Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Jeff Lewis, 28, of Coppell, Texas, auditioned with an acoustic version of Usher’s “U Got It Bad.” He was nearly finished with his audition when three coaches — Blake Shelton, Shakira and Usher — turned around in rapid succession.

Battle round: Lost to Josiah Hawley, was not saved.

His background: The Voice caught up with Jeff at a Los Angeles golf course where he works. In his interview with Carson Daly, he says he was doing more dancing than singing when he first moved to L.A., but eventually landed a deal with Interscope Records, made a couple of videos and was on the verge of releasing an album, when he “got shelved.” He described the two-and-a-half-year experience as an “incredible high” followed by a frustrating roller-coaster ride. “It was so much work to get there. Then everything stopped.”

On picking Usher: “I was pretty set on Usher. It would have definitely been between Adam and Usher if they had been in the group that turned around.

What the show didn’t show: He was performing as J. Lewis for his record deal and you can check out those two videos below; one features Flo Rida. Among the other songs you’ll find if you snoop around YouTube are “Shot to the Head,” “Sex and Coffee,” “Solo,” “Everywhere I Go” and “Eternally Lost.” “Solo” is particularly good. He describes his music as urban pop. In addition to working at the golf course, Jeff was doing background vocals for some TV shows when he was asked to show up on The Voice set. In fact, he thought he was showing up to do background work, not to be a contestant on the show.

Quote: “To be perfectly honest, I never saw myself on any singing show,” Jeff said in a post-audition interview. “This was an amazing opportunity that came about in a round-about way.” During a conference call interview with the media, Jeff admitted he’d never seen an episode of the show before auditioning and only decided to participate after seeing how talented the other contestants were. “This is not just a TV show made for TV. These are real artists.”

On iTunes: His audition song, “U Got It Bad,” plus two singles as J. Lewis — “Dancin’ for Me” and “Shut ‘Em Up.”

Keeping up with Jeff:
Twitter: @iamjefflewis
Facebook
YouTube channel

“Adorn” (Miguel cover)

“Dancin’ For Me” (a 2010 single featuring Flo Rida)