Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Andrew Igbokidi, 22, of Hot Springs, Ark., performed “when the party’s over” by Billie Eilish. His opening prompted almost immediate chair turns from Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Camila Cabello. Before Andrew reached the chorus, John Legend was facing his way as well. Camila complimented his tone and the emotion he poured into the performance. John said Andrew has the ability to stand out on The Voice. Andrew decided to join Team Camila.

Here’s more about Andrew:

* He’s a star student, calling himself a “type A character when it comes to school, which means he earned lots of As. “I made two Bs in the fourth grade, and I will never forget it,” he said in his Voice intro package.

* Andrew graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in the spring and received a full-tuition, four-year scholarship to the UAMS College of Medicine. In fact, he was accepted by four medical schools and received full tuition offers from three of them.

* He’s following his family’s footsteps in that regard. Andrew says his whole family is in the medical field. In fact, they moved to the U.S. from Nigeria when Andrew’s mother took a physician’s residency in Chicago.

* At the same time, Andrew told The Voice: “My education is something I’m very proud of, but music is just something I can’t ignore.”

* Andrew told Voice Views he started performing music in plays and talent shows “when I was in probably third or fourth grade.” He then began writing songs and performing them for his family. “That steadily grew into me doing choir, plays, musicals, and some gigging later down the road.”

* Andrew mentioned gigging on a cruise ship on the show and told Voice Views he did that for about a year, while still in college. “It was a really fun experience. I could create a setlist mix of songs that I’ve written and songs that I love and sort of gauge the interest and engagement of the audience.”

* He added that he prefers to perform “slower, more emotional songs. They tend to be pop/R&B, but I have a very eclectic taste, and I love to take songs that are not specifically my genre and put my own spin on it, whether that’s folk, 80s pop rock, etc.”

* Andrew said he chose “when the party’s over” for his blind audition because “the song just really evokes emotion. I think Billie was masterful in writing that song in its capability to tap into that sort of darkness, that sort of lonely, broken feeling that everyone can relate to at one point or another. And I am a very emotive singer, so I thought it would be a great song for me.”

* As his mother indicated on the show, Andrew intended to chose John Legend as a coach if he turned. Says Andrew: “I don’t know what happened on that stage, but Camila truly showed this passion and desire to work with me and to push me to be a better musician and performer.” So he went with her instead.

* Added Andrew: “I think what stood out most was probably the reaction to my blind audition and to me as an individual. I was not expecting such a massive outpour of love and support and just generally positive reviews of my performance and I guess just who I am as a musician and a person. It’s really been amazing.”

Andrew on social media:
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@iggy498 Wanted to just post a small part of this song. I’ll probably do a full cover later 👀 #queen #bohemianrhapsody #fyp #singing ♬ original sound – Andrew Igbokidi