by Todd Betzold

 

After three nights of The Voice, Team Blake and Team Cee Lo both have half of their team completed. On last night's episode, Blake added Erin Willett, Brian Fuente and Jordis Unga. Meanwhile, Cee Lo added Sarah Golden, Erin Martin and James Massone. Today, we got a chance to speak to all the singers in a conference call about their time so far on The Voice.

Q. How's the experience of being on the show so far compared to what you expected?
A. Erin W.: I definitely didn't expect a lot of the second-guessing...you only see what happens on television. You forget there's a lot of sitting around and waiting and marinating on your decisions...did I do that right? Did I do it wrong? So, I think all that second-guessing is something I wasn't prepared for. Then you get some set of confidence because you realize you are one of a very few that get to be a part of this awesome show.

 

Q. What's it like to see your blind audition on-air and to see the coaches' reactions to you? What's it like to finally see that other side?
A. Jordis: It was absolutely bizarre. I think everybody would agree with me in that the stress level during the blind auditions...I was totally zoned out and don't remember, so it was kinda fun to actually see what happened and the response has been amazing...it's overwhelming and exciting.

 

Q. A lot of you have gained a lot of fans overnight from seeing your audition. James you got a tweet from Leah Remini and I'm pretty sure someone offered to marry you. How does it feel to gain so many fans and even celebrity fans?
A. James: It's amazing...I didn't even know that. It's kind of overwhelming...it's a great feeling. I'm getting a lot of love right now and with love come haters, but the love is what I'm really taking in and I'm trying to soak everything in right now...it's not really real to me right now. I gotta pinch myself a couple times, but everything is amazing and all the compliments are amazing.

 

Q. We really enjoyed seeing how happy your father was to see you had gotten through this and I read he had recently passed. Could you tell us when you taped this one and how much after that did you dad pass and how much did this mean to him at the time before he passed?
A. Erin W.: We filmed it in September and he passed away on December 19th. First of all, it was just a crazy experience just watching him on the TV...it was awesome to see him. So many conversations happened behind the scenes, he was so proud of me. Sometimes as a child you want to second-guess that, but during a horrible situation like that you kinda take in every word that he says. I just couldn't be more thankful for this opportunity, especially at that time. It's kind of weird not having him here now that the show has aired, but it's something I know I can hang onto forever. You realize how much of a support everyone is together on the show...it's kind of like an extended family because you get to spend so much time together and our family was out there filming with us, so it was really great for him to be a part of this experience.

 

Q. When you guys are up there and one of the chairs turn around, does it alter your performance in anyway, like I am in and you give it more or you calm down?
A. James: I was kinda just going up there and kinda wanted to get the performance done. I really didn't think, in anyway, a chair would turn for me to be honest. When the chair turned, you kinda notice and for me I don't think I sang to my best potential once the chair turned because I was so shocked they even turned for me, but when a face like that turns around for you and they're watching, it's kind of overwhelming and a lot to take in.

 

Sarah: It is really great watching it, because I feel I blacked out for the majority of the audition, but I remembered just feeling kind of calm-ish until starting to sing and as soon as the chair turned, and I noticed it right away, but when I got to the you and I part, but my voice totally cracked. It was just trying to overcome that crazy rush of emotions...saying keep it together, you only have 16 more seconds...don't totally ruin the whole end of this. It was definitely overwhelming to say the least.

 

Brian: When Blake turned around, I almost felt numb. It's like, ok that just happened? (laughs). I went out there and it felt so amazing to be on the stage, first of all, but then when that happened I think it was just like wow, I am on this show...this is the real deal and this is the coolest feeling I've ever had. The smile on Blake's face was so great and it's cool to be a part of that whole experience.

 

Q. This is your second time at this...how does it feel to be on Rock Star and then have the years in between and now get another chance on The Voice?
A. Jordis: I don't even know what to say about it. It's absolutely incredible and all those years between Rock Star and The Voice...I mean, there were ups and downs, there were record deals, there weren't, there were bar jobs. It's been such a journey for me to keep doing music for a living...I mean, not a lot of people have gotten as many chances as I've gotten. To be in this position again, I'm so thankful and overwhelmed...it means a lot to me to be here and it means a lot to the people who have followed me throughout the years and all my successes and all my failures...I'm holding on tight to this one and taking it to heart. It feels really, really, really, really good to be here.

 

Q. Who are your musical influences and what type of artist would you like to become in mainstream music?
A. Sarah: My musical influences definitely vary, which is so cliché, but I do love everything. I would say my strong influences are along the lines of the Indigo Girls, not to be typecast into the lesbian card role, but I love Joan Osborne, I love Ani DiFranco. I also like a lot of Texas artists: Terri Hendrix, Trish Murphy. These are all singer-songwriters, female acoustic musicians that are just amazing in their own right. A lot of folks don't get due credit because folk music is not a popular genre. It's not that I've chosen to be a folk musician, because I know it's not popular, but it's just what comes out. In terms of what I'd like to be when I grow up, I'd like to continue to be able to do what comes naturally and do an acoustic, songwriter, folk thing.

 

Q. You're a folk singer and folk is along the lines of country, so I am just curious as to why you chose Cee Lo instead of Blake?
A. Sarah: Honestly, it was a very difficult decision and to be frank, through the duration for preparation for the blind audition I kinda had in my mind, depending on who turned around, I would go for Blake...that was kind of my first inclination and I continued saying that throughout the whole thing. I was kind of reminded when Cee Lo turned around, when I watched the show, I happened upon the show last year and I didn't even know it was on, but I saw the concept and it totally blew me away and I thought, oh my god, this is totally perfect because it was right along with my life. I saw Cee Lo and him working with Vicci and I thought I bet he'd be pretty crazy. You know, he seems different...I'm kind of different. It just seemed like when I saw it a year ago, never thinking I would be on the show, but when I saw it a year ago I would definitely take Cee Lo, I mean why wouldn't I...it's hands down. It came down to it and between the two, it was a very difficult decision. I guess my only fear was, I guess it was two-fold, was one would be that Cee Lo was totally inappropriate and it went right along with my sarcastic sense of humor and I just thought we would totally mesh just personality wise. But then the other was and I don't know if it is an actual factor or not, but it's just something that resonated in the back of my mind was that folk is so close to country and they are in the same kind of root and I don't want to be country. So, I don't know if Blake would have ever pushed me to be a country artist, per se, I think it was just I think it would be very comfortable to pick Blake and I wanted the challenge of stepping out of my comfort zone and saying ok, what can we do with folk because it's already unpopular as it is, it would be really cool to pop it up, if that makes sense, so that was a couple deciding factors with going with Cee Lo.

 

The Voice airs Mondays at 8/7c on NBC.

 

(Image courtesy of NBC)

 

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