Filipino singer Jej Vinson advances to The Voice Top 13

“Pretty speechless. Top 13. I’m out of words, but I want to thank Kelly Clarkson for seeing something in me.” (Photo: @jejvinson/Instagram)

Once again, Filipino singer Jej Vinson stuns “The Voice” Season 16 audience, especially his coach Kelly Clarkson, and makes it to the American singing contest’s Top 13.

In an episode that aired last Monday, April 29, Jej serenaded viewers with his version of “Love Lies” by Khalid and Normani. After advancing to the Top 24 the week prior, the Top 13 was then chosen either by votes from the American audience or the coaches themselves. For Jej, it was the latter, American Idol Season 1 winner Kelly using her “save” on Jej over the other team members that became his fighting chance to win the overall title.

The news was shared on The Voice U.S.’s official Twitter account as well, sharing a video of the Filipino talent captioned, “Jej Vinson is headed into the #VoiceTop13! Who else is excited?!”

Among the other contestants that also advanced to the Top 13 round of the show include: Rod Stokes from Team Kelly Clarkson as well, Andrew Sevener, Gyth Rigdon, Carter Lloyd Horne, Dexter Roberts and Oliv Blu from Team Blake Shelton, Maelyn Jarmon, Shawn Sounds and Celia Babini from Team John Legend, and LB Krew and Mari from Team Adam Levine.

Now, the 22-year-old is anticipating the next round of the hit television show, where five will be eliminated from the 13  contestants. The theme for the songs will be “Fan Night,” where the viewers themselves will get to choose what songs the contestants will perform.

In an interview with Asian Journal, the Davao native Jej talks about his musical background, stating, “I kind of grew up chorally trained, and then a little bit after that, I started listening to more jazz and R&B, and then when I moved to LA, I started to appreciate more radio-friendly and pop artists, so it’s kind of a mixed bag of influences,” even sharing that originally, his parents encouraged the young student to pursue nursing, but immediately switched to a musical course at the University of Southern California.

He adds, “That year when I decided to go to school for music, there was a lot of doubt within myself but I’m glad that my parents actually supported me. It actually helped lift me up and encouraged me to keep going.”