MOBILE, Ala. — Riley Green thought he had this one locked up. A country singer from Mobile, a cheer of “Roll Tide!” and a coach from Alabama sitting in one of the red chairs seemed to add up to an easy decision. Instead, Mobile native Anna McElroy chose Kelly Clarkson during the blind auditions of NBC’s “The Voice,” turning one of the most talked-about moments of Season 30 into a win for Team Kelly.
McElroy, 26, sang Maren Morris’ “80s Mercedes” on Monday night’s two-hour episode, Sept. 28. Three of the four coaches — Clarkson, Queen Latifah and Green — turned their chairs for her. Clarkson and Latifah both spun around within the first 30 seconds of the performance, and Green joined in before the song was over.
The fourth coach, Adam Levine, stayed facing the audience but made it clear he regretted the decision. “You’re super great, and I missed out,” Levine told her.
A three-way bidding war
Under the rules of “The Voice,” an artist who gets more than one chair turn picks which coach to work with. That gives the singer the power in the room, and it gives the coaches a few minutes to make their pitch.
When McElroy introduced herself as a singer from Alabama and added a “Roll Tide!” for good measure, the result looked like a formality. Green, who grew up in Jacksonville, Ala., and still owns a farm there, had already added two Alabama singers to his team in the season premiere — Joe Henley of Grand Bay and Caroline Alexis of Ozark. In his mind, McElroy would make three.
Even Clarkson seemed ready to concede at first. “I already feel defeated,” she said. “I just want to say it’s nice to meet you. Enjoy Riley’s team.”
Green made his case in plain terms. “It’s the obvious choice,” he told McElroy. “We grew up very similar, both from Alabama. Maren (Morris) does do a lot of pop country, and she lives in a lot of spaces. But I have to imagine that you’ve got a very country background. If that’s where you truly live and that’s where your heart lives, then I think you should live with me.”
Clarkson rallies
Clarkson did not stay defeated for long. She leaned on her own country roots and her track record on the show.
“OK, I’m Texan. I grew up with country music. I’ve won this show. I’m proven,” Clarkson said. “Look, I know you’re gonna pick him. I know you’re from Alabama. I know he’s got this vampire glamour thing going on, … I can win with you, and I think that I would be a really great coach.”
Latifah, a first-time coach this season, offered some of the warmest praise of the night.
“Anna, you just came on this stage and you showed it who was boss,” Latifah said. “It was just a beautiful performance. You are gorgeous, but your voice is what made us turn from the very beginning. You definitely are country, but you are also the world. I see you moving into different spaces, doing different things, and that’s why she needs to be rolling with the Queen.”
McElroy, a singer-songwriter who also works as a waitress, was visibly delighted by the attention. After several minutes of back-and-forth, she picked Clarkson, surprising the studio audience and the other coaches.
‘The gloves are coming off’
Clarkson made no secret of how much the win meant to her, especially given the matchup.
“If I can beat Riley this season with a country artist, you know what that would feel like,” Clarkson said. “You know, doughnuts are great, but like, a fresh doughnut where the icing is melting still and it’s just right out of the oven. That’s the kind of feeling I’m gonna feel.”
Green took the loss with a smile but promised a tougher fight going forward.
“That one kind of hurt,” Green said. “She’s from Alabama, from Mobile, and I thought I kind of had this one in the bag. You can tell Kelly’s done this before. So the gloves are coming off.”
Who is Anna McElroy?
McElroy was born and raised in Mobile and attended Mobile Christian School. She has loved music since she was 4 years old and sang in her church choir for most of her life. She first performed professionally at 15.
Over the years she has opened for a string of country artists, including Clay Walker, Joe Diffie, Jon Langston, Lee Ann Womack and Sara Evans. She moved to Nashville in 2020 and has spent the years since writing, recording and performing as she builds a career in country music.
Before her Season 30 air date, McElroy told fans on Facebook that she would appear on the show within a couple of weeks, though she did not yet know the exact episode. “Make sure to tune in to NBC, and please show all of the other contestants some love and support too!” she wrote.
“The Voice” is not her first turn on a network singing competition. McElroy earned a golden ticket to Hollywood on Season 23 of “American Idol,” which aired in 2025. She received little screen time that season and was eliminated during the Hollywood Round. Her blind audition on “The Voice” gave her a far bigger national spotlight — and a coach who knows both shows well, since Clarkson won the first season of “American Idol” in 2002.
The song she chose
“80s Mercedes” is an upbeat, nostalgic track from Maren Morris, the Texas-born singer-songwriter whose major-label debut album, “Hero,” was released in 2016. The song’s mix of country storytelling and pop polish is part of what Green was referring to when he described Morris as an artist who “lives in a lot of spaces” — and what Latifah pointed to when she said McElroy could move beyond a single genre.
Choosing a song that straddles country and pop may have helped McElroy draw interest from three very different coaches: a traditional country star in Green, a pop and country crossover veteran in Clarkson, and a hip-hop and film icon in Latifah.
Alabama’s growing presence on Season 30
McElroy is the third Alabama singer to advance out of the blind auditions this season, and the first to go somewhere other than Team Riley.
In the Sept. 21 premiere, Grand Bay’s Joe Henley, 19, sang Travis Tritt’s 1991 country hit “Anymore.” Green and Clarkson both turned for him, and Henley chose Green, who later joined him on stage to sing Green’s song “My Way.” Caroline Alexis of Ozark also joined Green’s team on premiere night.
That puts two south Alabama singers — one from Grand Bay in southwest Mobile County and one from Mobile itself — on opposite sides of the Clarkson–Green rivalry heading into the next round.
Riley Green’s first season in the chair
Season 30 is Green’s first as a coach. Born in 1988, he grew up in Jacksonville in Calhoun County and played quarterback for the Jacksonville State University Gamecocks before turning to music full time. His debut single, “There Was This Girl,” reached No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart in 2019, the same year the Academy of Country Music named him New Male Artist of the Year. He has since had success with duets including “Different ‘Round Here” with Luke Combs and “You Look Like You Love Me” with Ella Langley.
Green’s ties to the Gulf Coast extend beyond the show. His recently announced 2027 “That’s Just Me Tour” includes one Alabama date, June 4 at The Wharf in Orange Beach.
A veteran coach with a winning record
Clarkson, who grew up in Texas, is back for her 11th season as a coach. She has coached multiple winners of “The Voice,” a point she made sure McElroy heard during her pitch. Levine, the Maroon 5 frontman, is in his 19th season in the chair, while Latifah and Green are both newcomers this year. Carson Daly continues as host.
How the competition works from here
Blind auditions are the first stage of every season. Coaches sit with their backs to the stage and judge singers on voice alone, pressing a button to turn their chairs if they want an artist on their team. This season each coach is filling a team of 12, for 48 artists in all, and Season 30 added a “First-In Button” that lets each coach guarantee one artist a spot.
After the blinds, McElroy moves into the Battle Rounds, where coaches pair members of their own teams to sing head-to-head and then decide who advances. Season 30 also replaces the knockout rounds with a new elimination stage called “Cut Week,” billed by the show as its biggest elimination round yet.
How to watch
- Remaining blind auditions: Two more episodes are scheduled for Oct. 5 and Oct. 6.
- Battle Rounds: Begin Oct. 12.
- Time and channel: 7 p.m. Central on NBC. In the Mobile Bay area, the show airs on WPMI-TV, Channel 15.
- Streaming: Episodes are available on Peacock the next day.
For viewers in Mobile, the coming weeks offer a rare local rooting interest on both sides of the stage: a Grand Bay teenager learning from an Alabama country star, and a Mobile-born songwriter who bet on a Texan with a trophy case. Whether Clarkson gets her fresh-doughnut moment, or Green gets his revenge, will play out in the Battles.