"The Voice": The Ones That Got Away

posted in: Music News

Last night, we saw the fifth and final installment of blind auditions on The Voice. As always, we met a wide array of performers, from blues artists to belting divas to that one dude who sang opera and beatboxed (more on that, later). With the audition segment of the season coming to a close, it only seemed appropriate to pay tribute to a few who got away…

Adorable, down-to-earth OurStage artist David Dunn, a self-proclaimed “black sheep of the family,” channeled his inner-Script on stage in round 5. The girls in the audience seemed to squeal with delight at this soulful pop singer, but none of the judges were wowed enough to press that darn button. Hey David, we’ll watch you sing any time!

Armed with a guitar and a set of experienced pipes, sixty-four-year-old Memphis native Preston Shannon, a.k.a. The King of Beale Street, brought the house down with his bluesy performance. Preston’s rustic tone had all of the judges nodding their heads with approval, but unfortunately, none of them made the move to claim him for their team. We could definitely see why they call him “The King!”

Finally, Cameron “Novackaine” Novack made us all scratch our heads when he busted out opera and rap within ten seconds of his introduction. Novack was incredibly confident that he was about to be begged to join at least one coach’s team, but his performance of “You Oughta Know” seemed to confuse more than impress. Cee-Lo immediately regretted his decision, though, and even asked if it would be possible to bend the rules, just this once. Ultimately, though, Novack had to shuffle off the stage and move on to the next opera hall…or rap show. Whichever.

Sadly, The Voice is a numbers game. All of the coaches said that they would be much pickier with performances in the final round, since the spots left on their teams were limited. We can’t help but wonder: Would these singers have made it through to the battle rounds if they had gotten to perform earlier in the show? Maybe. All we can do now is hope that America was paying attention, because many of the rejected vocalists on The Voice still represent some of the best undiscovered talent.