Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Darius J., 35, Pahokee, Fla., performed “Caught Up” by Usher. His fun delivery earned quick chair turns from Adam Levine and Michael Buble. Kelsea Ballerini eventually turned as well. Michael complimented him on radiating light, love and charisma. John loved the way Darius flipped the song. And Adam loved the “electricity” in his performance. Kelsea said she’s the best entertainer she’s seen on the show so far. Darius joined Team Adam.

Here’s more about Darius.

* He’s a 35-year-old singer with a very popular TikTok, to the tune of 90,000 followers and more than 1 million likes.

* His open verse challenges are especially popular there, and a better together challenge with guitarist Jonah Kagen has nearly 1 million views.

* He’s also released music, including three singles in 2024 — “In the Middle,” “Legacy” and “Who’s Dat.” With more than 80,000 streams, “In the Middle” is the most popular on Spotify.

* In a December social media post, Darius celebrates more than 149,000 streams of his music in 2024 and adds “next year is going to be a vibe.”

* PenPadMagic is his handle on most of his social media accounts, as in “From The Heart ❤️, Through The Pen✍🏾 , To The Pad 📝, ITS MAGIC 🧙‍♀️🪄,” according to his TikTok bio.

* Growing up, Darius says he was bullied after coming out as gay at age 13. Singing was his escape and seemed to make the bullying subside.

* His Voice bio says he caught the singing bug after belting out Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It” at a fair’s karaoke booth when he was just 5.

* He came to appreciate powerful female vocalists, the bio says, and that helped shape his musical style.

Darius J. on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube