Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Chevel Shepherd and Mikele Buck perform during their Team Kelly Clarkson battle round match on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

At age 16, Chevel Shepherd would have had plenty of reasons to be concerned heading into her battle round match on The Voice.

She’d never performed a duet before on stage.

She’d never heard the song she was asked to sing, “You Look So Good in Love.”

In fact, the George Strait tune dates from 1983, long before Chevel was born.

And Chevel was being asked to go up against Mikele Buck, a 39-year-old who released his debut album 13 years ago.

So how did Chevel respond to all those pressures?

“I loved it. It was super fun,” she told Voice Views, referring to the battle round match we saw just a snippet of on the show.

“We’re so different, but so similar,” Chevel added of her and Mikele. “I just went out there and wanted to have fun and give it my all. So I wasn’t worried. I wasn’t intimidated or anything about our age difference.”

Chevel, from Farminginton, N.M., said she liked the song once she learned it. As for duets, she wouldn’t mind doing more in the future though the only experience she had prior to The Voice was harmonizing with family members when she sang with them.

As for why Kelly declared her the winner, Chevel wouldn’t hazard a guess.

But Kelly — who won Season 14 with 15-year-old Brynn Cartelli — complimented Chevel for having such a “rad” voice at such a young age.

She now advances to the knockout round on a team that feature four young female singers, Sarah Grace, Abby Cates, Claire Dejean and Chevel.

Chevel made the show with a blind audition performance of “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry.

She turned three chairs and decided to join Team Kelly despite expressing a pre-audition inclination to go with Blake Shelton, with whom she shares a birthday.

See also …
More about Chevel Shepherd
More about Mikele Buck
Looking ahead to the knockouts
Team Kelly’s Cody Ray Raymond leaves The Voice

Chevel Shepherd and Mikele Buck listen to feedback during rehearsals for their battle round match on The Voice. (NBC Photo)