"The Big Bang Theory" star Kaley Cuoco might need to hire another personal assistant, because her sister is a new contestant on "The Voice."
“I don’t want to make appointments, take the dogs, call the plumber,” Briana Cuoco said about playing second fiddle to TV's beloved Penny before her blind audition Monday night.
Her performance of "You and I" didn't look promising at first, but Christina Aguilera turned her chair around about halfway through. CeeLo Green pressed at the last possible second, thanks to some goading from Adam Levine.
Briana chose Christina -- who apparently did not recognize her famous last name. For once, Briana had the spotlight while Kaley was reduced to the role of supportive sibling.
Cuoco is the second contestant with Hollywood ties: Last week, Dottie from “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” made it through the blind auditions.
Poor Blake
You probably know by now that Blake Shelton has coached the last three winners of “The Voice.” If you didn’t, it’s not for lack of trying on his part, since he manages to bring up that accomplishment every time he’s fighting to win a contestant.
The other coaches are fighting back the only way they can right now -- by steering singers away from him.
For example, take Adam’s advice to Lina Gaudenzi, who was faced with a choice between Christina and Blake.
“Yes, we all hate to see Blake win, we want to see him lose,” he told her. “But more importantly, we want to see talented artists thrive.” And she’d thrive best, Adam said, with Christina.
It worked. That’s who she picked.
Blake also felt ill-used by the other coaches when they helped talk 15-year-old Timyra-Joi into picking Christina over him.
“Again, I had the coach alliance against me,” Blake said.
However, it was Blake’s own mouth that got him in trouble at the end of the night when he tried to outfox Adam and CeeLo for Preston Pohl. He said he didn’t know Pohl’s home state of Texas was known for rap, only to witness CeeLo rattle off a list of artists that left Pohl impressed and the three-time champion shaking his head.
“I just screwed myself, didn’t I?” Blake said.
Yup. But CeeLo didn’t benefit. Pohl went with Adam instead.
Trophy time
On the other hand, Blake had much better luck battling the boys for Monika Leigh.
“I want to build my team around this girl!” Blake said right after she finished singing “The Thrill is Gone.” With Adam and Cee Lo also arguing for her, Blake went to the hardware.
“I can give you three reasons why you should pick me,” he said, bringing out his trophies and placing them on his podium.
Leigh was skeptical, noting that she didn’t consider herself a country artist. But Blake doesn’t have three titles in a row because he has a nice smile, a folksy accent and dimples. Well, OK, at least those aren’t the only reasons.
Blake wooed the skeptical Leigh by noting that of his three champions, only one was a country artist. R&B artist Jermaine Paul won season two, and season three's Cassadee Pope was more of a rocker -- though you could certainly call her a country rock artist if you wanted to get technical.
The sales pitch paid off, however, and Leigh decided to become one of the building blocks of what Blake hopes is his fourth straight championship squad. If that happens, he’ll need a bigger chair next season – the three trophies he already has barely fit there now.