Photo: NBC
Aubrey Nicole took the stage with Reba McEntire’s haunting early 90s single, “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” during the live finale of The Voice on Monday night (December 15).
Nicole, 20, a Nashville-based student from Littlestown, Pennsylvania, is known for combining elements of country, gospel, blues and other genres into her performances. The Team Reba artist said she “couldn’t be happier,” as voting wrapped up after Monday night’s live finale. She added, in part, that “standing on that finale stage was one of the most overwhelming, humbling moments of my life. I walked into this season as a small-town girl with a big dream, a one-chair turn and a save, and somehow I now get to stand shoulder to shoulder with artists who’ve changed me forever. No matter what happens tomorrow night, making it to the finale of The Voice is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. …Thank you for walking this road with me.”
“Aubrey’s got an amazing voice,” said McEntire, who returned as a coach this season alongside Michael Bublé, Snoop Dogg and Niall Horan. “But not only is it an amazing voice, it touches your heart when you listen to her sing. A great range, purity, you can understand every word she sings. That’s what Mama was always a stickler about, and you got it, girl.”
Nicole, who also performed “Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson during the finale, added in the clip shared on Instagram, “and I do have the best coach in the whole wide world, Ms. Reba McEntire, the Queen of Country.”
“Did you hear that?” McEntire said. “Come on, America. You gotta vote for Aubrey. She’s great.” McEntire said in an interview with iHeartCountry earlier this year that “we want to lift up” the rising artists competing on the show. “We want to inspire. We want to encourage, not tear down. They get enough of that out there in the world.”
Finale results will air live on Tuesday evening (December 16) at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on NBC. The show is available to stream the following day on Peacock. Watch Nicole's performances below.