Reba McEntire will be joined by her team’s celebrity mentor for the Playoff Rounds on Monday’s The Voice — and she couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Anthony Ramos to the singing competition!
The In the Heights star may, at first, seem like an unusual pairing for the country music legend, but Reba raved to ET that Anthony’s versatility makes him the perfect choice to help her coach her remaining five team members.
“He has done it all,” she marveled. “Broadway, television, tours, recording, it’s an all-around package.”
“He knows how to interpret a song. He knows what the audience wants. He knows what an entertainer needs to do on stage to make sure the audience has a wonderful time. And I just got a big kick out of sitting beside him and listening to him,” she continued. “Talk to all my team. It was a huge blessing for them.”
For Anthony, stepping into the mentorship role was “amazing,” as he described the behind-the-scenes work as “the most special part of making art… It was a gift for me to just sit there and receive that.”
And he couldn’t have been more inspired having Reba by his side as he helped to coach the hopeful singers.
“She gets to the heart of the artists… She just gives the artists this space to really find it themselves,” he said, telling his fellow coach, “That was such an amazing thing that I learned from you today… seeing how much room you gave them to grow in the moment.”
With remaining team members Josh Sanders, L. Rodgers, Asher HaVon, Jackie Romeo, Justin & Jeremy Garcia, Reba believes she’s got a “versatile” group of singers as she heads into the Playoffs — where she’ll have to cut the team down to three.
“I feel really confident with my team,” she praised. “I think they’re strong. They have grown so much.”
“Everybody’s got this deep story,” Anthony agreed. “Their personal stories give this extra layer to the songs that I think people are gonna really resonate with. It’s gonna be hard to beat.”
While neither of them could pick a frontrunner, Anthony did admit that there’s one — or rather, two — Team Reba competitors that especially tugged at his heartstrings.
“Seeing Justin and Jeremy singing together was really special for me,” he shared. “My brother is here with me, and we get to work together all the time. Seeing these two brothers on stage, get to perform — especially them being 17 years old…Being able to have this moment together, seeing them just let it loose… that was crazy.”
Anthony was also able to lend some active real-world experience, as he is currently working on new music, following his 2021 album, Love and Lies.
“I’ve been working with a lot of artists in Miami and a lot of collaborators after I moved down,” he shared. “Being Puerto Rican and being out there with people from all over the world — but specifically people from Latin America and the Caribbean — I really was like, ‘Yo, this is where I want to take people on this next vibe.'”
“We sing in English, we sing in Spanish, but all the songs are personal and all the songs are about my life,” he added. “This album feels like it’s about to be the most special one I put out, honestly.”
So, is there a possible collab with his Voice coach, Reba?
“‘The Heart of It,'” Anthony said of a potential song title. “I just think that’s the way Reba leads… That’s how I felt sitting next to you. I’m like, ‘Yo, she gets to the heart of it.'”
The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. PT/ET on NBC.
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