Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Yoshihanaa, 36, of Sanford, Fla., performed “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here” by Deborah Cox Yoshi’s silky smooth opening prompted an almost immediate chair turn from Snoop Dogg. Her voice swelled and more chairs turned — Reba McEntire and Niall Horan. Reba called her voice “angelic.” Snoop said it was immediately obvious she was someone he wanted to work with. Niall called her audition “impeccable” and said he loved her rasp. Yoshi decided to join Team Snoop.

Here’s more about Yoshihanaa:

* She’s Atlanta-based R&B singer and songwriter Ashton Beauchesne. She often shortens her stage name to Yoshi.

* She’s one of many Season 28 contestants with music already out. In her case, that includes a handful of singles from the 2022-23 timeframe that are streaming on Spotify. Plus lots of collaborations with other artists.

* One of those collaboration is a 2023 release with LLMW and Weave called “Rainbow Ribbon.” It’s a tribute to Yoshi’s grandmother who passed away unexpectedly.

* At the time, Yoshi said she didn’t really didn’t process her grandmother’s death and would find herself dialing her phone number because that was part of her routine.

* “I told myself, ‘I’ve got to process this. How am I going to do it?’ I had to write about it. I had to sing about it,” she told Orange County (Fla.) Urban Media in an interview last year.

* In the same interview, Yoshi said she grew up in a musical family and grew up singing in church.

* Her professional debut came via her brother who invited her to sing with his band for a rehearsal and was so impressed that he asked her to sing with the band at their next show.

* “Once I realized I sang well enough that people wanted to give me money, I took it and ran with it,” Yoshi said.

* Still, in terms of published musicy, Yoshi got her start writing songs for other artists. She said a turning point for her professionally came in 2017.

* A producer who had heard one of her demos asked where he could find her music. She explained that she was a songwriter, not a recording artist. His response, Yoshi recalls: “You need to be.”

* Though based in Atlanta, Yoshi has also performed frequently in Orlando, Fla., and other cities along the East Coast.

* Her musical influences include Whitney Houston, Jazmine Sullivan and Anita Baker.

Yoshihanaa on social media:
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@yoshihanaaa @Thepatioatl #atlantalivemusic #atl #atlsinger #atlanta #atllivemusic ♬ original sound – Yoshihanaa