Tag Archives: Team Cee Lo

Artist Update: Angie Johnson

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Angie Johnson

Angie Johnson found national fame when the producers of The Voice saw a video of her performing Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” and invited her to audition for the hit NBC show’s second season. Since becoming a member of Team Cee Lo, Angie’s careers – both in music and the United States military – are now going stronger than ever.

She’s signed with Sony Music, released her new EP Sing For You, has performed at CMA Fest, and in Ohio she’ll get to open for country superstar Martina McBride. At the same time, Angie continues to serve her country. Big Red Chairs caught up with her during a recent rehearsal to chat with Angie about how The Voice affected her life and career, how she broke out afterward, and what’s ahead of her.

Angie’s rise began not long after leaving The Voice during the battle rounds. “I was more than halfway through my Kickstarter campaign and I think we were pretty close to raising everything that we needed,” she explained. “I got this phone call. My manager was like ‘We have this appointment with [Sony Music Nashville chairman and CEO] Gary Overton. He wants to meet you.’ I don’t really even know how he got my name. Once we had the meeting, he was like ‘I’ve seen your video. I’ve seen you all over YouTube. I’ve seen your Voice performances.’ He said ‘Just kind of tell me what you’re doing.’ And I told him.”

So on March 19, Kickstarter backers received a letter from Overton, not only announcing that Angie had signed a recording contract with Sony, but also explaining that her fans were going to remain a crucial part of the process. That was something she was adamant about. “It ended up being a really great marriage between me and my Kickstarter fans and the record label,” Angie continued. Sony even sent out an exclusive poster to all her backers, with their names on it as a thank-you for their support.

The four-song Sing For You shows a variety of different sides, and it’s hard for Angie to pick a favorite even from that limited number of tracks. “I’m biased because I co-wrote two of the songs on there,” she laughed. “I love ‘Sing For You’ and I love ‘Swagger.’ One is very solumn and it’s very raw – and the next one is nothing but a party dance song!”

With the EP out, Angie – who now resides in Nashville and says she’s “always been a country singer” even if she was singing Pat Benatar on national TV -  is now focused on hitting the road for live performances, although she added that a full album is in the works. Aside from CMA Fest, “I’m going to be all over the place. I’m going to be in [Washington] DC doing some shows for military events,” she said. “I’ve got a show in Ohio coming up. I’m opening up for Martina McBride.” That’s July 26 at the Ohio State Fair; for a list of all Angie’s upcoming tour dates, click here.

She’s already accomplished some pretty great things, and has some others on her radar for the future. “I sang at the White House last year, which wasn’t something I ever saw on my radar, but was such an incredible experience,” she told us. “I’ve also performed at The Grand Ole Opry twice now – it’s the most incredible place, magical even, with how many of the greats in music who have performed there. That’s probably my one big long term goal – I want to be invited to become a member of The Grand Ole Opry.  I used to watch Grand Ole Opry Live on The Nashville Network with my Dad when I was growing up and it’s been a dream of mine to be a member ever since.

“My short term goals are two-fold at the moment.  I really want to get back overseas to do a USO show for deployed troops.  I’ve gone over every couple of years since I joined the Air Force so I’m due for another trip to the Middle East.  The other thing I can’t wait for is to hear one of my songs on the radio for the first time.  I will totally freak out and probably cry!”

“My whole career has pretty much been spur of the moment,” Angie continued. “Nobody knows what’s going to happen. Nobody knew The Voice was going to happen. No one figured I’d be eliminated so quickly. And I didn’t think I was going to get a record.”

Although her reality TV experience is now two seasons old, she hasn’t forgotten it and it hasn’t forgotten her, either. “It’s actually been really awesome,” she said of post-show life. “When people come talk to me during meet and greets after shows, some will say ‘I loved you on The Voice.’  Then they promptly express how they felt when I got eliminated.  I just tell them that everything worked out the way it was supposed to and that my career is in a great place regardless.  On the other hand, I think the fact that I was on the show for such a short period of time makes a lot of people forget that I was even on it. That has probably helped me avoid any ‘reality show’ labels.”

What about how the journey has been for her personally? She explained, “It’s not really what I’ve learned about myself as much as what I’ve learned about God.  I had this burning desire to do music at a very young age, like six or seven years old.  I really believe that desire was planted by God. And I tried and tried to accomplish what I considered success with no luck at all.  I got discouraged and inevitably gave up on believing that God put that passion inside me for a reason.

“And what I learned through all of this is that He has a plan, and it’s starts before you’re born. I believe His will for your life aligns with what you’re passionate about and that you should never give that up.  But even if you do, sometimes He’ll use viral YouTube videos, Carson Daly and reality TV shows to yank you back into doing what you’re supposed to do.”

Now, through faith, hard work and YouTube, Angie has the career many reality hopefuls aspire to – a major-label record deal, new music being released and a busy performance schedule. Yet even as she achieves her dreams, she’s still the same Angie Johnson we got to know and fall in love with on The Voice. “I’m still in the National Guard. I still serve one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer,” she said.

And she’s still cheering on her fellow Voice alums, saying that she can’t wait to hear from “my awesome pal Chris Cauley, who sang against Tony [Lucca] in the battle rounds. He just had his Kickstarter campaign successfully funded a couple of weeks ago.  I cannot wait to hear the project that he’s been working on. He has amazing vocal ability, so I know the project is going to be great.” She added that she’d be open to returning to the Voice stage herself, if producers were interested in having her back.

Angie’s career is poised to continue growing and growing as she reveals herself to be not only a talented singer, but also someone who audiences can look up to, with her winning personality and strong commitment to public service. Now that she’s found the national spotlight, let’s hope it stays on her for a long time to come.

You can follow Angie’s amazing story by visiting her official website (officialangiejohnson.com), following her on Twitter (@AngieJohnson), or checking out her YouTube channel (officialangiejohnson). Sing For You is now available on iTunes.

(c)2013 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Excerpts appear at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.

Photo courtesy of Splash Public Relations

Artist Update: Vicci Martinez

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The VoiceVicci Martinez is still enjoying a newfound career success almost two years after she was a finalist on the first season of The Voice. Though the Seattle native was a talented musician well before the NBC series came into her life, the TV show vaulted her into the national spotlight, and Vicci has made the most of it. Universal Music Group, the record label affiliated with The Voice, offered her a deal after the show. She subsequently released her self-titled album, and now you can see the music video for the album’s first single, “Come Along.”

Big Red Chairs caught up with Vicci the day after she shot the “Come Along” video to look back on her album and talk about the journey she’s taken since we all fell in love with her voice.

The video for “Come Along” arrives ten months after the release of the album on which the song appears, but Vicci believes that the delay actually worked in her favor. “I was supposed to do a video this time last year and I think what happened was, the label was going to give me a chance to develop a little and see how the song and the record were going to go. But I’m really happy that it happened that way,” she explained. “It’s been a really busy year, but with a lot of evolution as far as me and this album, and playing it live and being able to have a relationship with these songs. Normally I write songs and I’ve been playing them for awhile and then I make an album. This is the opposite.”

“We’ve been visiting a lot of radio stations and the song has been going up on the charts the last few months,” she continued. “I’ve been really seeing a lot of success in actually going to stations and making relationships with people. I’m actually hoping I can do more of that. Just kind of having that one-on-one with the stations and the people. It’s kind of them taking a risk on me, adding the song to their playlist, because I’m a developing artist.”

It’s been a longer road for Vicci than many of the Voice artists who have followed her. She was the last finalist from season one to release an album, and of the four performers from that first cycle who were signed to Universal, she’s one of only two still with the label (the other being runner-up Dia Frampton). As so much of the post-reality show business now seems to rest on how quickly an artist can get material out before the next one takes their place in the public eye, Vicci is a breath of fresh air, a true artist whose primary concern is always for her work.

“I’m really happy,” she said about the trajectory of her career. “At first, everything was happening so quickly. I kind of thought, are they just going to drop me and forget about me, knowing that Javier [Colon] wasn’t with the label anymore [and] I think they let go of Xenia. I was like, ‘I haven’t even been released yet and it seems like they’re getting rid of people.’ Then they just kind of slowed it down. They didn’t put [the album] out in stores. I was like, ‘Oh my God, what am I supposed to do?’ I’m supposed to be with this major label [and] that’s why you sign with a label.

“My manager, Beth [Tallman], who’s just so wonderful, said, ‘Let’s go to the radio stations on our own and just go do it.’ And because of that and the song doing well, now the album’s in stores and now I’m doing the video,” she continued. “It’s been very humbling and it’s been very great to go through that process of starting from square one again. Really making the label recognize me as a real artist, it’s made it more rewarding.”

Where other artists might have expected more stardom after being a finalist on a hugely popular show, having been a working musician before TV came calling, Vicci is firmly down to earth. “I even had a line in one of my songs that says ‘Let go of all of your expectations,’ because you never know what’s going to happen,” she said, looking back at her experience on The Voice. “Adam Levine’s manager even took me aside once, and he was like ‘These shows are so unnatural for an artist. This is not how it happens. With Maroon 5, it took us being on the road for two years to get the songs to start charting.’ That’s the way it happens for everybody else. To expect everything to move that quickly, it’s just not natural. To have [the label] slow down and to have all these speed bumps come along the way, I think I needed to go through that. It was good for me to really just plant my feet again.”

While she still cherishes the time she spent as a member of Team Cee Lo Green, Vicci explained that she also wants to continue with a career that stands on its own, too. “I definitely am great friends with the people, the crew and the staff on The Voice, anything they’ve needed from me or anything I’ve needed from them. They’ve been so great. If they ask me to do anything I’m happy to do so,” said Vicci, who returned to the show in season two along with the three other first-season finalists. “But I think I’ve kind of gone through the trenches in the last couple years of kind of proving myself, not only to a new audience but also to my label. I feel like I have become a priority for them because I’ve shown that ‘Hey, you can’t get rid of me. I’m going to do my work here and I’m not going to just lean on The Voice to get any success.’ I’m in it for the long haul.”

“I don’t talk to Cee Lo anymore,” she continued. “I know I can lean on him if I need to talk to him, but he’s busy. It was great [working with him], and he did help get me out there and he sang on the record, but he’s not in this video. This was a song I chose and I invited him to be a part of the song. It wasn’t him pushing me toward doing this. This came from me. It was me choosing the song to be the single and now it’s working in my favor.”

If you see Vicci back on The Voice again, it might be in one of those big red chairs. “I always felt like I could somehow maybe be a coach one day,” she added. “But I think it takes going through the hard knocks to be able to come onto a show like that and really have advice to give and coaching to give. I don’t think I’m there yet.”

Right now, she’s hoping to get on a summer tour and planning to put more time into Vicci, including a potential second music video, before she gives any thought to a next album. When she does finally stop and look back, what’s going to make her think this whole journey from music to reality TV and back again has been worth it? “I think for me it’s just making sure that I continue to have good intention in my music, which has always been to inspire people to do what they love – any kind of art, anything that makes you feel passion and freedom in your work, in your craft, in your life,” she said. “That’s the biggest thing for me. That doesn’t just come through music. It also comes through action and your way of life. I have to make sure I’m living by those words as well. To me, that’s a success story.”

You can watch the video for “Come Along” on VEVO below. You can also keep up with Vicci by visiting her official website and following her on Twitter (@VicciMartinez).

(c)2013 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Excerpts appear at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.

Blake Shelton & 6 Other ‘The Voice’ Artists With New Releases

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Blake Shelton

The Voice coach Blake Shelton releases his new album Based on a True Story today (and if you haven’t ordered your copy yet, you can do so here), but he’s not the only one from the show who’s put new music out recently. Here are a half-dozen other artists you know from the show who have turned out fresh albums or EP’s in the last few months.

Tje Austin, Dreamin’ Big (get it HERE): A member of Team Cee Lo in Season 1, this soulful singer returns with a CD he’s been working on for some time, and that extra time and effort shows in a pleasant R&B collection that ranges from the heartbreakingly touching (earlier single “Right For You”) to the more uptempo (“Not A Thug”) and the slow jams (“Back 2 Me”). He’s not necessarily upending the genre, but he doesn’t need to; he’s got a voice that practically melts in your ears. For those of you who need something smooth to relax with, this is the album you want to add to your collection.

Tim Mahoney Band, Shine Through (get it HERE): Tim Mahoney was responsible for one of The Voice‘s first-ever memorable moments, when coach Adam Levine mistook him for a woman during his blind audition in Season 1. His unique voice didn’t get the appreciation it deserved on the show, but Tim has continued to deliver solid, enjoyable rock ever since, and this new album is more of the same. Whether it’s the earnest title track or the simple and painful “It’s Over,” his album is perfect for those who love a good singer-songwriter without a lot of fanfare. This album also includes his Voice-inspired single, “Hey Adam Levine.”

Nakia, Drown in the Crimson Tide (get it HERE): The semifinalist for Team Cee Lo during Season 1 (who competed with Tje Austin during the battle rounds), Nakia is more than doing his part to keep the blues genre in the public music consciousness. Whether it’s the uplifting “Dream Big” or something like “Pieces and Castles,” this six-song EP from the Texan has plenty of soul and a certain funky element to top it all off. This is music from an artist who’s secure in his sound, and while it may not be for everyone, those who want something different than the usual pop and rock will enjoy this one.

Pip, No Formalities (get it HERE): A fan favorite during Season 2, Pip has definitely found his groove with this six-song EP, which comes off confident and catchy. Danceable beats mix with memorable choruses and Pip’s refreshingly clear vocals to create songs that will roll around in your head for hours afterward. This is a wonderful debut release that’s purely good, clean fun, and establishes exactly what sound fans can expect from Pip in the future. It includes his first post-Voice single, “Who Cares.” If there’s any issue with No Formalities, it’s that it leaves you wanting more. Of all the recent releases from Voice artists, this is the strongest.

Casey Weston, Find the Moon (get it HERE): Team Adam’s Season 1 semifinalist has put out her first new material since appearing on the show, and while you’d probably still call her a country artist, there’s a surprising amount of range on this new CD. This is the Casey Weston album we’ve all been waiting for. The distinct twang to Casey’s voice is put to good use across the board, but it’s the songs that change, with tracks like “Into Your Heart” having more of a pop-rock edge while others such as “Like You” stay closer to country. What’s most remarkable about Find the Moon is that you can hear the added maturity, both in Casey’s voice and in her lyrics, compared to her self-titled release from two years ago. You can also read the BFTV interview with Casey Weston here.

Kim Yarbrough, Brand New Day (get it HERE): The Team Adam singer with the powerful voice from Season 2 has mostly been busy on stage and screen (did you see her on TNT’s Southland earlier this month?), but has just released her new CD-single. If you didn’t figure it out from her performances on the show, Kim can blow the doors off with the strength of her voice, and “Brand New Day” is an anthem reminiscent of power-pop singers like Kristine W. The original version runs a bit long, and it’s a little bummer that the album is comprised of remixes of one tune, but that one tune proves that a full album from Kim will definitely be intriguing.

The Voice continues tonight at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC.

For more on The Voice and its artists, you can visit BFTV’s dedicated The Voice blog, Big Red Chairs.

(c)2013 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Excerpts appear at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.

‘The Voice’ Season 4 Premiere Red Carpet Photos

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NBC hosted a premiere for The Voice Season 4 in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, and pretty much everyone from the past three seasons joined the coaches on the red carpet. Scroll down to see pictures of familiar faces, from coaches Blake Shelton and Usher to Dia Frampton, Terry McDermott and Pip, just to name a few!

Artist Update: Team Cee Lo’s Todd Kessler

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The Voice - Season 3

Todd Kessler may not have made it past the battle rounds in Season 3 of NBC’s The Voice, but he left the audience wanting more from the soulful singer. Thankfully, Todd and his band The New Folk are busy in 2013, and Todd recently connected with BFTV to reflect on his time as a member of Team Cee Lo and tell me what’s in store for the future – including whether or not he’ll reunite with Nicholas David.

Todd made a huge impression on Voice fans when he teamed with eventual third-place finisher Nicholas for an outstanding version of the Hall and Oates classic “She’s Gone.” If you need a reminder of Todd’s time on the show – or just want to relive that fantastic duet – you can check out the performance in full below.

How did Todd get to that moment? He earned his degree in Music Theory and Composition in 2005, and immediately got started on his career. “The day after graduation I was in the recording studio starting week on my first album [2006's We Are The Musicmakers],” he explained. “Right after school I really hit the ground running. I had been playing for quite awhile professionally on and off, and then about a year after I graduated, right around the time I finished my album, I went full-time.

“The Voice happened because I had some friends tell me about the show after the first season. I was a little skeptical because I never liked American Idol and never saw myself going down that path,” he continued. Todd was eventually persuaded to try out for the show’s second season, and “I made a couple callbacks but didn’t end up making it to the blind auditions. But then I went out again for Season 3.”

“I went into it really knowing that I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” he said of his experience on the series. “I went into it with a completely open mind and with the mindset that I’m just going to enjoy the ride. That being said, you definitely hear stories from other shows. You hear the nightmares of reality TV. You think ‘I really hope it’s not like that.’ And it wasn’t. Everyone from the PA’s to the casting to the producers, they treat everyone with such respect and treat everyone as artists. I was actually very plwasantly surprised at how well we were treated.”

Although his time on The Voice was relatively short, Todd has benefited from the experience both professionally and personally. When it comes to his career, “I’ve definitely seen a difference,” he said, even though he was also montaged during the blind audition phase. “I had released an album right before I was on The Voice [2012's Sea Fever], so I already had that going for me, but I have noticed a difference – more fans at my shows, definitely a lot more press. What The Voice did, it kind of gave me a story if you will. It gave something for people to latch onto.”

While he says the show’s producers did a “really good job” of getting his personal story out during the battle rounds, there’s one part that he wishes would’ve made it to air. “I’m an identical twin,” he revealed. “I think it would’ve been cool for people to see us together and see our relationship. One day on set during the blind auditions, we were doing some preliminary reality filming and my brother and my wife were kind of waiting around [while] I was over in hair and makeup, and one of the main producers walked by my brother and said,’”Todd, what are you doing?’”

What is Todd doing? He and his band The New Folk are hitting the road, and they’ve launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise the funds to buy themselves a van for their touring. They hit their $3,000 goal yesterday, but fans can still contribute until noon PST on Tuesday, and every pledge helps the band with other expenses. “Whatever money we raise is really going to help us out,” Todd said.

That’s not the only way his fans can support this tremendously underrated performer. “Just as an artist we appreciate so much when people share our posts or our videos. Any support we can get is so huge because there is so much competition out there and so much noise out there on the Internet,” he continued. “Any help we get from our fans is what makes us better artists and gets us out there to more people.”

You might even hear that much-requested collaboration between him and Nicholas in the future. “We talk about it every time we speak on the phone which is pretty regularly considering we both have new babies at home,” Todd said. “He’s still kind of working out what his obligations are being a finalist [on The Voice], and what he can and can’t do in terms of playing and recording music. I’m going up to Minneapolis this summer for some gigs and so we’ve been talking about doing something. It’s just a matter of logistics.” Fingers crossed that we’ll be hearing a lot more of Todd’s amazing voice in the future.

Todd and The New Folk are heading out on tour. You can find more information at their official website, follow Todd on Twitter (@toddkessler), and visit his YouTube channel. You can also give the band a listen by checking out the music video below.

(c)2013 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Excerpts appear at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.

Countdown to ‘The Voice’ Season 4: What Have You Missed?

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The Voice - Season 3We’re just shy of a month from a brand-new season of NBC’s The Voice, and only about two months removed from America crowning Team Blake’s Cassadee Pope the winner of the show’s third cycle. What’s been happening with the show and its artists since Cassadee won the title?

As has been heavily publicized, Season 4 will be the first with new coaches Shakira and Usher, who were introduced in the fall. You can read some of their early thoughts on joining The Voice here. This may also be the only season for the new arrivals, as previous coaches Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green – who are on a break this time around – have expressed interest in returning for Season 5 this fall. However, it’s worth noting that nothing has been finalized yet beyond Season 4.

The guest mentors this year will be Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum (Team Adam), Sheryl Crow (Team Blake), Joel Madden (Team Shakira) and Pharrell Williams (Team Usher).

Season 3 winner Cassadee Pope officially signed her recording deal with Universal and has been hard at work writing and recording ever since, according to her Facebook. Universal released a CD version of her Voice performances here. Cassadee posted a video update on her progress here.

Runner-up Terry McDermott hasn’t slowed down since leaving the show, either. In fact, he recently released a new single “Pictures” via SoundCloud, which he co-wrote with Dave Burman. His performance of “Baby, I Love Your Way” with Peter Frampton from the Voice finale was retroactively released on iTunes here.

Here’s a short list of major developments with other Voice artists, past and present.

Team Adam: Season 3′s Amanda Brown appears on the soundtrack to the recent Universal release Identity Thief, starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy. Her teammate Bryan Keith brought some new music to his live show at the Gramercy Theater; you can watch the video here. Season 2′s Pip released his EP No Formalities; you can get it here. Tony Lucca is hard at work on his new album, and performing some new originals on the road, like “Reckless Love.” Kim Yarbrough is preparing for the release of her single “Brand New Day” (here’s a teaser video), guested on CBS’s Vegas, appears in the March 6 episode of TNT’s Southland, and her Nickelodeon project has been ordered to series. Katrina Parker is working on new music of her own after the successful funding of her Kickstarter project. Season 1′s Tim Mahoney released his next CD, Shine Through, which includes his Voice-related tune “Hey Adam Levine.” Casey Weston has a new album on the way; you can pre-order it here and stay tuned for an upcoming interview.

Team Blake: Season 3′s Suzanna Choffel released her new single “Guardians.” Season 2′s winner, Jermaine Paul, postponed the release of his post-show album Finally until sometime later this year; you can pre-order it at Amazon, although there’s no specific street date listed there. Season 2 alum Jordis Unga is in the home stretch of putting together her new album, and also won a Grammy this year for her work on Jimmy Cliff’s Rebirth, which took the trophy for Best Reggae Album. Erin Willett has recently posted a new cover.

Team Cee Lo: Season 3′s MacKenzie Bourg has dropped his debut single. Season 1′s Nakia is releasing his next EP, Drown In The Crimson Tide, and is playing a few tour dates in his home state of Texas. His battle round partner Tje Austin put out his new CD, Dreamin’ Big. Also, Paste Magazine wants to help you make your own Cee Lo Green.

Team Christina: Season 3′s Devyn DeLoera released a music video with Ready Revolution that you can find here, along with several covers on her Facebook page. She has new music coming your way on March 4. The busiest Voice alum by far is Season 2′s Chris Mann, who recently taped Chris Mann in Concert for PBS to be aired in March. Also next month, Chris will be announcing tour dates, one of which is New York’s Highline Ballroom. Lindsey Pavao put out her new single “No Revelation.” Moses Stone released new music; you can find “Beautiful Nightmare” here.

Season 4 of The Voice begins March 25. For the latest on all things related to NBC’s hit singing competition, you can visit Big Red Chairs.

(c)2013 Brittany Frederick. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.

Episode Postmortem: Season 3 Finale

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The Voice - Season 3NBC has crowned its third ‘The Voice’ in just over a year – and on Tuesday evening, the winner, the runners-up and the coaches joined Big Red Chairs on the red carpet to give their final thoughts about the junior season of the hit series.

Team Blake’s pop-rocker Cassadee Pope was named the winner of the competition at the end of Tuesday night’s season finale, joining previous winners Javier Colon from Team Adam in Season 1 and Jermaine Paul from Team Blake in Season 2.

Her win was expected by most of America – and also by her fellow finalists, teammate Terry McDermott and Team Cee Lo’s Nicholas David. “Absolutely,” said Terry when asked if he had thought Cassadee would take home the title. “I think the biggest reason we had that feeling was because her songs had been reaching such a large cross-section of the public. Her continually crushing iTunes speaks volumes for itself.”

“She deserves it,” he continued. “The right person’s won.”

Added Nicholas, “I had a feeling i was going to go a long time ago – but I never looked at it like a competition. I’ve always just been blessed to be here.”

Even Cassadee, who previously stated that she tried not to be affected by the buzz, said she felt confident in her chances. “At one point I felt like ‘Okay, this could become a reality,’” she said. “I actually felt that back when ‘Over You; got to number one. I was like, ‘If this keeps happening I might have a shot.’”

It proved to be just one of her many charting iTunes hits that helped deliver her the title – as those iTunes downloads which were in the Top 10 singles chart at the close of each round of voting had their total number of downloads (which then translated directly into votes) multiplied by ten.

Her coach, Blake Shelton, had plenty to say about Cassadee’s victory and how he would continue to support her after the show, as he has done with many of his artists throughout the history of The Voice. “She knows that this doesn’t end with the finale of The Voice, [our] relationship,” he told reporters. “I don’t want to make one dime off of her in my life, but i do want to see her go on to be a superstar and end up in relationships in this business that are the best for her.

“If I’ve got to get in the way of something that she doesn’t like or she doesn’t agree with, then I will because I’m her friend,” he continued. “I’m her friend, I’m Terry’s friend, and I will be until the day I die. I just want to see them do whatever it is they dream of doing because they’re good people and they deserve it.”

His fellow coaches Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera – who celebrated her birthday on Tuesday – also weighed in on Team Blake taking the title for the second straight season. “It’s not about did the right person win,” said Christina. “I just think that she kept improving week by week and I think we all recognized that.”

Agreed Adam, “It was her moment. Cassadee excelled at the best times. We’re really happy, even though it’s not our team, we’re happy for Cassadee.

“We chose Cassadee, too, she just didn’t choose us,” he quipped. “We all chose the winner, damn it.”

The coaches closed the season with one final performance reflecting on their three seasons together. As previously revealed in September, Christina and Cee Lo will not be part of The Voice Season 4. They will be replaced by Shakira and Usher respectively.

However, both Christina and Cee Lo are on record as saying they want to return for Season 5, as the series has been renewed through that fifth cycle, which is expected air in the fall of 2013.

What’s next for each of the three finalists? “I’m going to release something quick,” said Cassadee, who asked her fans to support the new music she’ll put out.. “I have to, and it’s going to be great.” You can keep up with her on Twitter at @CassadeePope.

“I’m going home,” said Minnesota native Nicholas, who has family time and Christmas shopping on his to-do list, as “I haven’t really had time to do anything except the show.” He can be found on Twitter at @thefeelin.

“I’ve always been motivated by new music and being part of it and creating it,” said Terry, who added that he has “an idea and direction” for what he wants to do next. His Twitter handle is @TerryMacMusic.

All three artists reflected on the many accomplishments they’d achieved through being part of The Voice‘s third season. “There’s so many, from the chair turning to meeting all the people,” said Nicholas. “Meeting Cee Lo, to sing with Cee Lo, meeting Bill Withers, to sing with Smokey Robinson. it’s a freaking adventure of a lifetime and that’s the truth.”

“I’ve been lucky enough to meet some wonderful people along this ride and really form relationships with some great people,” concurred Terry. “It’s made it such a pleasurable journey. there’s been nothing negative about this experience.”

Cassadee was able to perform with her musical idol, Avril Lavigne, and remarked that “I met her and she just blew my mind with how nice she was and how thankful she was to have me there.”

Still, she added, she’s ready to see what the music world has in store for her next. “I’m absolutely happy to move onto the next chapter,” she added.

The Voice returns in just over three months – Season 4 premieres on March 25, 2013.

For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).

(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.

Episode Postmortem: Season 3 Performance Finale

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The Voice - Season 3The Voice is less than 24 hours away from crowning a Season 3 winner. As they waited for America’s votes, finalists Terry McDermott, Cassadee Pope and Nicholas David joined Big Red Chairs on the carpet to share their thoughts.

The evening started with a touching tribute to the victims of the recent Newtown, CT school shooting, as the Voice coaches joined their live show finalists, host Carson Daly and social media correspondent Christina Milian for a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” while holding placards with the names and ages of the victims. If you missed that opening performance, you can view it here.

The tragedy also affected Cassadee later in the evening, during her repeat performance of Blake Shelton’s hit “Over You,” as the artists were asked to reprise their top renditions of the season. “I connected with it even more now because I was thinking about Connecticut and how horrible that is and losing people,” she said afterward. “I was thinking about that.”

The show had to go on, however, and the artists made the most of it with a trio of new performances as well as duets with their coaches. “[The night] started off on a somber note but we’ve got to celebrate life while we have it,” said Nicholas. “I was excited to end [my run on] the show like that. [A] piano was on fire, things were blowing up, people were hanging from trapezes, there’s a mini Cee Lo. It was too cool.”

Going out on a big note was definitely his intention. “After last week’s performance being so stripped down and emotionally raw, I was like ‘Let’s just blow some stuff up,’” he continued. “Let’s go for it.”

Another surprise on Monday night was Adam Levine guesting on Blake Shelton and Terry’s performance of Aerosmith’s “Dude Looks Like A Lady” – with the shirtless Maroon 5 front man channeling Axl Rose. According to Terry, Adam’s wardrobe choice (or lack thereof) wasn’t part of the plan.

“I have no idea,” he said when asked where it came from. “All the way through rehearsals, he had a shirt on. There was no headband. There was nothing. So that was a surprise to us. That’s why when I looked over, Blake is laughing his ass off, and I’m like ‘Really, what the hell’s going on here?’”

“We had great fun with that,” he added. “It was just a nice little touch. we were having great fun in rehearsal but that just finished it off.”

Terry was shocked when Blake revealed that his father, Terry McDermott Sr., had flown to Los Angeles to support his son in the finale. “To have him in the room to feel the atmosphere, to see the action, it was wonderful,” he said, though he added that his heart might be a little weak after all the surprise appearances from his loved ones over the season. “I was like, you could just put me through an assault course or an endurance test, you don’t have to keep wheeling out family members,” he quipped.

With their final performances in the books, all the three artists can do is wait for America to vote and crown a winner. Cassadee is the favorite to win if you listen to Internet buzz, but not necessarily if you ask her. “I try not to let it affect me because I feel like the moment you get comfortable in this situation, the moment it bites you in the ass a little bit,” she explained. “It’s been a great encouragement and it makes me feel good, but I’ve always kind of been my worst critic.”

Never having looked at the series as a competition, Nicholas was just enjoying the experience. “This has been the adventure of a lifetime,” he reflected, “but I’m excited to close the chapter on this adventure and start a new book. I felt this was a good way to end it.”

Teammates Cassadee and Terry are now head-to-head, but Cassadee added that it’s not an uncomfortable experience to compete against her friend. “It’s not weird at all because we’re individuals,” she said. “Our coach makes us feel very special individually. He doesn’t do favoritism or anything like that. There’s never been a weird moment.”

“Frankly, we’ve never really been that competitive,” agreed Terry, who could have summed up the entirety of the Voice season as he said, “We get on so well, and the way we’ve always viewed it is you just leave it on the stage and then other people decide. Nobody’s trying to sabotage or be negative. We want the best for each other and if you win, it’s because you deserve to.”

The season 3 winner will be revealed as The Voice wraps up its two-night Season 3 finale Tuesday at the special time of 9 PM ET/PT on NBC.

For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).

(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.

Episode Postmortem: Season 3 Live Shows, Night 13

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The Voice - Season 3After a shortened semifinal performance show on Monday, The Voice sent one more contestant home on Tuesday.

Team Cee Lo’s Trevin Hunte – who had been an early favorite to take the title – was the unlucky man out, and both he and Voice host Carson Daly joined Big Red Chairs on the red carpet after his elimination was revealed.

“This has been the best experience for me in my whole entire life,” said Trevin. “I always say that I didn’t expect to make it this far, even past the blind auditions, so to have made it to the top 4 has been a great accomplishment for me.”

“I would have to say that I prepared myself for something like this,” he continued, adding that he wasn’t brokenhearted about leaving the competition. “I’m definitely super, super excited. I have an opportunity to relax and to see how things go on the other side as far as watching my fellow team member Nicholas [David] perform. I can’t complain. I’ll be here for the week and I’ll get to see Cassadee [Pope], Terry [McDermott] and Nicholas perform at the finale.”

He also had some parting words for his fans. “I just want to thank my fans so much,” he said. “Words can’t even begin to thank them. They’ve been so strong and they’ve been so passionate about me. I definitely thank them and I appreciate everything they’ve done for me.”

You can keep up with Trevin Hunte on Twitter (@Tamor_11).

Was Carson Daly surprised by Trevin’s dismissal? “A little bit,” the host admitted. “I didn’t know how it was going to all come down. I might have thought that Trevin was going to get saved, if I’m being completely honest with you. I’m not surprised that Nicholas is in the top three because he’s awesome, but just thinking about the fact that an R&B artist won these last few years, I was kind of thinking that maybe Trevin would have it.”

As far as what he enjoys most about being the master of ceremonies for the show, he said that “Just to be with regular folks is nice – people who I can relate to who love music like I do. I was a radio DJ not that long ago and made $18,000 when I was 24. I still can relate to the common person so I think for me to do the blind auditions where I’m in there with the families and grabbing the moms’ arms is what I love about the show the most. The journey of being with them, making them feel comfortable on a red carpet and a fake environment in Hollywood is something that I actually really enjoy about the job.”

In addition to being the host of The Voice, Daly is also known for using his radio show and late-night NBC talk show to help artists who have appeared on the series, no matter how far they advance in the competition. “I just had Jamar Rogers on my show to try and give him a little help with his promotion. He’s doing really great. He lives in LA now. It’s great to have Juliet [Simms] and RaeLynn and those guys are obviously doing well. Chris Mann is doing well,” he explained.

“At this point with Fallon and Kimmel and Leno and Letterman, there are so many places in late night where all the arrived celebrities can go and chitchat,” he added. “I really like my show to be about trying to help people still make that pursuit. My door is always wide open.”

He also pointed out something that stood out to him about The Voice‘s Final 4. “We’re not talking about somebody that stood in line at the Staples Center because they wanted to be on a singing competition to become famous,” he said. “We’re talking about people that care about music.”

Cassadee Pope, Terry McDermott and Nicholas David remain in the running to be named ‘The Voice’ for Season 3. The final performance show airs next Monday at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC.

For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).

(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.

Episode Postmortem: The Live Playoffs, Night 10

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The Voice - Season 3The Voice has narrowed its Season 3 field down to 6 artists, and after they once again performed for America’s vote on Monday night, they spoke with Big Red Chairs about their songs and what they’re hoping for going forward.

“I definitely think it’s close. I feel like it could really be anybody that could move forward,” said Team Adam’s Amanda Brown, who sung Aretha Franklin’s ‘You Make Me Feel (Like A Natural Woman)’ and Whitesnake’s ‘Here I Go Again.’

The latter was her coach Adam Levine’s idea, and of the song choice Amanda reflected, “I was just like, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’ I was excited. I like to do songs that allow me to have fun and kind of be myself and not have to worry about the fact that this is a competition. I feel like the two songs I did tonight allowed me to do that.”

In past seasons, the finalists have done duet performances with their coaches and celebrities, so who would she like to share the stage with? “There’s so many people on my list,” she explained. “I would love to perform with Paul Simon, I’d love to do a song with Dave Grohl, I’d love to do a song with Peter Gabriel, I’d love to do a song with Prince. There are a lot of people.”

Her teammate Melanie Martinez had the most unique performances of the night, with a tiny piano on the set for her rendition of Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’ and a colorful, school play-esque backdrop for Lenka’s ‘The Show.’ These interesting ideas were the result of collaboration between Melanie and her coach.

“I definitely asked for the tiny piano. I thought that’d be cool,” said Melanie of her take on ‘Crazy,’ crediting another Voice artist with the song choice. “Mackenzie Bourg actually suggested that song to me. I kind of just went with it and I was really happy I got to show both sides to me. ‘The Show’ was very lighthearted and ‘Crazy’ was creepy.”

Part of her performance of ‘The Show’ involved a stagehand pretending to row a boat, and he was particularly enthusiastic about his job. “During rehearsals he was like that too, so it wasn’t just for camera,” Melanie confided. “He was always just really excited to row that boat.”

So after tiny pianos, rowboats and fake dolphins, what would Melanie bring to the table next? “Real dolphins,” she quipped, before saying that she’d love to duet with “Regina Spektor, Ed Sheeran, Kimbra, Lana Del Rey, all my faves.”

Team Cee Lo’s Nicholas David and Trevin Hunte got a surprise this week as their coach fell under the weather and Train lead singer Pat Monahan was brought in to fill his spot during rehearsals. “It was different from working with Cee Lo because we’ve definitely established a relationship with each other,” said Nicholas, “but it was cool to [have] a fresh perspective that kind of shook things up a bit.”

“It was a great experience working with Pat,” agreed Trevin. “I loved it because I actually got different advice and a different spin on how to approach the song. I was definitely happy for that. I love Cee Lo to death and Pat is amazing.”

Of his choice to perform ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ on Monday, Nicholas said, “I’ve tried to do songs that kind of speak a little bit deeper message and so I’ve tried to remain consistent with that. I think that was a fun choice and also a way to just say thank you to my mom, who’s been a huge support. She’s believed in me from the get-go.”

Cee Lo handed Trevin the Katrina and the Waves song ‘Walking on Sunshine,’ and Trevin admitted afterward that “I was very skeptical about that performance. It was kind of out of my realm. But I think I gave it my best shot.”

If he gets the chance to do a celebrity duet, he added that “I have so many people I want to sing with…Fantasia, Beyonce, Celine Dion. The list goes on.”

Team Blake’s Cassadee Pope, who sang Rascal Flatts’ ‘Stand’ and Avril Lavigne’s ‘I’m With You,’ said that her coach choosing the former for her was a bit intimidating. “It scared the crap out of me because it’s a song that, on its own, doesn’t really showcase my vocals and I needed to bring that this week,” she explained.

The latter song was her idea, and she added that “I see that song as such a dramatic song. This show is all about the drama and the theatrics and how you connect with songs, and I’ve connected with that song since I heard it.”

Cassadee’s choice for a celebrity duet partner was fairly close to home. “For my moral values and just wanting to kind of tip the hat to her, I would have to sing with Miranda Lambert,” she said. “Letting me sing her song, such a special song to her, and also for her to show so much support to me and Terry [McDermott] throughout this whole thing. It means a lot to me that she supports us so much. She’s one of the nicest people.”

Her teammate Terry was upbeat after his performances of ‘Stay With Me’ by Rod Stewart and ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ by Foreigner. “See what I did there? Foreigner?” quipped the Scottish-born rocker.

How did his rendition of the classic love song come together? “When me and Blake were talking, we actually were earmarking another track,” Terry explained. “But I wasn’t as keen on it and I think at the time I was sitting with Melanie’s dad, Jose, and he had Foreigner on YouTube.

“It was just one of those moments where everything happened the way you want it. I was like ‘Hang on, Blake, I’ve an idea.’ I suggested Foreigner and he was like, ‘I love that tune, let’s do that!’ We’d been talking about stripping down the other song so we said ‘Let’s just do it on this one then.’”

“The cello player was fantastic on it,” he continued. “That was a piece of inspired genius on the part of the band. That arrangement, I think, absolutely fueled the whole emotional side of the track.”

As for Blake picking the Rod Stewart tune for him to perform, Terry said that he was thrilled as it was a song he would have chosen for himself. “It says a lot about how well we’re getting on that he’s apparently reading my mind on a daily basis, or he has enough money that he can buy a device to read my mind, which is possible. I know how they roll in Oklahoma,” he quipped, before adding seriously, “I’m very happy with the song choice.”

Who would he bring back to the Voice stage? Rather than a celebrity guest, Terry would prefer to reunite with some of his colleagues. “I was such good friends with Rudy Parris – I still am – and I love Rudy’s voice,” he said. “He’s got great energy, he’s a very kind guy. I would love to get on stage with him and actually share the stage with him.

“Bryan [Keith] would be another one. Bryan’s voice is so unique. I would love to bring Bryan back. “

Trevin confided that waiting for America’s vote isn’t going to be easy for the artists. “I feel like everybody did a great performance tonight,” he said, “and we all know that this time in the competition is hard because everyone is different and everyone is great.”

One person who’s not worried over the results is Nicholas. “I have never really looked at it like a competition,” he said. “I’ve always looked at it like it’s an opportunity and an experience to be lived in. Everyone’s so gifted and so themselves. Everybody has something to give. I’ve just felt blessed to share this time and space with such a colorful cast of characters.”

The Voice reveals its Final 4 Tuesday night at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC.

For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).

(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.