The Voice Welcomes Back Shakira and Usher, and the Coaches Perform Each Other's Hits! Plus, the Best Performances of the Night

The NBC reality hit returned with Shakira and Usher rejoining Blake Shelton and Adam Levine on Monday, Feb. 24

By Tierney Bricker Feb 25, 2014 3:19 AMTags
Adam Levine, Shakira, Usher, Blake Shelton, The VoiceTrae Patton/NBC

This is The Voice!

Ah, it's good to hear those words again, no? Welcome back to The Voice, folks! It's season six and Usher and Shakira are back again, filling in for Christina Aguilera and CeeLo Green, who recently announced he's leaving the NBC reality hit permanently.

But let's forget about that for now as Monday night's two-hour premiere was jampacked with amazing performances, arguably the best coming from the four coaches, who performed a medley each other's hits. Blake Shelton took on Shakira's "Whenever, Wherever," while she performed the country crooner's hit "Boys Round Here." Usher, meanwhile, tackled Adam Levine's band Maroon 5's "Love Somebody," and Adam returned the favor, singing "Without You." 'Twas freakin' awesome!

Still, this is a competition and the four coaches soon began battling it out for contestants via the infamous blind auditions. Here's a quick rundown of the night's performances:

The first performance of the night came from YouTube sensation Christina Grimmie, who got all four coaches to turn their chairs with her cover of Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball," which we shared exclusively with you last week. In the end, she chose to be the first member of Team Adam. Usher scored the second performer of the night, T.J. Wilkins, who sang "Bennie and the Jets." (B-B-B-Bennie! Sorry, reflex.) Another four-chair-turning performance came from Biff Gore (great name, no?), a 45-year-old worship leader who chose Usher as his coach after tackling "A Change Is Gonna Come."

Shakira beat out Blake for country singer Kristen Merlin (who sang "Something More") by dropping his wife Miranda Lambert's name (Ha!), and then beat him again when rocker Jeremy Briggs chose to be on her team.

Don't worry, Blake didn't end the night contestant-less, as Jake Worthington, who failed to get any chair turns last season, wowed the coaches with his renition of "Don't Close Your Eyes," earning a spot on Team Blake.

Adam landed the first duo of the season in Dawn & Hawkes after their performance of "I've Seen a Face."

But the biggest get of the night? Usher landing teenage powerhouse Bria Kelly, whose performance of "Steamroller Blues" blew us away. Girl's got soul. And the early frontrunner position!

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

What did you think of the season six premiere? Any early favorites? Sound off in the comments!

PHOTOS: The Voice's Most Musical Memories!