Round one of “The Voice” took place in Washburn A/B in the Memorial Union on Thursday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.

In round one, each contestant performed a full-length song, but there was a twist. Each contestant chose their favorite song and then the songs were assigned randomly to the singers.

The contestants had less than a week to practice their assigned song. Many of the contestants had never heard the song they had to sing before.

“All of them were a little bit nervous because they were singing songs that they didn’t know, so we just worked on putting their own spin on it and getting comfortable and they sure showed that,” said Joseph Desota, executive administrator of academic affairs at Washburn.

The teams are as follows:

Team Joseph DeSota
Eric Patterson
Madeline Dumler
Chartell Grissom

Team Julie Noonan
Carmen Bauer
Lesley Ayala
Xavier Jameson
Sierra Jeter
Angela Holthaus

Team Eric Grospitch
Bryan Wyckoff
Andrea Moya
Maddie Ray
Meghan Scott
Gabe Reichart

DeSota walked away from “The Voice” auditions with five contestants on his team, but between the auditions and round one, two dropped out.

All of the contestants sang their hearts out, but unfortunately both Grospitch and Noonan had to let one of the team members go. DeSota was spared due to already being down two contestants.

Noonan had a hard time deciding who to let go, but it ultimately came down to who was able to tell a story through their song. Noonan reluctantly dropped Ayala.

However, there was another twist to the night. DeSota rang a bell and revealed that he had been given an envelope at the beginning of the night. Since he was already down two team members, he was allowed to steal one of the eliminated contestants.

DeSota used his steal on Ayala and claimed her for his team.

“Lesley has a great voice. Next week, knowing that we’re going to be doing ballads, I think that’s going to be a great genre for her to use. I believe in her,” DeSota said.

Ayala was disappointed at first, but was thrilled when she found out she was being kept in the competition.

“I felt a little sad, but I understood. It was hard for me because I didn’t feel eternally connected to my song,” Ayala said. “When I was saved, I cried. I’m very excited about next week.”

Grospitch still had to let one of his team members go, and unfortunately there were no more secret steals.

Grospitch let Moya go, leaving all teams with four members. The remaining contestants advanced to the next round, which will take place on Thursday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. in Washburn A/B in the Memorial Union.

In round two, the contestants will sing ballads. Everyone is encouraged to come and watch the final two rounds of the competition.

Edited by Ellie Walker and Kyle Manthe