The Voice – Battle Rounds – Night Two

By starrymag | October 15, 2016

Q) Yes, for the montaged singers. We obviously didn’t get to see your performances last night, so I was hoping if each of you could tell us what we missed, what type of feedback you got and how you felt about the song you were asked to sing? And if we could start off with Ponciano please?

 

Ponciano Seoane:  So, you know, we got montaged and nobody wanted it to happen to them but we still loved our performance and what they showed. Me and Elia I think we really connected on stage. We definitely had a romantic vibe. We sang Tenerife Sea and we loved it, we thought it was an amazing song by Ed Sheeran. He really makes you feel what he’s saying and singing and we definitely brought that to life on stage. We really connected with each other and the audience and made them feel like, you know, we were in love. And the coaches really loved what we both did and they all said that we connected really well and not really many critiques for either of us, you know, I think Adam just had a really tough decision to make.

 

Q)   Yes, any idea what turned it in your favor?

 

Ponciano Seoane:  To be honest, I can’t say much. I think, you know, we both did a great job and I think Adam just had to go with his gut or he had to go with who he thought was going to take him further. I couldn’t really speak for him but I thought we both did a really good job.

 

Maye Thomas:  So Khaliya and I we did For What It’s Worth by The Cardigans and it’s an Indie song, it was a different song choice. A lot of people have never heard that song before but we – I actually knew the song going into it, Khaliya had never heard it before but she sounded incredible on it and we had a lot of fun singing it together. I got sick and I had to miss the second day of rehearsal, band practice, with Joan and Miley had said during, or after we performed our battle, that that was part of the reason that I was chosen because I had missed that practice and missed that time of rehearsal and still came out prepared and performed. But we had a lot of fun singing together and we really bonded. We kind of bonded more as sisters and so we had a really great time singing that song together.

 

Josette Diaz:  So Charity and I got Patsy Clines, She’s Got You. Charity told me that she grew up listening to Patsy. She is a country singer so she knew Patsy like the back of her hand. I had never heard the song so she helped me a lot with it and, yes, it’s a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful old country song and it’s definitely something that I would have never chosen for myself but it definitely went with my vibe and my singing type.   And yes, so going into it, I didn’t really know who Miley would pick and so when she picked me I was thrilled. Like I said, I had never heard this song, I’m not really a country singer so, yes, I was going against a beautiful country singer and, yes, so it was definitely an honor to win the battle and I loved working with Charity a lot and we did become really close friends.    So, yes, having her leave was definitely very rough.

 

Q) Had you ever sang a Patsy Cline song before?

 

Josette Diaz:  Never, I honestly didn’t even know who Patsy was until the battle rounds.

 

Q) Michael and Dave, when Alicia came up with that idea of switching off on the piano, what did the both of you think of that and then how did you feel about after performing it and then maybe Michael if we could start with you?

 

Michael Sanchez:  I remember when she – because Dave and I had kind of joked about that beforehand and then she said, oh okay, let’s do it. So I think we were really excited about it but there was definitely some hesitation in the background to of can they do that, can we kind of pull this off and I remember Dave and I we got a piano at the hotel room in my room and then we just practiced over and over and over so we could get it down.   It was kind of a – it’s kind of hard to trade off the piano and have a mic and do what we did but with a lot of practice it would turn out really good and we showed them and they loved it. So, I was really happy with how it turned out. I thought it looked really – it was really a fun little thing to do but yes, I enjoyed it.

 

Dave Moisan:      Yes, so from my standpoint when Alicia suggested that, that totally took me off guard and I about peed myself on national TV. My face turned bright red because think about it this way, Michael is like the most incredible pianist you’ve ever heard and so for me it’s like being asked to step into the ring with Mohammed Ali when its like, hey, I sparred a little bit with my brother, I can maybe take Mohammed Ali, maybe and so – but with a lot of work and a lot of practice I had an absolute blast because I love Michael Sanchez. That guy is amazing and it was so fun to get to play this song with him in that kind of way because once I got past like the oh my gosh I don’t know, I’m not prepared for this, I don’t know what I’m doing, because there’s that fear, instinct, that automatically arises whenever you’re not ready for something and that definitely arose in me. But once I was able to get past that, I had so much fun. It was an incredible experience and we really, really enjoyed performing together.

 

Q) Sophia, I was wondering what you thought of your battle round song and what you think turned the tide in your favor?

 

Sophia Urista:      Oh boy. It’s not the typical duet kind of song you would think would be – you know, not the kind of song that you think would be a duet. So, Lane came out like a beast and I was watching the – I was watching it last night and really took notes from him just to be brave and just go out guns blazing. I was thinking about that for the knockout round. He did such an amazing job and I was just honored to be up there with him.  The song was interesting and I got a lot of direction, Joan Jett wanted me to really explore the lower notes and the softer delivery which I’m not really used to doing. So, it was a lot of like experimentation going on and, yes. It was an interesting choice, different unique song. It was a little tough.

 

Q) Dave, I think most viewers who saw you in the blind auditions with your past with Adam, the connection they played up. We just thought you would have picked Adam in the beginning. So, now that you’re back with him after the battle rounds what’s your feeling about all of that?

 

Dave Moisan:   Oh, I’m pumped. I’m elated. I think that for me it’s best of both worlds because I got to work with Alicia Keys who has 15 Grammy’s an amazing songwriter, an amazing person and she was able to kind of push me outside of my comfort level and now I get to work with Adam Levine who I do think aligns with me musically, most similar, or aligns most similar to me musically and I’m thrilled to work with him. And it’s kind of full circle now because I did get to hang out with him and Songs About Jane was such an influential album in my musical formation and getting to stand on stage with him and experience that before I even played music, it was a big part of my musical formation, like I said, and now I’m excited that I get to work with him and excited to see what we do.

 

Q) Courtney, performing with Ethan for that battle performance, what did you think your chances were of staying?

 

Courtney Harrell:  I thought they were pretty much 50/50 because Ethan is such an incredible instrument like his voice is – I was telling him this all of the time and, you know, told our coach like he has the voice of a lion and so it’s really hard to not hear him, to not feel him, to not just be completely enamored and captivated. So, it’s – it was the fight of my life and – but I also believed in what I had inside of myself, the potential I had inside of myself to set myself apart and so I knew it could go either way and I went in with tremendous respect and humbled to even be paired with him.

 

Q) Obviously, you’ve talked about being the songwriter. Have you heard from anybody that you’ve worked with since being on The Voice?

 

Courtney Harrell:  I have. I’ve heard from Michelle Williams from Destiny’s Child, I’ve heard from Sevyn Streeter, Eric Bellinger, I’ve heard from quite a few of them. They’re really – you know, have a lot of – they’re giving a lot of support and I’m just touched by it all and they’re kind of happy to see me take what I do on demos or in the studio in a booth, which is pretty private, and bring that to the world to see which is personally a little nerve-racking but having the support of my friends who I’ve been working alongside for so long has been great. I’ve heard from (Jessica) Wilson from Muddy Magnolias, they’ve been incredibly supportive so, you know, it’s been a great journey and I haven’t made it this far without their support.

 

Q) For Michael, I just want to see for you and then for anybody else does the stress level keep getting higher as you move forward or at any point do you feel like you’re comfortable enough where it’s easy to do because it’s a part of who you are?

 

Michael Sanchez:  For me, I feel like the moments before are always the tough ones, you know, the buildup, all of the waiting. But then right – I guess – so I guess you know, the days before I guess are the hard ones. But the moments before and then right before it happens and when it’s happening I feel like all of that goes away and all of the sudden, hey, I’m here, I’m going to put it all out on the stage and do the best I can and then I have a lot of comfort from that. You just do the best that you can out there and then whatever happens, happens but – so the buildup is hard for me but during it I feel like the stress is all gone.

 

Q) I wanted to go back to the montage singers for a moment. I was hoping each of you could pinpoint something you’ve been working on with your coach that you think has been most beneficial for you to this point?

 

Ponciano Seoane:  Working with Adam, you know, he’s given a lot of good tips and pointers. I think one thing that he recognized that I did already really well was connect with the song and then be able to show that emotion to the audience through my singing.  One thing he did help me on and pinpoint how I could be better is a lot of breath control especially in the big moments, you know, being on the voice you have a lot of big moments in your songs, you try to find those moments that the audience can really, really see what you can do and a lot of those moments really require taking a lot of breath because you’re holding out big notes, you’re doing a lot of vocal runs and stuff like that. I definitely don’t consider myself one of the most talented vocalists on the show so he helped me understand what makes somebody a better vocalist in that taking big breaths and just knowing that you’re going to have to have a lot of air to complete a lot of those runs and hold out those notes. That’s one thing he really told me and it hit home with me.

 

Maye Thomas:   With Miley she’s helped me work with my bravado. I have kind of a fast bravado similar to hers and so she’s been helping me learn when to kind of use that strategically and also just on my range in general because I’m not normally like a – I don’t like to sing very high or belt it and she’s challenged me to do that more but more than anything.  Miley is incredible at making sure that you are being true to yourself and feeling comfortable in your own skin and like that goes with your wardrobe and everything that goes along with your performance and she goes out of her way and spends extra time to making those extra phone calls.   Like I remember for the battles I was concerned about the shoes I was wearing and I got to email her about it and she had already talked to wardrobe about it because she just felt like it didn’t look like me. And so I got to change my shoes. Like, it’s just really amazing that she goes above and beyond making sure that we are being ourselves as an artist through and through and refining that.

 

Q) Dave, is there anything specific you learned in the battle that you carried to the knockout round? And for anyone else who would like to answer as well. Hi, how are you?

 

Dave Moisan: . Yes, so one of the big things that I learned from the battle round is – and one of the big things that Alicia helped me with is really pushing me outside of my box enough so that I have to rehearse and rehearse and rehearse a ton because for our battle, for Valerie with Michael and I, you know, it was a lot of fun but it was a lot of work.   And the interesting thing about that song, and this is another area where she helped me. The interesting thing about that song with Michael and I signing it, is we both have a little bit of a different flavor when it comes to our artistic sensibilities.   And the fun thing about a battle is trying to find your own unique voice and be able to present a true representation of yourself artistically while also being true to the song and also not being overbearing or too juxtaposed to your battle partner. So that’s a fine balance trying to maintain identity but also present a song as a collected whole in a really – in an artistic way together. And so that was a big thing that I learned from the battle was how do I find my voice in every song that I sing?  Because, honestly for me I don’t usually sing cover songs, I find it way easier to write a song and sing that because that’s exactly what I want to express. Those are my lyrics, those are my cords, those are my melodies and so how do I express myself through someone else’s song? That’s a hard thing to do for me anyways. And that’s one of the biggest areas where I grew through the battle and that I’m taking into the knockouts with me.

 

Q) Sophia, is there anything you learned from your battle round that you carried over to the knockouts?

 

Sophia Urista:    Absolutely. Lane Mack taught me that I needed to go out a little more confidently. I get really nervous. I’ve been on a lot of stages in my life and every single time I go on stage it’s like I’m next – I’m so nervous. Like and every time I’ve been on the Voice stage I totally blacked out. I was watching last night and I was like, I don’t remember hugging her. I don’t remember hugging him, I don’t remember anything I did.  So – and he’s just so – Lane is so confident and his fearlessness is really inspiring so I think I learned that and I also learned not to over think. You know, Joan Jett and Miley gave me a lot of pointers and I thought about all of them. And it just doesn’t help the nerves. The best thing to do is just like take everything, practice, everything that people say practice it and then forget about it and just go with your heart when you get on that stage.

 

Q)  Did you feel added pressure after Adam said he predicted you’d be a runaway smash in the weeks to come and did you feel like you had to had top yourself?

 

Sophia Urista:   No, I feel that way too. I think we all want to be successful after the show and it’s my biggest dream to be the queen of rock and roll one day so, you know, that he said that it was a really big compliment and just validated what I already feel.

 

Q) Josette, I was hoping you could pinpoint something you’ve been working on with Miley that you think has been most beneficial to you through this point?

 

Josette Diaz:   Well, I think everyone on Team Miley can agree that she’s definitely helped us stay true to ourselves but at the same time kind of step out of our comfort zone and she did help me step out of my comfort zone when she gave me and Charity a song that I had never heard about before in a genre that I don’t really sing often.  But I took it gracefully and I learned a lot from it. I learned a lot from Charity as well who’s a major, major country singer and I think that’s one of the reasons why, you know, I did pass the battle, that she was able to kind of see that I can take something new and really work with it. She even told me she was very happy that I’m very accepting to new ideas. So, yes. Yes, she’s definitely helped me step out of my comfort zone for sure and I’m really happy.

 

Q)  I know that you did decide to play the guitar on that song, any particular reason?

 

Josette Diaz: Actually I wanted to – that’s another thing that she did help me do again kind of – I was planning on not playing the guitar, I wanted to focus on my vocals but she suggested that I play the guitar because she knows that that’s definitely my thing.  And she wanted me to stay true to myself and she wanted people to get to know me more as an artist. So she really pushed me to play the guitar and I’m happy that I did it. It worked out perfectly.

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*