Belle Jewel Lyon, Charity Bowden, Jonathan "JSoul" Guilfoyle, and Tarra Layne Birdsall talk 'The Voice' Blind Auditions -- What fans didn't see!

Belle Jewel Lyon, Charity Bowden, Jonathan "JSoul" Guilfoyle, and Tarra Layne Birdsall all advanced to The Voice's "Battle Round," but no one got to see their full Blind Auditions!


Belle Jewel, Charity, JSoul and Tarra Layne's received very little airtime, as only short clips of their auditions were televised during this week's The Voice episode. Since fans were barely acquainted with these talented artists, it's time to get to know them.

Belle Jewel was picked by Alicia Keys, Charity chose to join Miley Cyrus' team over Alicia, JSoul landed on Adam Levine's team, and Tarra Layne was selected by Blake Shelton.

During a conference call with reporters, the four artists discussed their Blind Auditions in detail -- from their song choice to what the coaches had to say about them.

Belle Jewel: So, that audition was probably the most fun I've ever had on stage. It was just so incredible to be in front of all that talent and all that wisdom and just know that they were hearing what I love to do most and that was really an incredible thing.


I was really glad that I was able to have a song ["Don't You (Forget About Me)"] that I could make my own and put my own twist on it. So I really enjoyed that aspect of it and I really couldn't be more thrilled to be on "Team Alicia." It's a dream come true for sure.

    
Charity Bowden: So [I sang] "Girl Crush" and it was a song that I knew pretty well so I'm comfortable out there. And when I got on stage, I was a little bit nervous but it was honestly one of the most incredible things I've ever done.

Just being on that stage and knowing that four of the biggest stars in music are listening to you is something so incredible that not many will have the opportunity to do. And I absolutely love being on Team Miley, and it's something that I never would have thought would happen. And now that it has, it's just been an amazing journey.

I chose Miley because it was one of the things that my gut was just kind of telling me to go with it, even though I almost went with Alicia. I really didn't know what I was going to do and it came out of my mouth and I was like, "Okay, that's who I'm with. That's cool."

And I was -- and it just happened, and Miley said some things to me that were awesome and how much she believed in me and then Alicia said amazing things too, telling me to always be myself. It was really hard for me to choose, but I'm glad I went with Miley.



JSoul: I'm doing pretty great right now. I'm on top of the world. It was great watching [the episode]. That was probably one of the scarier moments for me though onstage. I tried out for the show nine times so this is the first time I've gotten this far.

So nine times of perseverance is what I went through. I guess the first six times when I was younger, I wasn't ready for this chance. And then previously, last year, I tried out and it was right before my best friend passed away.

So I was overwhelmed with emotion during the first audition and I just broke down and started crying. And that really kind of hit me when I got onstage this time. I just felt every note [of "Stay With Me"] that came out I was on the verge of just bursting into tears.

So it was very difficult for me to get through the entire song and I'm glad that it came out so great and I'm glad Adam turned around for me. He was the only one that turned around. He turned around really quickly too, about 12 or 14 seconds he turned around. And that hit me too.

I started smiling and I looked up and I kept singing to the crowd. It was a beautiful moment in my life and I'm glad that I get to share it with my whole family and my hometown of Virginia here is really supporting me and helping.


They're out buying my single and, you know, just that 12, 15 seconds that it showed of my clip and I'm already -- I'm at, I think, 88 now on the R&B charts, and it's an overwhelming day for me. It's amazing to be on this show and I'm so glad that there's something like this out there that helps all of us be able to fulfill our dreams. It was an amazing moment.


Tarra Layne: I'm doing great over here and I agree with JSoul. It's one of those things where, like, you as artists -- we're hustling, we're hustling, we're hustling, and then to get an opportunity like this to be on a stage this big with this much exposure, is something that really can't be described to anybody else.

It's absolutely amazing and even just getting to that point when I walked up on that stage in front of, of course, four artists who are extremely accomplished -- it's like a feeling that I thought I would never have, ever. I don't think I've ever been so scared to tell you the truth.

I have [performed for] thousands and thousands of people, and then you get up on that stage and you forget how to. It's kind of crazy, but the experience was absolutely phenomenal, seeing everybody on TV last night.

It was so cool to see everybody that you become friends with over the past couple months, and I'm really excited to see what's to come out of it. It was a great experience and I'm excited to be on "Team Blake."


He was the only one to turn. "Black Velvet" -- when we were asked to choose a few songs, that was one on the list that I of course have performed a ton of times before. It was actually one of the first songs I've ever recorded in a studio.

I think I was like 20 when I first walked into a studio my first time and did a cover of it. And I thought it was really interesting and serendipitous in a way that it was my Blind Audition song. So of course I loved it. So it was great.

The Voice's eleventh-season Battles will begin on Monday, October 10 at 8PM ET/PT on NBC.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski