Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Jej Vinson, 22, of Los Angeles, Calif., performed “Passionfruit” by Drake. He immediately displayed impressive vocals, prompting Blake to turn early in the performance. Kelly followed. As Jej’s vocals soared and fluttered, eventually, Kelly and John did as well. Blake and Kelly called Jej a potential winner of The Voice. Jej opted to join Team Kelly.

More about Jej:

* Jej is from Davao in the Philippines. His family moved to the U.S. to pursue the American dream when he was 15 and had to start over from scratch as a result.

* At one point, Jej worked as a nursing assistant and planned to become a doctor. But he decided music was his true passion.

* His family has settled in South Dakota, where Jej said he sang in church and nursing homes and in his school choir. But he said there weren’t any opportunities to start a music career there, prompting his move to Los Angeles.

* He’s studied music at the University of Southern California as a popular music performance major. He was formerly the music director of the school’s a cappella group, The SoCal VoCals. Jej said he’s out of school at the moment because of the show.

* During his freshman year at USC and his first semester with the group, The SoCal VoCals were invited to sing for former President Obama and his family at the White House. “It was surreal, to say the least,” Jej said. “We got to see what the White House looked like, and got to shake the Obamas’ hands after we sang. It was such a fun trip.

* Another memorable performance came when the group was invited to perform at the BMI Pop awards in 2016 in front of people like Taylor Swift, Jason Derulo, and Ross Golan. Jej said he got a standing ovation after singing a solo for a part of the medley we performed in tribute to legendary songwriters, Mann and Weil.

* Then, last April, The SoCals VoCals scored their fifth consecutive win during the ICCA (International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella) at the Beacon Theatre. “I was their music director and co-arranged our set, as well as sang the solo for our final song, which was’Finesse’ by Bruno Mars.

* Jej said he’s also been working on his original music since landing in L.A., performing with his band and writing with “as many up-and-coming artists as I can.”

* Jej said he considers himself an R&B/pop artist. “A lot of my influences came from the classics such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Luther Vandross, mixed with modern stylings of Bruno Mars, Charlie Puth, and Daniel Caesar,” he told Voice Views. “I’m obsessed with groove, so a lot of my songs are very percussive, funky, and fun! I have original music, but only two singles are out on Soundcloud at the moment (LoveSick and Astronaut).”

* Jej said a gig singing background vocals for a friend at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles led to an invite to audition for The Voice. “I’ve always dreamed of being able to sing in front of millions and share my music with them,” Jej told Voice views.

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Twitter: @Jejvinson
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