Another Filipino is making his name on the international stage and he is no other than Jej Vinson, a 22-year-old Pinoy based in Los Angeles, who made all four judges of the reality singing competition in the United States (U.S.), The Voice, turned their chairs.
Jej blew away the crowd and the Season 16 coaches — Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, and John Legend — with his fresh take on Drake’s “Passionfruit” during the blind audition segment. Jej first caught the attention of Blake, followed by Kelly a few seconds later. John and Adam, meanwhile, both looked at each other and pressed the red button at the same time.
Wowed by the Filipino singer’s performance, Adam said, “You’re a better singer than all of us,” to which Jej replied, “That’s not true!”
First to comment on Jej’s rendition of “Passionfruit,” John said he was worried about Jej’s song choice at first since Drake is “kind of like monotone normally” but then the young singer managed to ‘soar.’
“You showed us these really precise beautiful runs like you knew, the note you wanted and just picked it out in the air. You hit every single one with precision and beauty and excitement you’ve got the whole crowd going,” John stressed.
Adam, meanwhile, assured Jej that if he will pick him as his coach, the Maroon 5’s lead singer will help Jej to “get to [a] place where people can feel you as well as they can hear you.”
“That to me is the number one thing moving forward for you to make sure you can navigate to the competition and keep everybody connected to your heart,” he told Jej.
Looking at Jej on the stage, Blake, on the other hand, thinks he knows who will be the champion of this year’s competition.
“You know, I think everybody here is probably a little bit nervous talking to you right now. We all feel like we’re looking at the winner of ‘The Voice’ this season,” he said.
For her part, Kelly, who won the first American Idol title, expressed confidence that she can win the contest along with Jej.
“You are incredible, man. I turned around and I was like, ‘What?’ And it was so effortless,” Kelly said.
Before he makes what he called as “one of the hardest decisions” he ever has to make, Jej thanked first the judges for turning their chairs to witness his talent, wishing that he could pick all of them to be his coaches, but in the end, it was Kelly who won Jej’s heart.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, WE GOT HIM! Jej, you are absolutely magical. #VoiceBlinds,” Kelly tweeted.