Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Last weekend marked the release of a debut single from George Horga Jr., a contestant on Season 5 of The Voice.

The song is a catchy pop single called “Lights On” that you can check out below.

George told Voice Views that he wrote the song with Carlos Battey of The Jackie Boyz; the song was produced by Jason Mater and features a rap by Meech.

“When we started writing it — immediately we knew we had something special. It developed into a love song about getting away, realizing that love is all you need to truly feel like you’re on top of the world — to feel like Marilyn and James Dean, being superstars without everything else that comes with it.”

George says he recently finished shooting the music video that accompanies the song, but doesn’t have a release date for that yet.

He says fans should expect it to have “a classic feel — ballroom, red dress, classic car, with a twist! Really painting the picture for the song. So excited for everyone to see.”

George was 19 when he auditioned for The Voice in 2013. He turned only one chair with his blind audition performance of Bruno Mars’ “Treasure,” but wound up making it all the way to the knockout round before being eliminated.

“Since The Voice I can honestly say the biggest thing I learned is how to not take an opportunity for granted and to just grab the bull by the horns and be confident any time I step up to a mic,” George says.

“I feel like I could have done much better on the show if I understood that back then, but it was a great learning experience.”

At one point, George was planning to release an EP this year. Instead, he now says he might just release one song at a time until there are enough out there to “do an EP tour, which I would love to do.”

The Portland, Oregon, resident says he’s been working on another up-tempo song called “Summer Emotions” that has what he calls “a perfect mix of smooth pop verses with a big electronic hook.”

And he says he’s eager to release a few ballads he’s written, adding “I’m a sucker for slow songs.”

George has also been doing some writing for other artists, including a group called “The Grown Kidz” that records for Warner Brothers Japan.

You can follow what he’s up to through his Facebook page and Twitter where he’s @Georgehorgajr.

Now, that new single …