Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Michael Williams, 18, of Mason, Ohio, performed “You Say” by Lauren Daigle. He hit a big glory note near the end of the song, then delivered a tender ending, prompting a late chair turn from Nick Jonas. Nick said he crushed the performance and was glad the other coaches didn’t turn.

Here’s more about Michael:

* Michael said his love for music came naturally. His dad was a pastor and his mom sang on the worship team and would sing hymns around the house.

* According to his Voice bio, Michael surprised his parents by asking for voice lessons for Christmas when he was just 6 years old. They agreed.

* He’s been involved in musical theater around Cincinnati since he was 8. Michael said his biggest performance prior to the blind audition was a Christmas Eve service as his church where he performed for a crowd of 1,000.

* As we heard on the show, he also grew up playing sports, but was forced to stop both for a while after being diagnosed with a digestive disease.

* He’s fine now, but has decided his focus should be on music and refers to himself as a “pop singer” on Twitter, where he writes: “My dream is to do music professionally.”

* Michael says he loves to sing pop music, worship music, and jazz. He adds that his major musical influence is Michael Buble. “I grew up listening to and admiring Michael Buble. It was amazing to me how he could connect so well with an audience and entertain them for such a long period of time. And the fact that his voice is amazing made me admire him more. He is why I wanted to become a singer.”

* He’s also been working King’s Island, an amusement park in Cincinnati. Last summer, he performed in a ’90s country show called “Country Flashback.” And he worked a the park’s Winterfest Christmas event on a trolley that went around the park.

* Michael said that proved to be valuable experience. “Both shows consisted of singing and dancing, which gave me the chance to practice breath support. It also gave me the chance to get comfortable on a stage performing for more intimate audiences. A lot of people would come out to the shows because it was in a eating area of the park. People were very close to the stage which made it easier to interact with the audience and learn how to engage them.”

* Michael told Voice Views he has not released any music yet, but adds that he does write songs. “I love to write music because it gets thoughts or emotions out into music. I would describe my music as pop influenced, but wouldn’t say it is fully pop. I write a lot of ballads.”

See also …
Michael Williams talks about his blind audition on The Voice

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