‘The Voice’ season 26 episode 3 recap: 14-year-old Jaylen Dunham changes Gwen Stefani’s mind

Tonight on “The Voice,” coaches Michael Buble, Snoop Dogg, Reba McEntire and Gwen Stefani sat for Part 3 of the Blind Auditions round of season 26. New this season is the “Coach Replay,” a unique one-use power that each coach has to change their mind about an artist that none of them originally turned their chair for. In this set of auditions, Gwen had a change of heart when she realized that the Beyoncé track she had just heard came from a 14-year-old boy.

We were introduced to Jaylen Dunham as a kid that “loves to clean” and was concerned with the fingerprints on the staging room table he was at prior to his performance. The North Carolina native grew up performing for his family “all day, every day” and then became a viral sensation at the age of 12 that led to an invitation to sing “Listen” during Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater.

Jaylen made the decision to sing the same song for the coaches on “The Voice,” but the rendition failed to impress any of them strongly enough to earn a chair turn. Gwen was the most shook by the revelation that she had just listened to someone so young when the four chairs finally turned to show Jaylen on stage. Gwen actually left the dais to approach Jaylen for a hug and tell him it was “incredible.” In initial comments, Reba assumed that Jaylen often gets surprised reactions and Snoop admitted that “when [his] back was turned, [he] thought it was a woman that was singing.”

For Gwen’s part, she said that this was the “best one so far” in terms of surprises on the show. She told him that she was “blown away” by the tuning of his voice in the lower register, but she didn’t turn because she could hear the worry in his voice as it went on and no one was turning. Then she explained the new power of the season and pressed her replay button. Explaining her choice, Gwen said that she was briefly in head debating whether or not to press her button and then thought “Yes, you have that feeling right now. You have that regretful feeling, like that’s what it’s for.”

By the end of Episode 3, Jaylen and eight other artists were freshly added to teams. Team Snoop recruited four chair turn Georgia Starnes and MisterMoon. Team Reba picked up Creigh Riepe, Adam Bohanan, and Tate Renner. Team Gwen added Jaylen Dunham and four chair turn Frankie Torres. Team Buble brought in Edward Preble and four chair turn Jeremy Beloate.

The teams so far:

TEAM SNOOP  (7 of 14 full) – ChrisDeo, DREION, Gail Bliss, George Starnes, Jake Tankersley, MisterMoon, Torre Blake

TEAM REBA (7 of 14 full) – 323, Adam Bohanan, Creigh Riepe, Danny Joseph, Kendall Eugene, Tanner Frick, Tate Renner

TEAM GWEN (7 of 14 full) – Austyns Stancil, Felsmere, Frankie Torres, Jan Dan, Jaylen Dunham, Rowdy Shea, Sydney Sterlace

TEAM BUBLE (6 of 14 full) – Edward Preble, Jeremy Beloate, Kamila Kiehne, Kiara Vega, Mor Ilderton, Sofronio Vasquez

The four-time Emmy Award-winning musical competition series “The Voice” is in its 26th season featuring five stages of competition: Blind Auditions, Battle Rounds, Knockouts, Playoffs and Live Performance Shows. In the coaches’ chairs, Reba is the defending champion after winning season 25 with Asher HaVon, the show’s first openly LGBTQ champ. She is joined by Gwen, in her 8th season, and Snoop and Michael, both competing for the first time. The Blind Auditions are expected to continue through October 15 when the 6th part of first-round performances airs.