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Niall Horan makes unprecedented move on The Voice to convince contestant to choose him as their coach

All it took were some "dirty tricks."

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Published on March 6, 2023 10:04PM EST

The new coaches on The Voice came to play, friends.

No one on the season 23 coaches panel is shy, especially not Niall Horan, who, along with Chance the Rapper, made his coaching debut on The Voice's season 23 premiere. While Niall has enthusiasm for days, the Blind Auditions premiere episode was deep into the proceedings when the "Heaven" singer found himself still without anyone on his inaugural team. So by the time Ross Clayton, a country singer with a rock edge, stepped on stage to perform Keith Urban's "Blue Ain't Your Color," Niall was desperate to finally win over an artist with a pitch to join his team.

THE VOICE -- Season: 23 -- Niall Horan — Kelly Clarkson and Niall Horan compete for a contestant in 'The Voice'. NBC

Ross's audition was so good — you can tell he's been performing live for a while by the way he navigates the story of the song, plus, he can hit some big ol' notes — that all four coaches turned for him... meaning that the former One Directioner had to make a convincing argument.

Kelly Clarkson told Ross that he has "a huge, beautiful gift" while Chance loved his "unique tone," but when it came time for Niall to pitch, he decided to do things a little differently. "I need a bit of privacy," he said before walking over to Blake's chair and pushing his button, which lo and behold, sent the chair spinning back around so couldn't see the stage or Ross anymore. By the time he got to a shocked Kelly, Niall added a little flourish to the act and pushed her button with his forehead. (She watched the rest of the pitch over the top of her big red chair.)

"See how much power I've got around here? I can spin chairs. That's never been done," Niall said in his attempt to woo Ross to his team. But more than just hilarious theatrics — and a great impression of Blake going on and on about how this is his last season on The Voice — Niall also told Ross that yes, he's a country artist, but he loved the performance because he "was hearing so much soul." "Your voice is absolutely incredible," he said. Once all the coaches are turned back around, how can Ross pick anyone but Niall? All it took for Niall to win over his very first artist was a little sincerity and some, according to Blake, "dirty tricks."

But Blake isn't mad about Niall's power move, in fact, he's impressed. He's been wondering who would take over the mantle of Team Blake once he's gone and Niall's chair trick gave him "the confidence that he can be the liar he needs to be to cover for Team Blake from now on." Playing off of their little father/son coaching duo vibe, Blake came over to Niall after and told him, "I'm damn proud of you, son." Niall replied accordingly, "Thank you, dad." Yep, things are just totally normal and fine over here on season 23 of The Voice.

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