The Voice – Battle Rounds

By starrymag | October 26, 2015

Q) Amy, Pharrell comes up to you and he tells you I’m putting you up against not one but two talented singers. I’m wondering what is the thought process. And it was a really good performance. How did it come together as well as it did?

Amy: Well, we went through – my mentality changed throughout from the start of finding out that I was singing against not one but two people for this duet – singing a duet with a duet. At first I was like – I was excited by it because I’m still getting used to this whole battle mentality, that there’s a winner and a loser at the end of each of these rounds. So at first I was really excited, and then once we started digging into it I realized just how challenging it actually was going to be, especially because not only our – there’s two of them and one of me, but we come from very different backgrounds and our styles are very different. But I eventually came to embrace the challenge, and I think we all realize that this is an opportunity. It was a little bit weird that we were paired together. It was an opportunity to make something unique and new. So ultimately I’m grateful that we had this unique challenge.

Q) Summer, Nadjah and Darius, I’d like each of you to tell us what we missed – how you felt about your song, your strategy going into the battle and what you think you might have turned the tide in your favor.

Nadjah Nicole: So at first we got our songs – when I found out I was paired with Cole it was pretty cool because I’ve never really done a duet before. And I had to first learn how to really connect with my partner and Cole was such an easygoing guy and so talented that he made it really easy to work together. And then the song – it was surprising because not only was it a Britney Spears song, but then to do the Ed Sheeran cover of it – it was a little awkward at first because I didn’t know how to approach it. But because Cole played guitar, it was a lot easier to work things out vocally with him and harmonies and everything. So during the battle you just saw me move around the stage more. You saw us connect, looking at each other, working with each other on the stage. Vocally it was such an honor to work with Cole because he has such a beautiful voice. And he definitely challenged me because I don’t have a very big voice. I’m not like in your face and Cole’s voice – when pushed he has a very strong voice. So I had to make sure that I was on his level and as well as him blending with me. He had to make sure that we blended well. So even though I won, I will say that we both won in a sense because we both learned something from each other. And I think the end result was pretty cool. If you listen to the recorded version on YouTube, I think it sounds beautiful. And that’s pretty much it.

Q) And what do you think actually turned the tide in your favor?

Nadjah Nicole: I guess the only thing that I could say would be experience, vocally. He’s sixteen, seventeen and I’m twenty-four and I’ve been doing this a lot longer. I think that – I can’t say that I’m better or he’s better because we’re both great artists. We’re both great singers. But if anything, I guess maybe it was that I’m more experienced.

Summer: Well, I sang with Hannah Ashbrook. We sang “Leave the Pieces” by The Records. And I think a lot of people thought that maybe because it was more of a country song and it was more in my wheelhouse, yes, that I maybe had more of an edge. But Hannah actually has this way with making a song her own and she’s an indie artist. So she made it sound incredible and I was so nervous singing with her. And she just brought so much to the table and it really freaked me out. And I think we really, really kicked some butt on that song. And I wish you all could have seen it. This is really hard because Hannah and I both were – did really well and she’s such a great singer. But I think with me I was a little more confident and I think that showed. And in our rehearsals, Gwen had both talked to us about how we need to connect more emotionally to the songs. And I think my confidence showed more on stage and I think that’s maybe why Gwen had chose me.

Darius: I battled against Daria Jasmine and we had a very simple song, but we all know that sometimes the simple things can make things really difficult. And we had the Bill Withers song “Lean on Me,” and while the song really only has three or four chords, it’s how to sing it and share it that me and Daria had the most fun figuring out. I think Daria’s a consummate performer. I don’t have the – I’m pretty shy, so I don’t’ have the same confidence level that Daria has. And that was one of the critiques that you guys didn’t get to see last night, that Pharrell really wanted me to dig in and connect more to the song. And it wasn’t – for me it wasn’t that I had trouble connecting with the song. It was a little more I was a little shy about it all. But to answer your question as to why I – why the tide swung in my favor, I think I just decided once I got my original critiques from Pharrell – I decided to dive in from, I guess — to echo Nadjah’s point — from the place of experience. And I’ve been singing that song for so long that I just had to remember that it’s just like any other time I sing a song. And that’s the way I approached it. You hear in the record I kind of sang pretty true to the melody except for toward the end of the song when the band was wrapping up. And I just decided in that moment to have fun with it and I think Pharrell was pretty pleased with me being willing to break out of my little shy shell. And I think that’s one of the reasons he chose me.

Q) Shelby, talk a little bit about the interaction between you, Adam, and John Fogerty. How much did John contribute to – or what was the best lesson John – or advice he gave you during your time with him?

Shelby: I think a lot of what they wanted to work on with me was my confidence, especially not just with the song but – I expressed that I was worried about the timing. And John Fogerty uses a lot of his own personal experiences to teach. I found that out. And so he told a couple stories, but made me feel a little bit better that he’s so successful and he is the legend that he is. And he’s messed up and he’s dealt with the same things that I have. So he was very reassuring and I’m really thankful that I got to learn from him.

Q) What would you think would be the most surprising thing you’ve learned about him as a person after all the time you spent with him? Something you would have never thought about.

Shelby: He’s definitely a major man child to be around, but when it comes to music he’s extremely passionate and he’s extremely serious. And the man’s very smart and he knows what he’s talking about. And I really appreciate the opportunity to work with him.

Q) Emily, on the show it was mentioned that your battle pairing was about youth versus experience. So how do you think that factored into everything?

Emily: Well, I think definitely that was a major factor. Morgan is absolutely incredible and she is so much more experienced than I am. And just because she’s been doing this for so much longer and – but I think that it honestly helped me. I learned so much from Morgan throughout the whole experience too and I think it made me go at it even harder just because it was a challenge, if that makes sense.

Q) Amy, you’ve already spoken about it some, but how a challenge it was to work with Jubal and Amanda. But can you talk a little bit about how you felt going into the battle as far as – did you feel like your voice would be overshadowed by theirs? Or how did you feel going into the battles?

Amy: Well, throughout the process of preparing for the battles there’s a lot of changes that you want to make for your own performance. And on their end, there were constantly changes that they wanted to make too. So trying to screw those together to make a cohesive performance was – added an extra difficulty. And how were we going to make this cohesive? How were we going to make this sound good? And in the process of that at times I felt like it was extra hard for someone like me who tends to want to attack a song like this from a more stripped down, soulful kind of way. And so in trying to create this hybrid between our two styles, the arrangement of this song really required me to step up in volume, particularly. So going into the actual battle day I had put in the work. I had sweat over this song like you wouldn’t believe. I was as ready as I was going to be. So I knew that whatever the outcome would be – I knew that I had given it all I had. So yes, that’s basically what was going through my head right before I stepped up.

Q) Darius, you being a Texas native and you being on the same team with Madi Davis, how does it feel to know that you’re going to have to be going up against her soon?

Darius: Well, I want to correct it. I’m not exactly from Texas. I live there now. I’m from Atlanta. I’ve been there for a year, but my parents – they get on me all the time. Make sure you tell them you’re from Atlanta. But Madi and I are very close. Her parents I know just look out for me because they picked me out of the crowd as the shy one. So they – so when I was afraid to talk to people, Madi and her mom would just make me talk, even on days when I was just really nervous to talk to people. So it’s nerve-wracking. Like you never want to go against someone if you care about – and throughout this process, she’s not the only one. There were several people that I was terrified about going against. So it’s a little bit crazy knowing that potential is there and I don’t really know to say it. We’re very close.

Q) Has Pharrell given you all any tips on how to work through those times when you’re battling against someone you’re so close to? Like has he helped you all and what tips has he given you all?

Darius: I’m going to be honest. There haven’t really been any tips on how to deal with the whole battling thing. At the end of the day we all recognize that it’s a competition. So it’s – as hard as that may sound, it’s still a competition and at some point someone’s going to go home that you really care about. And I’m sure there are other artists in the competition that can attest to that fact. Mark and Celeste had to go against each other. It’s just you hate to see that, but at the end of the day this is the game we signed up to play. So I would be super sad if I went up against Madi, but I think we both understand that it’s a competition. And while I don’t even want to think about that because it’s really sad, it’s something that we’ve thought about and something that we’ve talked about.

Q) Morgan and Emily, I was wondering if the two of you were surprised at all to be paired together and how each of you tried to stand out from the other?

Morgan: I definitely think that whenever – gosh. Me and Emily didn’t meet until I guess the blinds – after the blinds. I’d always seen her around the hotel but I hadn’t truly talked to her and stuff like that. So once I met her after the blinds and we were both on Team Blake, I was like – I actually told her, “What do you want to bet that we get – we’re going to get battled together?” And she’s like oh, yes, totally. I’m like yes, I foresee it. And so when we were all sitting in the room and they were telling us who we were going against, it was no surprise to me and I think Emily.

Emily: I think that I just wanted to really go up there and just be myself, and make the performance the best that it could be. And that was my strategy for it because I wanted me and Emily to go through so bad. And so I really wasn’t like thinking like what am I going to do to win this battle? I was thinking let’s make this the best performance that it could possibly be.

Q) So, were you surprised to be paired with with Morgan? And then what did you do to try to stand out during the performance?

Emily: I don’t think it was a huge shock to be paired with Morgan just because we both sing country music and we’re two blonde country singers. I thought it wasn’t that big of a surprise that we would be together. And we had actually talked about it. So it wasn’t a huge shock to me, but I think definitely like she said, we were mainly focused on putting on the best performance that we could do and making that song the best it could be just because if we had fun and we were content with our performance, we were going to be happy for whoever won. Me and Morgan have become so close over this whole experience. So I think the main focus was just putting on the best performance we could.

Q) Shelby, you wound up singing a rock song against a rock singer who had fronted a band for a long time. So I’m wondering how you went about that and what you did to counter that, and how you think you improved over the course of the battle?

Shelby: I think my mindset the entire time was – yes, this is a rock song and yes, Amanda’s a rock singer. But I’m a country singer and I sing the way I sing. And I’m just going to sing this song how I would sing this song on any other day. And I just went out there and I stayed true to myself, and I worked on my confidence. That’s the biggest improvement I think I made because I just knew before that – I was like I don’t know how this is going to end up. I just know one thing at that stage. I just shut all the negativity out of my brain and I just stayed true to myself and I was Shelby on stage. And I think that was evident to Adam.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*