Idol Chatter & Voice Views

MacKenzie Bourg, 19, of Lafayette, La., decided to try out for The Voice shortly after recovering from a serious illness.

About two years ago, he began having bad headaches.

Shortly thereafter, he was diagnosed as having a virus that was shutting down all his organs and leading to congestive heart failure.

He was placed in an induced coma on a feeding tube, and his parents weren’t sure he’d survive.

“He made a promise to wake up for the Super Bowl,” his father told The Voice. “He woke up the night before the game.”

MacKenzie says his medical problems spurred him to take the chances that led him to audition for the show.

“Too many people take waking up every morning, breathing every morning, for granted,” he says. “I would have been one of those people. Not anymore.”

He performed a quirky, very contemporary-sounding rendition of “Pumped Up Kicks” for his audition.

Somehow, only Cee Lo turned around, though Adam praised the “quirkiness” in MacKenzie’s voice.

What the show didn’t show: According to his Voice bio, MacKenzie spent two months in the hospital as a result of that illness. And he plays piano in addition to the guitar we saw him perform with on the show. He’s a graduate of St. Thomas More Catholic High School, where he played basketball, according to a local newspaper. And he told a local radio station he decided to try out for The Voice after seeing the episode that immediately followed the Super Bowl.

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

MacKenzie singing an original song, “Lost in Love”