Kelly Clarkson knows talent, and she spotted it quickly when D. Smooth took the stage on Monday’s episode of “The Voice.”

D. Smooth (whose offstage name is David Mitchell) covered Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” during blind auditions for Season 23 of the NBC reality series, causing Clarkson to turn her chair about 40 seconds into his performance. (That’s the signal, of course, that a “Voice” celebrity coach wants a singer on his or her team.)

Clarkson clearly thought she had a lock on D. Smooth, but Niall Horan — a new coach on the show and a former member of One Direction — turned his chair in the last second or so, battling Clarkson to get the singer on his team. “Nooooo!” Clarkson wailed.

The two other coaches, Chance the Rapper and Blake Shelton, didn’t turn their chairs, but Chance had significant praise for D. Smooth.

“D. Smooth, I got to tell you, straight outta the gate, you smashed that, you powered through,” Chance the Rapper said. “There was like, maybe a second at the very beginning where there might have been a little sour note, but straight from after that, you just had so much control. I told Kelly she needed to turn around.”

“I loved the runs; I was enjoying the runs,” Clarkson said. “I’ve been here nine seasons. Mama turns when she wants to turn. … It was so different from how Ed does it, and I love that.”

“You just carried the song and you kept taking it to new heights, nice and delicate at the start, and then you went on a rip and you were just flying,” Horan said. “It was so cool. … Whoever you end up with, you’re a super singer, and you’re going to go really far in this.”

Clarkson reminded D. Smooth that he needed to be on his A-game for every performance going forward. “I really want you on my team. That’s all, D. Smooth,” Clarkson said.

D. Smooth decided to go with “Miss Kelly,” after expressing his appreciation and thanking the coaches for their feedback. “It means a lot to me just to be here,” he said. As a capper, Clarkson ran to the stage and hugged him.

D. Smooth moves on to the battle rounds, where he’ll duet/duel with another contestant on Clarkson’s team, vying to keep his spot in the competition.

The singer, 25, graduated from Minor High School and studied at Faulkner University, according to his Facebook profile. He has performed at venues such as Eighty Eight and Encore Theatre and Gallery in Birmingham, and B.B. King’s Blues Club in Montgomery. A Facebook video posted by Rickey Smiley in 2021 shows D. Smooth singing Jodeci’s “Come & Talk To Me” at the Comedy Club Stardome, during one of Smiley’s Karaoke Nights at the venue in Hoover.

“Voice” fans in Alabama will want to keep their eyes peeled for another singer during Season 23. Jerome Godwin, a junior at Auburn University at Montgomery, auditioned for “The Voice” this season and is likely to be featured during the next few episodes.

“The Voice” airs on NBC twice per week: Mondays at 7 p.m. CT and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. CT. Early episodes of the show are filmed in advance.

Alabama’s never had a winner on “The Voice,” but three singers from our state have made it to the finals: Dexter Roberts, who took third place on Season 16; Kirk Jay, who placed third on Season 15; and Red Marlow, who came in fourth during Season 13. Other “Voice” contestants from the state have included Berritt Haynes, Emma Caroline Warren, Levi Watkins, Cam Spinks, Josie Jones and Worth the Wait.

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