J Chosen certainly made a name for himself on The Voice's premiere when he blew all four coaches away with his soulful voice.
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A shattered knee also once shattered Joshua "J Chosen" Hunter's dream of playing in the NBA, but the 29-year-old special education teacher from Albany, GA, eventually found an even bigger passion in music and performing. Now, J Chosen's goal is to provide for his son through singing.
"Coming into the Blinds when the chairs started to turn, I really didn't know who I wanted to pick honestly," J Chosen told Reality TV World on Tuesday following the show's twelfth-season premiere.
J Chosen sang "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye and got a four-chair turn from Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Alicia Keys, and Gwen Stefani, as well as a standing ovation.
"I was telling people Alicia Keys, I was telling myself even Adam," J Chosen said when trying to describe what was going through his mind as the chairs began to turn.
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When it became time for the coaches to plead their cases, Adam said he wouldn't be able to sleep if he couldn't become J Chosen's coach because they can win The Voice together. Alicia noted that Marvin was in heaven clapping over that performance because it was powerful, emotional and vulnerable.
Gwen, however, made a great argument in saying -- in addition to the fact J Chosen poured his heart out for the world and his vocals were "instinctual" -- that she grew up singing in a band full of men, so she has a wide-range of experience, especially considering she even released a hit country single with Blake recently. From pop to rock to country, Gwen does it all.
"The thing that got me to pick Gwen was just simply her saying, you know, pretty much being diverse," J Chosen explained of his coach going into "The Battle Round" stage of the competition.
"And I knew coming into the show I just didn't want to perform to one audience. I wanted to -- people always tell me, my mom always tells me, to dream big. So I never want to put myself in a box. Instead I say, 'Okay, well, let's think outside the box and grow.'"
J Chosen told Reality TV World, "Gwen had said, 'I can give you both sides because I have been in boy groups and I have the female tendency,' so to me, all that was summed up into being diverse. And at that moment, it was a last-minute decision. And I went with Gwen because I wanted the diversity."
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Also during the conference call, J Chosen talked to reporters about how his career might change if he goes on to win The Voice's twelfth season.
"Honestly winning, I haven't actually thought about if I win. Right now I guess I'm just taking it step by step," J Chosen explained.
"But if I did win, I definitely would come back and, you know, support where I came from. I was always taught, 'Never burn the bridges that help you cross.' And so I would definitely come back and love on my kids and just give back to the community. Because I mean, that's who really makes you."
J Chosen added that the children he teaches are also watching the show on TV as it unfolds.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski