Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Mark Hood, 24, of Chicago, Ill., auditioned with Bill Withers’ “Use Me” to open Season 9. Not only did he show great range, he displayed great charisma on stage. And he earned chair turns from all four coaches. Mark said he’d like to sing R&B / pop, “like John Legend meets Pharrell.” Then he decided to join Team Pharrell.

His background: Judging from his pre-audition interview, that charisma carries over into everything Mark Hood does. “I’m crazy, I’m goofy, but I’ve got a big heart and I think it’s because of my parents,” he says. “They are my biggest fan — now. It wasn’t always that way.” A youth who got his start singing in church — his father is a pastor — he shares a story about how he was listening to Usher’s “Confession” album when he was about 10. His mother marched into his room and destroyed the CD; she says she didn’t think like the message in the music. At 14, his mother enrolled him in the Chicago High School for Agricultural Science, which is on a 100-acre farm. “I’m picking corn,” Mark recalls. “I’ve got classes in a greenhouse. I stink. There are chickens running all over the place. I don’t even like animals.” The school didn’t have a performing arts program, but they did offer a music class, which is where Mark says he shined. After high school, he got involved in community theater and eventually transitioned into some small TV roles. He’s even played a dead guy, a part he had to audition for. “Even though I get roles, I’m still a starving artist,” he says, one who clearly hopes The Voice can be the launching pad for a music career.

What the show didn’t show: Mark Hood, the actor, has landed bit roles on “Sirens” and “Chicago Fire.” Mark Hood, the singer, released a single called “Ain’t Gone Change” in 2011. And you can hear more of his music on ReverbNation. According to his bio there, he’s also headlined a Stop Bullying tour and served as a vocal coach for a national competition designed for children 12 and younger.

He does so much performing — he’s involved in theater, too — that he says he doesn’t have any pre-performance rituals and
typically allows “things to happen in the moment. But for this — national TV — I said: ‘No, no, no, no, no, no. You’re going to rehearse every day, every five minutes. You’re going to do your vocal exercises every day.” He even rehearsed how he wanted to react and what he wanted to say to the coaches.

Of course, that didn’t exactly go as he planned. He thought he’d selected Blake, both because he thinks the country star would have a lot of valuable advice to offer any singer, but also because that choice would have been unexpected. Then, he said, a voice from above told him to go with Pharrell. He called watching the audition back and the support he received because of it “invigorating.” “I’ve been grinding for a long time, so this isn’t arbitrarily,” he added during a conference call with the media.

On iTunes: That 2011 single — “Ain’t Gone Change” — plus his performances from The Voice.

Update:
Battle round: Defeated Celeste Betton singing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” The song hit #59 on the iTunes’s singles chart, the third best of the battle round.
Knockout round: Defeated Siahna Im. He sang “Stand By Me.”
Live playoffs: He sang “What Do You Mean.” The song hit number 95 on iTunes, 18th best of 24 live playoff songs. It was number three on the R&B/soul singles chart. Mark advanced to the Top 12 via Pharrell’s save.
Top 12: He performed “Against All Odds,” landed in the bottom two and was eliminated when Korin Bukowski won the instant save.

Keeping up with Mark:
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter: @MarkJPHood

Blind audition — “Use Me”

Battle round — “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (with Celeste Betton)

Knockout round — “Stand by Me”

Live playoffs — “What Do You Mean”

Top 12 — “Against All Odds”

Top 12 (save song) — “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours

You’re All I Need to Get By

Ain’t Gone Change (2011 single)

Mr. Greatest (original)