‘The Voice’ recap: Second chances and the show’s first marriage proposal

“The Voice” generally throws in a curveball here or there to keep things interesting during blind auditions, but Monday night’s episode, kicking off the second week of Season 9, had enough curious moments in it for Blake Shelton to dub it the show’s “oddest” ever.

Shelton was probably primarily, although perhaps not exclusively, referring to the audition of country-folk duo Jubal and Amanda, an Oklahoma couple who have been involved with each other musically and romantically for a year and a half. She runs a music school; he’s a single dad whose own father, Steve Young, wrote the song “Seven Bridges Road,” made famous by the Eagles. Sweetly, that’s the song the duo chose to sing for their audition.

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Both Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani spun their chairs for Jubal and Amanda, but then Jubal, whose full name is Jubal Lee (as in jubilee) Young, spun all the coaches’ heads by pulling out a ring, dropping to one knee and proposing to his partner.

“Did she say yes?” Shelton wanted to know after the hubbub had subsided.

“She said yes!” Jubal exclaimed, perhaps a tad irritated at the suggestion that she might not have.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” Amanda explained.

She’ll have to wait a little longer for the actual ceremony. Adam Levine suggested that they take advantage of the fact that Shelton was “technically” an ordained minister (who knew?), but they demurred. “Let’s enjoy this moment for a minute,” Jubal said.

Ultimately, the newly engaged couple picked Williams as their coach.

“We got the coach we wanted and I got the girl I wanted,” Jubal later declared.

Here are the other contestants who got a coach and got onto the show at Monday night’s blinds:

Morgan Frazier: This 22-year-old country singer, whose pursuit of a music career began when she was a little girl and took her to Nashville from Texas when she was just 16, turned Stefani and, at the last minute, Shelton by recasting “I Want You to Want Me” as a mournful, lilting love song. “Don’t listen to him. He’s going to try to seduce you,” Stefani warned of Shelton. In fact, Shelton’s wooing – he told Frazier her voice was “fragile,” “powerful” and “absolutely 100% country -- worked. Frazier followed her heart and chose him as her coach.

Amanda Ayala: Only 17, this recent high school grad from Mahopac, N.Y., inherited a love of ‘80s rock from her parents. Hoping to impress Stefani, she instead turned the three other coaches with her take on “Mississippi Queen.” “I was hearing a little of the youth in it,” Stefani noted, congratulating Ayala on turning everyone else. Williams promised to take the young singer to another level. Shelton said she’d stand out on his team. Levine vowed to help her make rapid progress. She chose Levine, saying she felt like, of the three, he was the best fit for her rock interests.

Jeffery Austin: Originally from Chicago, now living in New York, this 24-year-old singer had starred in his high school musicals, but didn’t pursue music in college, instead studying and later taking a job in public relations. After six years away from performing, however, he stepped out and sang “Lay Me Down,” turning Stefani. She called it a “perfect performance” and marveled that no one else had turned. After handing Austin his Team Gwen T-shirt, Stefani told the other coaches he had shown “no nervousness in his body. He was just like, ‘I’m just singing a song.’”

Lyndsey Elm: A high school basketball player who studied kinesiology in college and then joined her family’s pest control business, this 22-year-old from Vacaville, Calif., turned every single chair with her compelling, stripped-down version of “Lips Are Moving.” Stefani, who had turned first, said she was glad she’d been able to see Elm’s “personality” and “presence” and that she wanted to nurture the singer’s growth and development. Levine and Shelton bickered about their love of basketball and Williams promised, should Elm choose him as her coach, to make her more confident and comfortable, but Elm opted for Stefani, explaining that she seemed like the “best fit for me right now.”

Manny Cabo: At 45, this New Jersey dad has found intermittent success as a freelance photographer, but his true love is music. He turned all four coaches with his impressive performance of “Here I Go Again.” Williams gave him a standing ovation; Levine stood on his chair. Shelton commended Cabo, who is bald, on turning the place “into a hair-band concert” and urged Cabo not to trust a grown man, like Levine, who rolled up the cuffs of his jeans. “I’m desperate,” Shelton admitted when Williams questioned his tactics. Then he turned to Cabo. “You seem like a man’s man, and I want a man.” But Levine wanted him more. “Hearing you sing the crap out of that song specifically ignites me,” the Maroon 5 singer gushed, recalling that he’d started out singing songs just like it in a band at summer camp. Complimenting Cabo’s “power” and “presence,” Levine said he was shocked to learn Cabo’s age because he looked, sounded and acted 20. “My heart is pounding right now because I know all the kinds of great things we will have in common,” he said. “I want you so damn bad.” Levine got what he wanted. (Phew.)

Madi Davis: After surgery remedied this Texas 16-year-old’s childhood hearing problem, she discovered a love of singing. Her rendition of “It’s Too Late,” which showed off her unusual tone, sparked a battle between Williams and Stefani, each of whom sought to coach her. Williams said she had a “natural” talent that excited him. He reminded her that he won the show last season. Stefani said Davis shouldn’t get “blindsided” by Williams’ “gorgeous face and his talent and his charm and his smarts.” Levine gleefully noted that Stefani and Williams were fighting for real and no longer engaged in a “Care Bear wrestling match.” Ultimately, Davis chose Williams as her coach. “I was so close to picking Gwen, but I had the feeling that I needed to pick Pharrell,” she said.

Chris Crump: After getting his start as a child touring with his family’s gospel band, Crump pursued his own path in rock and pop music. To make it to his “Voice” audition, he and his remarkably supportive new wife actually skipped out early on their own wedding reception. Thankfully the move paid off: Crump’s sweet “Thinking Out Loud” earned him a fairly fast four-chair turn. All the coaches had nice things to say, but Shelton had the nicest, telling Crump his voice had “a warmth” during the verses that was “very emotional” and drew him in and an upper register that “really hits you in the heart.” Shelton’s well-chosen words got through; Crump picked the country coach. “How does he think of such good things to say when he has alcohol brain damage?” Stefani later wondered of Shelton, who seems to be on a roll this season.

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Tyler Dickenson: Shelton didn’t have to work hard to win this talented 21-year-old, who found success in country music as a kid – “The Outlaw Kid,” they called him – and then saw it all slip away when his label shut down and he was involved in a serious car accident. Strangely, Shelton was the only one to turn for Dickenson’s “Hard to Handle,” but their match seemed like fate. As soon as he heard Dickenson’s name, Shelton realized he knew who he was. “Were you in Nashville? Did you have a record deal?” he asked. Later, Shelton told the other coaches, “They were calling him the next Travis Tritt, and then I never heard anything else about him.” Here’s to second chances.

Advancing via fast-forward montage were Riley Biederer and Daria Jazmin, who both made it onto Team Pharrell, and Cassandra Robertson, who joined Team Adam.

That leaves every coach with eight singers on his or her team, except Levine, who has seven – but he’ll have time to catch up Tuesday night.

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