‘The Voice’: Reba McEntire Gets Annoyed Over Bee Gees Song

NBC/YouTube

Reba McEntire wasn’t best pleased with one of her contestants on Tuesday’s (October 24) edition of The Voice after the singer took it upon himself to add his own twist to a classic song.

As the Battle Rounds continued, the Queen of Country paired up two of her team members, Mac Royals and Rachele Ngyuen, to take on Bee Gees’ legendary hit “How Deep Is Your Love,” which McEntire described as “one of the most iconic and beautifully written songs of all time.”

But things got off to a bumpy start during rehearsals when Royals decided to put his own spin on the track so that he and his opponent could “give the people a little of what we do and what we like.”

McEntire wasn’t on board with the changes and made her point clear to both performers.

“Mac, I didn’t think you were hearing the beat. You kind of went in a different direction on it,” she explained (per Yahoo). “The reason we pick the songs we do is because of familiarity. [The viewers] want something they can sing along to. When you’re singing a song that is so well-known as ‘How Deep Is Your Love,’ you need to stay with the melody [fans] remember, so [they] can sing with you and be a part of the show.”

Despite agreeing with their coach in rehearsals, the live performance didn’t come off quite as expected. Once again, Royals strayed off-beat, which seemed like he was again trying to make the song his own.

McEntire didn’t shy away from bringing her criticisms up after the performance, telling Royals, “Mac, I still wish we could have stayed with the Bee Gees’ version of the opening because that kind of threw me again — as it did in our rehearsals.”

Royals decision to ignore the country star’s advice likely helped her choice, as she picked Ngyuen to move on to the next round. However, while Royals didn’t win over McEntire, he did find a fan in John Legend, who hit his steal button to add the Arkansas native to his team.

“You have the kind of voice I love to listen to, right in my wheelhouse,” the “Ordinary People” singer said as he welcomed Royals to Team Legend.

Elsewhere on Tuesday’s show, Legend also picked Caleb Sasser to move on after he outperformed Talakai in a performance of Sam Smith’s “Too Good at Goodbyes.” Later, he chose Lila Forde over Bobby Womack’s niece JaRae Womack.

Meanwhile, Niall Horan picked Nini Iris to advance in the competition after she battled Sophia Hoffman in a performance of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass.”