A singer has unexpectedly dropped out of ‘The Voice’ … again

A week after country singer Tanner Frick unexpectedly dropped out of “The Voice” competition, viewers got yet another surprise: Mor Ilderton, a singer on Gwen Stefani’s team who was praised for his unique style, had also exited the show.
Aside from Stefani noting that Ilderton “had to go home,” “The Voice” didn’t draw much attention to his departure during the prerecorded episode that aired earlier this week.
Here’s a look at Ilderton’s short run on “The Voice” — and what he’s been up to since his exit.
Mor Ilderton ‘The Voice’ blind audition
Ilderton shocked all of the “Voice” coaches when he revealed that his audition was his first time performing.
Following his rendition of Dylan Gossett’s “Coal,” all of the coaches praised his “folky, organic sound.”
The 20-year-old singer from West Virginia ended up with a choice between two coaches — Michael Buble and Snoop Dogg (Reba McEntire also turned around for a chance to get Ilderton on her team, but Buble used his block to stop her).
Buble pulled out all the stops in his pitch to Ilderton, telling the singer that he had “a distinct voice full of character” and joking that he would name his fifth child, who had been born that morning, after him.
“I love that ‘The Voice’ gets to have somebody as unique as you,” Buble said.
Stefani — the only coach who didn’t turn around — told Ilderton that he was a “super gifted” singer with a style that reminded her of Zach Bryan, though tuning issues kept her from throwing her hat in the ring as a coach.
McEntire complimented the “maturity” in Ilderton’s voice and said she looked forward to a possibility of stealing him later on in the competition.
In the end, Ilderton ultimately chose to join Buble’s team — but his time with the pop singer was short-lived.
Mor Ilderton during the Battle round
For the second round of the competition, Ilderton was paired with fellow Team Buble member Kiara Vega for a performance of the Goo Goo Dolls hit “Iris.”
Like Ilderton, Vega, an 18-year-old singer from Tampa, Florida, had also never sung on a stage prior to her “Voice” audition, as the Deseret News previously reported. Following the teenager’s audition, Buble called her “the biggest surprise … so far” in the competition.
Ilderton and Vega wowed all of the coaches with their duet, leading Snoop Dogg to joke that it sounded like they were in love with each other. Following the performance, McEntire said she believed Ilderton had won the Battle, and Stefani said she was drawn to the West Virginia singer’s artistry.
“There’s the voice and then there’s people that are just artists,” she said. “You’re just very unique, so I was just really drawn to that uniqueness that you have.”
Buble was visibly having a hard time picking a winner, and noted that he changed his mind several times throughout the performance. But in the end, he selected Vega to move forward in the competition. He didn’t leave Ilderton completely hanging, though, passing along his phone number to the singer so they could stay in touch.
“Thank you for everything, the advice that I’ve gotten from you, how much I’ve learned, God is so good,” Ilderton said after his elimination.
As Ilderton was walking off the stage, Stefani hit her red button to steal the singer for her team, keeping him in the competition.
But he didn’t stay on “The Voice” for much longer. Ilderton abruptly left the competition ahead of the Knockout round — becoming the second singer this season to make an unexpected departure.
“The Voice” only briefly mentioned that Ilderton had dropped out of the show ahead of the Knockout round — which featured Sting and Jennifer Hudson as mentors — and didn’t provide a reason for the departure.
But the singer has been fairly active on his social media, promoting a new single, “Stranger,” that releases this Friday.
“You may know me from this season of NBC the voice,” he wrote in a recent Instagram post. “If not I’m a folk artist out of WV and I’m releasing a single Nov. 22 called stranger. … Come along this journey with me.”
Per Ilderton’s Instagram, he has also been working with Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. — the Season 6 winner of “America’s Got Talent” — as a guest on his Christmas tour.
The singer from West Virginia has also been vocal about his Christian faith on his social media — and how it inspires his music and songwriting process.
“Before all this voice stuff happened I was actively trying to get back into faith and build my relationship with Christ,” he wrote. “This journey has been a blessing so far and sometimes I feel like I’m not good at just talking to God so I use music. I feel like music has helped me with my relationship tremendously just because when I write for him the songs are so much more meaningful to me and it just explains my journey.”