Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Arei Moon, 28, of Boston, Mass., performed “Miss Independent” by Kelly Clarkson. Arei was just one line into the song when Nick Jonas turned his chair, quickly followed by Kelly. But Kelly was blocked. Meanwhile, Arie turned in a sassy, confident version of the song and belted out one heck of a performance-ending glory note. John Legend said she electrified the whole room. Nick said two notes was all he needed to hear to decide to use his block against Kelly in an effort to land Arei for his team.

Here’s more about Arei.

* She’s a Boston-born, Orlando-raised R&B/pop artist. Arei Moon is her stage name; she’s also performed as Ariel Teixeira.

* Her parents came to America from Cape Verde, a small island chain off the coast of West Africa. Her father is a bio medical engineer; her mother a community developer who speaks six languages.

* Arei told The Voice she first started singing at block parties thrown by her mother’s company and “loved it.”

* She had her first professional gig at age 12, according to her bio in Talents Magazine. One of her first major performances was opening for LL Cool J and Trina at The Strand Theatre in Boston, Mass., that bio indicates. Said Arei: “From there, I always wanted to be a singer.”

* As Ariel Teixeira, she auditioned for Season 15 of American Idol, earning a unanimous golden ticket to Hollywood with her rendition of Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You.”

* She later landed a gig as the lead female vocalist at the BB King Blues Club in Orlando, Fla., and remained in the role for two years, performing four to five nights a week year-round. That role helped prepare her for The Voice, Arei said.

* She released her first two singles as Arei Moon in 2019 — “Like What You Doin'” in June and “Young Luve” in August. By the end of the year, they’d been streamed more than 90,000 times.

* Wrote Arei on social media: “Words cannot describe how thankful, and grateful I am for such a good year of my music career. I released my first single this year, and within the past 4 months of my release I have gained so much.”

Arei on social media:
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