut of new coach Nick Jonas. Sensing he [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

The Voice Season 18 kicked off Monday night, marking the debut of new coach Nick Jonas. Sensing he might need to do a little more to win over younger singers this season, Blake Shelton brought out a new trick to attract a 16-year-old singer to his team. Shelton brought out an adorable puppy, because no one can resist a puppy, right?

The whole scene started when Tate Brusa began singing Ed Sheeran's "Perfect," and both Jonas and Shelton turned their chairs. Shelton realized he might not have much of a shot against Jonas immediately.

"I was gonna try to play this cool and wait 'til the last minute, and then he turned his chair," Shelton said, reports Entertainment Tonight. "So there's no way I'm gonna let him get away with this. I wanna wait and see what he says and then I'm gonna come back and tear it all apart."

Coach John Legend suggested Tate would be better off going with Jonas, who knows a thing or two about navigating the music industry at a young age. Jonas suggested they could "do great things together" and offered to help Tate work on his vocals.

"I feel like I'm at a disadvantage," Shelton grumbled, so he bought out a puppy named Snowflake.

"Tate, I want you to know that if you don't choose me as your coach, this puppy is gonna go straight back to the animal shelter," the country star teased.

"Tate, do you pick a coach? Or a dog?" Legend chimed in.

While Snowflake is absolutely adorable, Tate decided to pick Nick.

This season marks Jonas' first time as coach on The Voice. He was called in to replace Gwen Stefani, who is scheduled to play a Las Vegas residency while this season airs.

During the 2019 CMA Awards in January, Shelton told ET he was not going to hold any punches when trying to stop Jonas from winning.

"He's going down! He replaced my girlfriend and that's unacceptable," he joked. "We're gonna settle this on the stage, coach to coach. He's going down."

Shelton is now the only coach who has been a part of every season of The Voice. This season marks the fifth consecutive season for Kelly Clarkson and the fourth consecutive for Legend.

The Voice airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: Trae Patton/NBC

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