Anna McElroy walked onto The Voice Season 30 stage looking every bit like the kind of country artist Riley Green might expect to land on his team. But by the end of her Blind Audition, Kelly Clarkson had managed to pull off a victory that even Riley didn’t see coming.
The 27-year-old Nashville-based singer, originally from Mobile, Alabama, performed Maren Morris’ “80s Mercedes,” bringing a confident country sound and plenty of personality to the stage.
Kelly was the first coach to turn her chair, quickly signaling that she wanted Anna on her team. But the situation became much more competitive when Riley turned around as well.
The moment Riley entered the battle, Kelly knew exactly what she was facing. A female country singer choosing between her and a successful country star suddenly looked like a difficult fight.
Kelly wasn’t willing to sit quietly and watch Riley take another country artist. During Anna’s performance, she got out of her chair and moved toward Riley in a playful attempt to interfere with his view and make it clear that she was ready to battle for the singer.
Once the performance ended, Anna revealed something that seemed to give Riley an even bigger advantage: she was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama.
That immediately caught Riley’s attention. He is also from Alabama, giving him an obvious hometown connection to Anna on top of their shared country background.
But Kelly had plenty to offer too. As an experienced Voice coach with deep roots in country and pop music, she argued that she understood how to help a singer like Anna develop without taking away what made her distinctive.
Anna already had years of experience before arriving on The Voice. She began singing at a young age, spent years performing in church and eventually moved to Nashville to pursue songwriting and performing professionally.
She has also opened shows for established country performers, including Sara Evans, Lee Ann Womack and Joe Diffie, making her Blind Audition another major step in a journey that had already taken her deep into the country music world.
With Anna’s Alabama roots and country style, Riley appeared to have everything working in his favor. Even Kelly seemed aware that she was trying to pull off an upset.
Then Anna made her choice.
Instead of choosing her fellow Alabama native, Anna picked Kelly Clarkson, leaving Riley stunned and giving Kelly one of her most satisfying wins of the Blind Auditions so far.
Kelly’s reaction showed exactly how much the victory meant. She had been the first coach to believe in Anna’s performance, literally got out of her chair to fight for her, and somehow convinced an Alabama-born country singer to pass up Riley Green and join Team Kelly. Now Anna heads into the next round with the coach she wanted — even if almost everyone expected her decision to go the other way.
