NBC’s The Voice has produced some viral moments over the years, but this might be the very first time that a celebrity crashed the show in order to prank the judges during blind auditions.
Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show host, decided to go with Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgetting (Every Time You’re Near),” paired with a comically forced, raspy McDonald impression.
The Voice’s four judges (Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, Chance the Rapper, Niall Horan) had no idea that Fallon was crashing the set of their show, and all but Shelton thought his voice was good enough to turn around their chairs.
Although, it sounds like Blake recognized that voice right away…
The episode, which aired this past Tuesday (March 7th), ended with the clip of Fallon bursting into the blind auditions portion of the show.
The trademark chairs stayed facing away from Fallon as he began to perform, but it wasn’t long before Clarkson and Chance the Rapper became suspicious. Clarkson was the first to turn her chair around, with Chance and Niall Horan pressing their buttons soon after.
The faces of the judges who turned around immediately lit up and roared with laughter as they saw who was mumble-singing the Michael McDonald song. However, Blake Shelton refused to join in on the fun and his chair remained facing away from the stage.
Fallon, who later explains that he was filming his show That’s My Jam across the lot from The Voice, eventually walked down to Shelton’s chair and pressed the button himself. Shelton exclaimed:
“You can’t do that. You broke the rules!”
Since Kelly Clarkson turned around her chair first, Fallon declared that he was on “Kelly’s team” and he thanked her for turning around. The main reason The Tonight Show host was there to sing, other than to prank the judges of The Voice, was to congratulate and serenade Blake Shelton, who announced that this will be his final season as a judge on the show.
In the video, Fallon says:
“I had to come over and say ‘hey,’ buddy. Twenty-three seasons, congratulations!”
Shelton was one of the original judges from the shows original incarnation and leaves the show after being a part of it for over a decade.
