Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Angel Bonilla landed a spot on Team Adam Levine on The Voice Season 14. (NBC Photo)

Her background: Her birth name was Carlos, but Angel told The Voice that as early as age 5 she knew “I was a girl trapped in a boy’s body.” She says her decision to identify as a female was particularly difficult for her dad, “but he embraced me. I promised him I would do great things.”

What we missed: Angel said the decision behind her song choice was simple; she connected to the lyrics. “It reminds me of my past relationship. A guy left me cause he did not see that we have a future. He wanted to have kids of his own, and I cannot give that to him. That song reminds me of the love that I lost.” As for the feedback from the judges: Adam turned early, Alicia Keys said she would have turned if Adam hadn’t threatened to block her. And Angel said Kelly Clarkson praised the “whistle note” at the end of her performance. As for Blake Shelton? “Blake told me that I have a sexy voice and I’m sexy. LOL.”

More about Angel:

* Angel is from the Philippines and became the first openly transgender singer to appear on The Voice.

* You have to love what Angel wrote about that on Twitter: “I’m not a gimmick, I’m a singer/artist that just happen to be a transwoman. And I’m proud of it!”

* She successfully auditioned for Season 1 of the X Factor with “Killing Me Softly” and advanced as far as the boot camp stage of that competition.

* In a 2016 interview, she says that experience taught her that the key to such competitions is to “be yourself and enjoy every moment.”

* She represented the Philippines at the 25th annual Discovery International Pop Song Festival in Bulgaria in 2016 and was second runner-up in the best singer category with a cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.” You can check out that performance below.

* She trained as a jazz singer, but has also dabbled with R&B and pop music. She told Voice Views she loves beautiful ballads and wants to “sing the story of my life.”

* Angel describes herself as “a struggling singer at night and assistant makeup artist in the morning. I joined The Voice because my entire life as a singer I was judged by my gender (transgender) before I even sing. In this case, I will be judged by the voice. I also wanted to be the face of those judged, bullied and rejected. That when you follow your heart with persistence and don’t give up, dreams come true.”

On landing on Team Adam: Angel admits that she hoped Kelly or Alicia would turn because they sing more her style of music, but added that she’s perfectly content to wind up on Team Adam. “I trust his expertise and experience. He turned on the first stanza of my song. He believed in me and that’s a great sign.”

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