Garden City's Ava Nat aces her blind audition on 'The Voice,' joins Niall Horan's team

On Monday's blind auditions episode of the NBC singing competition "The Voice," Garden City's Ava Natalie Milone, who performs as Ava Nat, won a spot on Niall Horan's team with a powerfully heartfelt rendition of Gracie Abrams' "I Love You, I'm Sorry" that prompted three of the four coaches to turn their chairs and vie for her.

"Your voice was absolutely beautiful," said singer-actor Reba McEntire. "It's like butter — it’s just so smooth and clear." When the country music legend went on to ask, "Are you into theater?," 2024 Garden City High School graduate Milone, 18, responded, "I did take theater arts, but I love, like, singer-songwriter pop. I do also sing jazz."

Hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg told Milone: "When I heard you singing, I could hear that you were young, but you were performing as if you were on Broadway. The way you walked into the lyrics, all of that is show-womanship, and you had it. A lot of people don't get that until they get further along into their career. It would be an honor to be your coach."

Former One Direction singer Horan then said Milone had demonstrated "this ability, kind of like Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor [Swift], where it's like they're reading out of a journal. That's such a difficult thing to do, but it's not difficult if you feel the lyric. And you clearly connected with that song. ... That was very impressive."

Milone, dressed in a three-quarter burgundy gown with an asymmetrical hem, brown bolero jacket and cowboy boots, thanked the coaches (including singer Michael Bublé, who did not turn his chair) and said: "I wish I could be on all of you guys’ teams. But I think just based on the emotional connection to, like, lyrics," that Horan was her choice.

“Snoop was saying some really kind things and I was leaning toward him first,” Milone said by phone Tuesday, “but I always kind of knew going into it that Niall would be a great match for me. Not only do I love him as a pop singer-songwriter, but I felt really seen by him. By the words he was saying, I feel like he just got me as an artist. ... And in that moment I thought, ‘He's going to be the best coach for me to pick songs with in the future and to work with.’ ”

Milone — the youngest of three daughters, one deceased, of attorneys Guy and Christina Milone — chose her audition song out of admiration for Grammy Award nominee Abrams, daughter of filmmaker J.J. Abrams. “Gracie as an artist has been a big inspiration for me,” says Milone, now a freshman at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. “She started in her room making songs that meant a lot for her, and just kind of expressing herself through music, which is what I love to do. ... So it was really cool to sing not only this amazing song, but sing a song from an artist I look up to.”

On Instagram Tuesday afternoon, Milone posted: “Still can’t believe I got to live this moment. This has already been one of the best experiences of my life. I’m beyond grateful for everyone I’ve met through this journey so far — the incredible artists I get to call my friends, the team behind the scenes, and everyone back home cheering me on. Your support means everything."

She added, “@niallhoran I’m honored to have you as my coach. ... This is just the beginning and I’m so excited for what’s next ... And of course, props to my mama for always being by my side."

Shortly afterward, she posted a split-screen video of her performance and of family and friends seated in a large room watching her sing on the episode. "It was surreal to watch me on @nbcthevoice," she wrote. "Thank you to everyone who came to cheer me on!" And she gave a shoutout to "Team Niall: (my mom, dad, sister Lily, and vocal coach Natalie [Gray] in the video)."