Q) Alessandra, Jordy and Kensington, I wanted to know if you could tell us a little bit about who you are as a performer and what sort of led you to The Voice?
Alessandra Castranova: As a performer I’m not really all about gimmicks and things like that. I like to just show emotion when I sing and just sing from the heart. The simpler the better I think. What led me to The Voice was just years of family and friends always mentioning you should go try out or it won’t kill you this and that. And I always said no because TV was never really my thing. I never really was into it, I never really wanted to do it. But my boyfriend convinced me and a friend for like two hours. They’re like just go try. It’s right an hour away from you in Philadelphia. It can’t kill you. And I was just at a point in my life when I was like you know what let me just go try it. And I did and I’m blessed and thankful that I made it as far as I did.
Jordy Searcy: I was so privileged to be on the blind audition of The Voice last night. As a performer I’m very much a feel oriented guy as a little bit of the clip to the blind said last night. I love skateboarding and surfing.And I’m a singer songwriter. I write songs all the time and that’s mostly what I do. And I never really thought that I would be on The Voice as a singing artist somebody who doesn’t play their own original music. But I got a callback from an audition and things just kind of went from there. And it was just so crazy to be able to be on Pharrell’s team with such amazing artists and with such an amazing coach as Pharrell. And so it’s been kind of a surprise experience and I’m getting really kind of used to all of it but it’s really, really fun.
Kensington Moore: Being on The Voice has been like the craziest thing ever. I kind of always said I can never really see myself being on a TV show. And I’d never seen The Voice before and a bunch of my friends and family for years had been begging me to audition. And I finally I went with a friend to an open call in Nashville and they talked me into it. And I made it through the open call and it all just kind of like fell into place after that. And it has been the coolest experience ever like of my life. It’s insane. I think musically like as an artist I like to – I really like to keep things acoustic a lot when it comes to my own music. I write a lot. I like doing my original stuff and I think that’s kind of why I never saw myself being on a show like The Voice because I’m so used to writing and playing shows like doing my own original songs and not really – didn’t cover. So it’s been a cool thing to be on the show and get to sing other artist’s songs and like try to make them my own and show America who I really am through other people’s songs.
Q) I was hoping each of you could tell me a little bit about how that went. How quickly did the coaches turn around? What type of feedback did you get? That sort of thing. And how did you make your decision with which coach to go to?
Kensington Moore: Blake was the first turnaround. He actually turned around I think right as soon as the chorus started and it was the coolest feeling ever because you’re singing the song and constantly through your head you’re just thinking oh my goodness is anyone going to turn around. And as soon as you see that chair turn it’s such a huge relief because you’re like I’m in. I’m in. I have nothing to worry about now. So that’s the greatest feeling ever. And I got such great advice from all four coaches. They were all so positive and I’m super stoked to work with Blake. I just love him.
Jordy Searcy: The blind audition is really like a one of a kind experience. I’ve heard so many people. I was talking to my mom who’s my vocal coach the other day and I was just saying that there’s really no other performers in the world except the people on that show who have that kind of experience because you have 90 seconds of a song that you worked on for two months and you have to make four great artists, four professional people want you to be on your show that’s going to be aired to 15 million people and really change your life. So it’s kind of a bizarre thing and it’s a really strenuous thing. So what I did to prepare for the blind auditions was kind of in my head I said to myself like okay if I don’t make a team then it’s going to be all right. I’m just going to go back home and make a record and work on some more music. And so I went in with that mindset of just trying to give a good performance. And I think I like overdid that a little bit because whenever I got on stage I was – I had really and the chairs turned right about the first chorus. I was like wow. I don’t really know what’s going on right now and it didn’t process in my mind until I got off stage. And then I flipped out. And so yes it was a super surreal experience, super fun experience. Maybe not my best singing I’ve ever done, but in the moment I really think that I pulled it together and I’m really excited how it turned out.
Alessandra Castranovo: Honestly, I was so nervous and I had so many emotions I don’t really remember a lot. It was like an out of body experience. I mean I think Adam turned around within the first verse of me singing. But then once it was all over I saw that Blake and Adam’s chair turned. I believe Blake turned first maybe. I don’t know. I really can’t remember. But when it was time to decide I thought about Blake for a little bit but then Adam just kept talking and talking and saying really nice compliments and stuff. So that’s what made me choose him.
Q) John, what is it about cheesy little pop songs that you like?
John Martin: I mean that’s what I was raised on. I was raised on well Christian music at first but then my mom I just told this story the other day. My mom snuck me a Beatles album and like a Nat King Cole album and let me listen to some of that music. So I was raised on jazz standards and I’m not a deep writer when I write music. I don’t have a ginormous vocabulary. It’s just easier for me to write cheesy love music as well. Plus it’s just super popular. I love listening to it so it just kind of comes naturally.
Q) Would you say you’re a hopeless romantic then?
John Martin: Yes. I think so. Yes definitely.
Q) Ricky, on the show you make busking look so simple but I know it’s really pretty gritty and can get pretty dirty and pretty a pain in the butt. How do you feel about going from doing busking to being on The Voice?
Ricky Manning: Yes. I mean busking is not the most gratifying of jobs in the world…I mean – or glamorous whatsoever. No, especially in the smelly subways of New York City. It can get a little – you get down on yourself a little bit because it’s like you’re singing your heart out and you’re doing what you love to do, but people aren’t treating it that way. They’re just treating it like it’s another guy on the street singing. It’s just a side show. It’s just me doing my job. People going to their jobs walking past me doing my job. It’s a little weird. So going from the streets and the subways to this giant stage and giant platform that The Voice is it’s a cool way to transition because before no one was listening and now 15 million people are listening including four of the most important people in music today. I mean it’s fantastic. It’s better than me playing for two or three people who have nothing better to do in New York City. I definitely honed my skills as a performer on the streets because I could do whatever I wanted. I could sing whatever I wanted, when I wanted. I could sing three songs on repeat for three hours because it was a new crowd every two minutes. So if I want to sing “Hallelujah,” “Come Together” by the Beatles and “Royals” by Lorde the whole time I’m just going to do that because that’s what people want to hear and that’s what they’re maybe going to drop a dollar in for. But this time I get to sing a new – hopefully a new song every week and it’s really cool and I couldn’t be more excited.
Q) Alessandra, I just wanted to know if you saw kind of like your neighbor Jacquie Lee do so well on The Voice two seasons ago and whether or not that kind of inspired you to take a chance with this season?
Alessandra Castranovo: Good question actually. I’m not going to lie. I never really watched the show up until I first auditioned because like I said I wasn’t really a fan of the TV shows. But since she did she was kind of the next town over to me I did hear about it. Sometimes at my dad’s restaurant they’d drop off the newspapers and I saw a little article in there about her. And when I would go to get my hair done we got our hair done by like the same lady. So as I was getting my hair done the hair dresser was like, “Oh, you know Jacquie Lee. She’s on The Voice.” And I was like yes. So, I definitely did know about her and her success on the show.
Q) At your dad’s restaurant do you ever perform for the diners?
Alessandra Castranovo: I actually don’t. I did one time. It’s very busy and it – there’s not really room to even kind of sit and sit inside to sing around there. And I just kind of like to stay behind the scene and help and work. Sometimes in the summer he does have singers outside but I kind of like to keep to myself while I’m there.
Q) John, what is it about Blake as a mentor that you thought would kind of work with you and with your style?
John Martin: Oh man. Yes I mean I’m a bit confused myself actually. I think I said this on TV that I just had to kind of follow my gut. And I’m actually a huge fan of Pharrell’s and I listen to his music almost every day and I’ve been following him for a while. And I don’t know any Blake Shelton music. But when I was up there he was the first one that turned around for me. He was just super into me. Plus I also mentioned that the other two coaches, Gwen and Pharrell were almost rooting for Blake while together. Plus Adam who doesn’t like Blake at all was rooting for Blake. It was just sort of a last minute thing. I honestly thought I was going to go with Pharrell and yes I went with Blake. But I don’t regret it at all.
Q) You haven’t worked with them or anything yet right?
John Martin: I’ll be working with them before the next episode airs or whenever my next thing airs. A lot of chance to be in a rehearsal with them I’m sure and do stuff like that.
Q) Kensington and Bree, I know that he turned for you and all but what is it about him as a mentor that you think will help you?
Kensington Moore: I think it’s cool to work with Blake because we both have like country backgrounds and now that I do sing pop — I’m not a country artist anymore — I think he can still help me be super successful like Sisaundra is a perfect example from last season. She was on his team and she went so far and she never did any country. And I think Blake has so many connections not only in the country side of the music industry but really he has connections with everyone. And I know he’ll help me a lot.
Bree Fondacaro: I actually was very excited that Blake was the one to turn for me just because he comes from a totally different background than I do and I just think things – very interesting things come about with different backgrounds and people working with a different approach. I think really unique things come from that. And so I just felt like it was kind of a perfect fit for me and my approach to music.
Kensington Moore: I think one thing that’s really cool about Blake like I’m almost like I’m trying to think of the word, like star struck or something by Pharrell and Adam and Gwen. Like they – I don’t know. It’s almost like I would feel nervous talking to them or something. But Blake almost feels like he could be my dad. Like I just feel so comfortable around him and I feel like we can really relate.
Q) Anita, I had to say your story I found particularly interesting because you had been on before and you seemed really devastated by what had happened. And it took you a little while to kind of go up – come back up to do it. Would you say that was almost a blessing in disguise because you’re there now and you’re doing really great?
Anita Antoinette: Yes. In terms of devastation I think I was more just trying to in terms of the time that it took to come back I just wanted to take that time to really make sure I wanted it for myself because it’s an experience essentially that will open up a lot of fear. And if you have all that fear kind of rushing through you at that point you need some moments or some times to make the decision if it’s worth it. And it definitely is and I think it definitely was a blessing in disguise. I needed that time. I needed that bad experience and that moment to realize that I really, really wanted it.
Q) What Adam had said really had sunk into you. I mean you really took his advice to heart.
Anita Antoinette: Yes especially, he spoke to me on a level that I can relate to and that I understand. Making sure that you connect to a song and sing it from a place that really can move people. And to me that’s what I think when I write. Not all obviously all of my songs are one subject matter but I do like to make sure that I connect to people because I’m a gospel singer. I’m not an opera singer. I did go to Berkeley, but I didn’t necessarily have the greatest experience there and I don’t have that kind of strong, ridiculous voice that everybody just goes crazy over. But I do have a message and I think my tone and just who I am as a person comes out when I sing. So I had to hone that and make sure that I kind of bring that to everything I do.
Q) I thought John was really going to go with Pharrell I really thought you were going with Adam
Anita Antoinette: Yes I initially thought I would go with Adam especially because of what my experience was with season three and what he had said and the fact that he turned around this time. But Gwen sort of – she spoke to me on a level that was very honest and real and she was really feeling it. She was in that chair and she was dancing. And that to me just means a lot. Like hey like if you can groove to what I’m doing that’s beautiful. And she recognized that I like to kind of mix the genres and that I was a songwriter. And so that spoke to me as well.
John Martin: Well I guess I mean I was following my gut when I was up there and I felt like I was supposed to go with Blake. But also I thought about it before, during the audition process who I would pick if they all turned around. And I think from a strategic standpoint I wanted to go with Blake because I figured that if I went with Pharrell he would have all of the power singers, all the powerhouse singers. And I just figured I wouldn’t even had a chance even if I went with Pharrell. Also what was on my mind was that Blake has had a ton of experience on the show. He’s won multiple times and I think I just was ready to have someone who was going to help me win because he had that.
Q) Song choices, Mia that was a really big song choice. That was a really risky one. Are you glad you did do the song?
Mia Pfirrman: Yes. I’m actually really, really glad that they gave me that because I have actually auditioned for blind. Well I didn’t really get to go to blind both seasons, seasons five and six. And I was never really happy with the song choices that he’d given me each time. So this time around it was just it was perfect. And it was cool because I actually sing that song at a lot of my gigs. I could tell how nervous I was and it was just not the best I’ve ever done it. But I mean I did the best I could.
Q) Kelly, the song “Danny’s Boy” has to be one of the biggest classics in the past 40 years. Why that song in particular?
Kelly Douglas: That’s actually one of my favorite songs. It’s always giving me a feeling. Some songs just really give you a feeling and even though it’s – I never thought I’d sing it anywhere but I love the song. I was already very familiar with the song and it was just interesting singing it because I was able to bring a different sound to it. It’s a country song really and of course I’m not a country singer so. It was fun. It was interesting. It was different and a lot of people liked the song
Q) Mia, we had seen highlights or I guess teases of your performance for a few days leading up to the episode. We’ve seen a lot of top singers in The Voice in past seasons also sort of be featured that way. I’m wondering what you made of that and what you thought of the episode and how it all came together and how it was all presented to the audience last night?
Mia Pfirrman: Well, it was really crazy seeing myself in some of the promos and I was really excited that just like I don’t know. I’ve been like waiting for this moment for so long. I’ve been working really hard and I just felt like I don’t know it was the right time for all of this to happen to me now. And I feel like my audition and the whole segment went really well. I was not expecting – I mean it’s hard to expect anything before you see it. It just like felt like a dream. And I don’t really know. It’s just weird. I’m really excited about it though and I’m happy that they – I don’t know. I’m happy they didn’t make me look dumb because I remember saying a lot of dumb things out of nervousness and it was great…
Q) And in the sense that obviously your parents are involved in music I imagine that maybe you come into this competition with more of a knowledge of the industry and what works and what doesn’t maybe than the average singer. So I’m wondering what do you hope to get from this show and what sort of things maybe have you learned already that you didn’t know coming into it?
Mia Pfirrman: Well having coming from a musical family it’s just, I’ve always been expected to know so much and to I don’t know just be as good as everybody else and in my family since I’m the youngest. And I don’t know. I’m happy that I get to be on a show like this to teach me what I guess what they never could or what they didn’t have the chance of teaching me. And I guess it’s kind of like even more than I could possibly ask for being a young singer. I just I already feel like I have so much. I’ve already learned so much but I know I still have so much to learn and I just really feel like it’s good to be on Adam’s team and I feel like he can really help me with the things that I don’t know yet being the artist that I want to be just cool.
Q) Troy, what was it about Gwen that really stuck out to you?
Troy Ritchie: Gwen Stefani has been a part of my household for my whole life. My sisters love her music. I honestly didn’t really grow up listening to too much No Doubt or Gwen Stefani. I mean I knew her songs because she was definitely a sensation. But she just seemed really awesome. I loved what she had to say and just the fact that she turned around for me was pretty cool. Yes and that shirt is amazing.
Q) Do you wear it now all the time?
Troy Ritchie: I definitely was wearing it last night. I posted a really goofy Instagram and yes because I said I’m going to wear this on the episode and then I did a video where I popped up and I was wearing the shirt like right after I saw that on TV. I don’t know if that makes sense the way I explained it but.
Q) Then who were some of your musical influences if you weren’t listening a whole lot to No Doubt when you were younger?
Troy Ritchie: I definitely grew up in a household of classic rock, Motown and stuff like that. And then gradually I started – I actually got into metal for a little bit as mentioned on the episode. And then later I started to get more into alternative rock bands. It started with Coldplay. I used to practically be a Chris Martin impersonator. Like I sounded almost identical to him because I don’t know I just like really loved what he did. They’re one of the biggest bands in the world. But and then I listened to like Kings of Leon, their early stuff and just I’ve been listening to like – actually I listen to The Beatles a lot too.
Q) You’re the third person who’s mentioned The Beatles. It seems like everybody in some weird sort of way has been influenced by The Beatles.
Troy Ritchie: Yes it’s true. They figured it out. I don’t know what it is but there’s just something so magical about them. I’m into like sound engineering and stuff like that. Like if all else fails that’s what I would want to do. So like listening to their albums and the way they pan everything is just like they really just change the game.
Q) Jessie now so speaking along the same lines who are some of your influences? I mean what did you grow up listening to?
Jessie Pitts: I grew up listening to a whole bunch of genres. My dad raised me on also The Beatles and a lot of folk and country. But I listened to a little bit of everything. I recently in the last few years got really into indie music but Regina Spektor and a lot of British artists have been some of the kind music that I listened to in my like teen years and trying to find myself and my voice. And so I think Gwen brought up on stage if I knew who Ellie Goulding was and I think she could kind of tell that people like Ellie Goulding and Regina Spektor have influenced me and my voice. So I’m going to try and break away from that but you can definitely hear it in my voice who my idols are in the music world. But I kind of walked on stage similar – feeling similar to John Martin and Anita thinking I was going to go with someone else if they all turned around. I thought that I was for sure going to choose Blake upfront. And I don’t know what it was about Gwen but we just had a connection and she was really enthusiastic about me and kept on explaining that she sees the vision that I have and she wants to carry it out. And so and her being a girl of course relates and she just – I look up to her so much for being so unique and being the first of her kind. She didn’t have anyone to compare herself as an artist when she was becoming who she was. But she kind of paved her own way in the music industry and I kind of want to do a similar thing and she gets it. And I’m really excited to work with her.
Q) I was watching somebody’s posting review and they mentioned how The Voice is unique in the fact that it doesn’t humiliate the artist unlike some other shows. Is that makes The Voice the show to be on for singers and singer/songwriters?
Kensington Moore: I was explaining earlier I don’t know if it was your question or who it was but I had always said like I will never be on a singing show like that because there are so many that just enjoy like humiliating the artist and making them look bad. But I think The Voice is all about being positive and showing, doing everything they can to show how the artist can really shine in their own way. And they make everyone look good and everyone on there is so, so, so amazing. That’s one thing that I think is really cool. Like The Voice has always gotten the best of the best talent on the show. So I mean I think even they wanted to humiliate anybody they couldn’t because everybody’s so good. But I think that’s why The Voice is so special because they are so positive and uplifting and they want to make every artist look good in their own way.
Jordy Searcy: Yes. I would definitely want to second what Kensie is saying. The Voice is such a cool show. I think just in the format that it’s set up. You have coaches. You have people who pick you instead of you trying to impress America with whatever you have and just the fact that you get these really experienced people pouring into you, giving you help and it is great for them if they win. So, they want the talent. They don’t want the person in the chicken suit. The show is really less about I think well it’s of course it’s about finding the talent because like Kensington said everybody who’s on the show is incredible more so than like any other show. But I think it’s also about developing the artist. And one thing that I think Pharrell, my coach, is really great at is caring about the artist because he’s a producer. And so he has so much insight. And so he’s an example to me of what the show is really about is developing an artist into something great.
*CONFERENCE CALL*