BY RICHARD JOHNSON Jamaica Observer senior reporter
Thursday, September 05, 2013
SINGER Tessanne Chin is defending her decision to audition for the hit NBC talent show, The Voice.
“Why not,” she responds. “The way I see it, I really have nothing to lose. It is an amazing show and I can only broaden my horizons if I am successful. I see it as a kind of reinvention of myself… I can only benefit.”
On Tuesday, the singer known for local hits including Hideaway and Messenger, took to social media and Tweeted her joy at auditioning for the show, scheduled to air on September 23.
“I have always dreamed big, and while I am proud of all my accomplishments in Jamaica, I have always wanted to make it internationally,” Chin explains. “The exposure I could get from The Voice would really be a foot in the door.”
She says the decision to audition for The Voice was influenced by Shaggy, whom she says first approached her with the idea. It took months for her to make the final decision.
“Shaggy suggested it, and I have to give him props for that. He thought it was a really good way to showcase my talent to a much wider audience.”
Chin has been guarded in her response to media, due to confidentiality clauses associated with the show.
She is looking forward to making the final cut.
“I can only be true to myself. I always sing from the heart and hope that my audience feels whatever I am singing. It’s not just about a ‘buss’, it’s what I can learn from the experience. What a great training ground this could be for me, and, like I said, an evolution for myself as an artiste.”
The Voice is a vocal competition, which features four stages of try-outs. The first is a blind audition, then the battle rounds, the knock-outs and live performance shows.
During the blind auditions the decisions from the celebrity panel of coaches Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera, are based solely on vocal prowess and not looks.
The coaches hear the artistes perform but do not get to see them. If they are impressed, he/she pushes a button to select the artiste for his/her team.
Meanwhile, local television personality and Rising Stars judge Anthony Miller supports Chin’s decision to audition for The Voice.
“She has been bouncing around for some time with this exceptional voice and one wonders why no one has picked her up. This is a big opportunity and one of the ways of getting that attention,” Miller says.
“She is a class act vocally and I can’t see her not doing well… it’s a great platform for her.”