John Legend is a fierce competitor. The “All of Me” singer proved it on Tuesday’s (Feb. 27) second night of the blind audition round on The Voice when he dangled one of his wife Chrissy Teigen’s signature dishes as enticement to win over an impressive singer.
The delicious moment came when season 25 contestant Nathan Chester busted out an impressive, high-energy cover of Al Green’s soul-pop classic “Take Me to the River,” which elicited chair turns from Legend and new coaching due Dan + Shay. “I’m always waiting for someone to inspire me, excite me, and Nathan, when I heard you singing, I turned very quickly, because I was like, this man’s got it!” Legend gushed about the performance that added a rocking edge to the 1974 classic.
Chicago native Chester got Legend out of his seat, clapping along and shaking his hands in the air, even as Chance the Rapper admitted he didn’t turn around after he assumed that Chester’s vocals would be a perfect fit for Team Legend. Chester also noted that he sings on cruise ships and, not for nothing, he loves cheesecake.
While the latter tidbit seemed kind of random — though coach Reba McEntire said that made him a “man after my own heart” — Legend put on the full-court press after emerging so far with only one artist on his team. “I’ve been very selective. I’m always just waiting for somebody to inspire me, excite me and Nathan, when I heard you singing, I turned very quickly because I was like, ‘This man’s got it!,’” Legend said.
After Dan + Shay playfully noted that “there’s a reason John’s only got one guy on his team,” they also laid it on thick in praising Chester’s vocals, with Shay Mooney adding, “Also, I love cruise ships and I love cheesecake a lot!”
Legend had the closer, though. “My wife makes a mean cheesecake,” he said of spouse Chrissy Teigen, author of the 2018 cookbook Cravings: Hungry For More and its 2021 sequel, Cravings: All Together. “And you can just come to the house and have cheesecake. Homemade cheesecake,” Legend piled on, eliciting groans of “unbelievable” from his fellow panelist.
In the end, the singer’s cheesy pitch did the trick and Chester picked Team Legend.
Watch Chester’s performance below.
