Idol Chatter & Voice Views

If you fail once at making a team on The Voice, you shouldn’t hesitate to try again.

Especially if you’re a guy on a show where aspiring female contestants outnumber the males.

That’s what we’re learning from Season 3 of The Voice, and that never-give-up attitude certainly worked for Dez Duron.

Dez is the good-looking guy who failed to make a team in Season 2, after dropping out of Yale University to pursue his dream of becoming a singer.

Still, he described his Season 2 audition as “probably the best 90 seconds of my life.”

“Even though no one turned around, I don’t regret the decision of leaving school and coming to California because it forced me to focus on what I love — music,” the 22-year-old from Shreveport, La., told the show.

“A lot of people ask me, ‘Why put yourself through that again?” he continued. “It’s always a matter of what’s best of my career. You gotta take risks for your dreams.”

This time around, he sang “Sara Smile” for his audition song

And here’s betting he has a new favorite “90 seconds.”

By the time he finished singing, three judges were facing in his direction.

Cee Lo complimented the “soul, commitment and conviction” in his voice. Christina told him: “Your voice? The sky is the limit.”

Since the ladies in the audience had been screaming since the moment Dez stepped on stage, Blake decided not to mince words: “I’m secure enough to say it to you, man to man: You’re hot.”

What the show didn’t show: Dez mentioned his gospel music background in talking to the coaches. One Facebook, we learn that he’s one of six children, his parents were pastors and he and two of his siblings started a Christian band called Duron when Dez was 11. He later performed with his high school band and in musicals. “Any reason I could find to sing, I took it.” Oh, and here’s an interesting note: He grew up performing in the same community theater as Willie Jones, one of this year’s standout auditioners on The X Factor. On his YouTube channel, Dez lists himself as a singer-songwriter, but you’ll find only one original there. You will, however, find several mashups of hit songs, like the one embedded below, in which Dez sounds even better than he did on The Voice. As for choosing a coach, Dez told Christina Milian he went into the audition thinking he’d prefer Cee Lo or Christina. “I like the way they produce things,” he said. “They do big shows. And I figured they would like my style of singing and get it a little more.” Oh, and would you be surprised to discover that Dez has also done some modeling?

Update: He got three judges to turn around for his version of “Sara Smile” in the blind audition, then defeated teen pop singer Paulina in the battle round. Their duet was “Just the Way You Are.” He was paired with another teen in the knockout round, defeating Alessandra Guercio with a version of “Stuck on You.” He was voted into the finals after singing “Wanted,” a country song chosen by Christina Aguilera to show off his versatility. He sang “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” on Top 12 night and the tune checked in at number 78 on the iTunes singles chart, seventh among charting songs from that show.

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

Dez performs Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” and Katy Perry’s “Part of Me”