Sept. 29--Another contestant with ties to the Chicago area has joined Season 9 of "The Voice."
Jeffery Austin, 24, sang Sam Smith's "Lay Me Down" in Monday's episode and joined coach Gwen Stefani's team.
"You have so much in that voice of yours. It's pretty amazing. And I just thought it was a really beautiful, beautiful performance," said Stefani, the lead singer for No Doubt. Austin said it was his first performance in six years, since high school.
Stefani was the only mentor to turn her chair during Austin's performance so he automatically joined her team. Two of the other coaches, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, later expressed regret for not hitting their buzzers to try to get Austin to join their teams.
Austin, whose full name is Jeffery Austin McClelland, attended St. Charles North High School and now works in public relations in New York. He is the fourth contestant from the Chicago area to join "The Voice" this season, which premiered last week.
Mount Prospect native Hanna Ashbrook is also on Stefani's team while Keith Semple, a Northern Ireland native who lives in Chicago, is on Levine's team and Chicago native Mark Hood is on Pharrell's team.
The winner, which is determined by public vote, gets $100,000 and a record deal.
Auditions continue Tuesday on NBC at 7 p.m. "The Voice" airs Mondays and Tuesdays.
