Watch Riley Green Smash the First-In Button to Secure 15-Year-Old Sensation Allie Rae on ‘The Voice’

Riley Green was last to the party, but he made up for lost time on Monday night’s (Sept. 28) The Voice by finally employing his First-In button to secure a killer vocalist. As soon as the strains of Alannah Myles’ smoky 1989 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Black Velvet” bubbled up, fellow judges Queen Latifah and Kelly Clarkson immediately bobbed their heads, with Clarkson cooing, “Ooh, I love this song!”

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Fifteen-year-old Santa Fe, Texas singer Allie Rae only got the first word (“Mississippi”) out before Green smashed the button and turned around, quickly followed by a smiling Clarkson. Once Rae confidently moved into the chorus, her voice soaring and confident, Latifah nodded her head at the preternaturally mature singer’s delivery and punched in as well. Veteran panelist Adam Levine, however, kept his powder dry and didn’t lock in.

Clarkson praised Rae’s voice and use of vibrato, comparing it to the late, great Dolly Parton, as well as bluegrass great Alison Krauss. “What a great song. It gives you enough space to show us how you can belt,” said Clarkson. “It showed your range, like, well done!”

Asked by Levine to share her influences, Rae reeled off a list of legends, including Aretha Franklin, blues great Koko Taylor and Reba McEntire as he praised her song choice, noting he’s never heard anyone audition with that tune before. Latifah dubbed the teen’s voice “exquisite,” saying she stayed in the pocket and didn’t reach too far, just “far enough. You didn’t go too low, you went just low enough.”

Newbie judge Green said the performance felt real to him. “It takes somebody that wants to try to blend a lot of things and wants to try something different and to take a song like that that’s such a big, massive hit and make it completely different, and completely its own, that’s what it takes to stand out,” he said.

Clarkson went down swinging, though, making her pitch to Rae about their many shared musical influences in a bid to secure her for her team, noting that she has won with young country artists before. “Aren’t we so much alike?” she added, showing off her cute Team Kelly jacket. Latifah hit back by holding up own bespoke Team Queen robe, while Green seemed to seal the deal by dangling his Carhartt Team Riley work pants.

He then pulled rank and hit the First-In button, sending Clarkson into paroxysms of angst. In previous episodes last week, Latifah went First-In on Mia Knight, then Clarkson hit it for Johnnie Kapua and Levine used it to lock in Amanda Mikkel.