Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Their audition: OneUp is made up of Adam Bastien, 36, and Jerome Bell, 35, both of New York. They auditioned with The Spinners’ “Could It Be We’re Falling in Love.” Both guys showed off nice range and vocals and, about a minute into the performance, Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson turned almost simultaneously. Kelly applauded Adam and Jerome for showing Voice fans that love comes in all forms and can happen anywhere. OneUp opted to join Team Kelly.

Their background: They met on a video shoot where Jerome played the role of Adam’s love interest. Now, they’re a real-life couple; their first date was at Central Park. Adam said his parents are supportive of his relationship with Jerome. Jerome says the audition marked the first time their families came together. Jerome also says The Voice audition was also their first time performing on stage together.

On picking Kelly: “We knew going into it that Kelly was one of our top choices because in watching previous seasons, she’s the one that we resonated with the most, just her energy, her personality, her excitement and passion for singing,” Adam told Voice Views. “Kelly was the one that observed and stated something about what a beautiful picture of love it was seeing us up there with our family. And that was at the heart of what we wanted to get across to America is just seeing love in a new way.”

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* From Texas, Jerome wowed the judges with a rendition of “Let’s Get It On” during the Season 10 auditions of American Idol and made it to the Top 40 before being eliminated.

* He’s performed on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and now calls New York home.

* He’s released a trio of singles as a solo artist, including “Helpless” and “Burn Easy” last year.

* Adam is from Columbiaville, Mich., and also now lives in New York City.

* After attending the University of Michigan, he too performed aboard cruise ships. There’s also mention of a solo EP on a 2009 YouTube video of him performing a song called “Resolve.”

* More recently, he’s been performing with a vocal quartet called 7th Avenue. The group released a 10-song cover album called “Debut” in late 2016.

* In mid-August, 7th Avenue released its second album, called “Collab,” featuring favorite collaborations the group has done since forming. One of those is a version of “Change the World,” featuring none other than Jerome Bell.

* After meeting at the aforementioned video shoot, Adam told Voice Views they fell in love quickly, began writing music together and started posting videos singing together on Instagram.

* Though The Voice audition marks their first public performance together, Adam said he and Jerome are hoping to make OneUp “a very, very long-lived thing”

* And while both professed a love of Motown during the audition, Jerome says they don’t intend to restrict themselves to one genre. The goal is simple: Make timeless music. “We listen to literally everything from country to rock to alternative,” Jerome said. “And through all of these genres, there are timeless songs that people will remember forever.”

* Their successful audition marked the first time a duo has made The Voice since the sister duo of Whitney and Shannon in Season 11. And below, you can check out Adam and Jerome covering Boyz 2 Men’s “Water Runs Dry.”

On social media:
Instagram
Jerome Bell Facebook
Adam Bastien YouTube
Jerome Bell YouTube