Season 21 of “The Voice” kicked off Monday night, and it didn’t take long to get a four-chair turn from the coaches. This year, the first act to get all the coaches — Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and newcomer Ariana Grande — fighting for them was a trio of singers called Girl Named Tom.
The band is made up of three siblings, but no, none of them are actually named Tom. Their names are actually Caleb, Bekah Grace and Josh, and they’re from South Bend, Ind. As the siblings explained, Bekah is technically the “girl named Tom” because when she was a baby, her brothers called her Thomas (something both Clarkson and Grande found absolutely charming).
In their first appearance on “The Voice,” they opted to sing “Helplessly Hoping,” a song from another iconic trio: Crosby, Stills and Nash. You can watch the full performance in the video above.
Though it looked like Shelton might be the first to turn his chair for Girl Named Tom — he had his hand poised to slam his button as soon as the acoustic guitar started up — he actually ended up being third. Clarkson was the first to turn, and she did so before the group even got 10 seconds into their vocals.
Legend came next, but Shelton and Grande held out just a little bit longer. According to Shelton, he only held off because “I was waiting to hear somebody step out and sing by themselves. At some point, somebody’s gonna need to be the one to step out.”
“I was obsessed,” Grande said. “I loved how tightly knit those harmonies were. My favorite part is vocal production and adding all of these layers, and that’s like my dream. When you guys started I was so surprised in the best way. All of the ideas popping into my head — I want you guys to do an Imogen Heap song really badly.”
Legend noted that he was thinking the same thing in terms of future songs the group should perform. In the end, though, it was Clarkson who prevailed, and Girl Named Tom is now officially on Team Kelly — despite Shelton’s best efforts to undermine her case.