Niall Horan, Chance the Rapper usher in 'rookie season' on 'The Voice' premiere with major wins

 Freshman coaches Niall Horan and Chance the Rapper are bringing the heat to “The Voice,” but they still have to contend with reigning veteran Blake Shelton.

Horan and Chance turned their chairs for country rock crooner Neil Salsich, alongside Shelton and coach Kelly Clarkson, during the Season 23 premiere Monday night. Salsich blew the coaches away with his stunning range and electric rendition of Hank Williams’ “Honkey Tonk Blues.”

“I’m not very familiar with country music, but the texture of your voice – the tone, the range that you had and also the runs that you’re doing – this could be interesting,” Chance said. “Why not a rapper and a country singer together? And it’d be really cool if I stole a country (artist) off Blake.”

Horan added: “Country storytelling is my thing. (Blake) can’t tell you a story at all.”

But in the end, Salsich chose Shelton as his coach.

“This is my last season, and I’m going out with a bang,” Shelton said. “I don’t care if these guys are new and I should be polite. Forget that. They’re going down.”

Chance the Rapper slays Blake Shelton with sister girl group

Sorelle, a sister trio from Ohio, won over Chance and Shelton with their vibrant harmonies on their cover of “Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy” by Queen.

“In hip-hop, artists like Kendrick Lamar and Drake, they find younger artists like you guys that put together harmonics and sample those, and those become the

 biggest records that you hear on the radio,” Chance said. “I would love to put you Shelton then slyly skewered Chance’s pitch. “You could pick Chance, with the goal of someday hoping to be featured on somebody else’s record, or you could pick Team Blake and make your own record,” he told the group.Shelton then slyly skewered Chance’s pitch. “You could pick Chance, with the goal of someday hoping to be featured on somebody else’s record, or you could pick Team Blake and make your own record,” he told the group.guys in (the) position to be able to create some of that stuff from scratch.”