Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Want a young singer who’s something of a throwback?

Brandon Mahone, 17, of Indianapolis, might be your guy, judging on what we learned during the sixth audition episode of The Voice.

The youngster said he was raised on the music of Smokey Robinson, The Temptations and Sam Cooke.

“I am a more so classical young guy,” he told The Voice. “I don’t think you can teach someone soul. It comes for within — your soul.”

Brandon also has a bit of a back-story. He spent part of his childhood in Chicago, until his mom decided it was too dangerous a place to raise a child.

“As a mom, you do whatever you can to keep your kids safe,” she told Carson Daly.

Brandon says he wants to pay her back. And he thinks the best way to do that would be to excel on the show.

“We just need to make it,” he says. “We need a better life.”

True to his comments, he takes the stage and performs The Temptations’ “I Wish It Would Rain.”

Three judges — everyone but Blake — wind up spinning their chairs.

Christina said Brandon sounded “so smooth and soulful.” Cee Lo said he could hear “a lot of experience in your voice,” even though Brandon’s only a teen.

And Adam said that what Brandon did was rare, singing a well-known Motown tune that “didn’t sound like an imitation.”

What the show didn’t show: Adam wasn’t Brandon’s first or second choice as a coach. He confessed to Christina Milian that he went into the audition figuring he would prefer Cee Lo or Blake. He went with Adam because he “pushed his button first and because of what he said. What he said touched me.” On Facebook, Brandon lists dancing, songwriting, playing basketball and eating as his favorite activities besides singing, and he’s apparently quite the dancer. But he also says he’s had little professional help or experience at honing his talents. “My life has been a roller coaster,” he writes. “My mom and I moved around a lot. She has done the best she can as a single mom, but through all the struggle my gift to sing has helped me get past a lot of pain.” If you want to hear more of Brandon singing, or watch him dance, head to his YouTube channel.

Editor’s Note: Check back for live blogs once the battle rounds begin on The Voice.

Brandon singing Chris Brown’s “Without You”