Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Jeffery Austin (left) and Noah Jackson prepare for their battle round match on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

College graduate Jeffery Austin’s first major performance since high school was his blind audition for Season 9 of The Voice.

Then came the battle round, when he was asked The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face,” a song he says fell more into the wheelhouse of his battle round competitor, Noah Jackson.

You might say Jeffery felt more than a little challenged.

“I was pretty scared because Noah’s got great control and great tone for someone his age; he’s just 19,” Jeffery admitted during a Wednesday conference call with the media.

Then came rehearsals, when coach Gwen Stefani made it clear she was looking for more emotion from Jeffery. Not to mention stage presence.

“I am a trained singer and come from that background,” Jeffery explained. “So when I first dig into a song, I’m really only looking at it from a vocalist’s perspective versus the performer.

“Gwen, while she appreciates the ability you have vocally and as a technical singer, she really doesn’t care about it if there’s nothing behind it in emotion.”

So that’s what he worked hardest on between the rehearsals and performance day — channeling the emotion in the song while also dancing, singing and putting on a good show for the audience.

“It’s not anything that I would have ever chosen for myself or done,” Jeffery said of the song. “But what I’m glad about that performance is it pushed me to do that and it made me so much more comfortable as a performer going forward.”

Gwen picked Jeffery as the singer to advance from the battle to the knockout round; Noah was eliminated.

Though their battle wasn’t shown on TV, their cover of “Can’t Feel My Face” is available on iTunes. For more about Jeffery, head here. For more about Noah, head here.

Jeffery Austin performs during his battle round match on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Jeffery Austin and Noah Jackson perform during the battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)