Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Rebekah Samarin, 20, of Murrieta, Calif., sang Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” for her blind audition. Adam Levine turned around on her first phrase; Gwen Stefani soon followed. Adam complimented Rebekah on her tone and her unique vocals. She opted to join his team.

Her background: She was part of a montage package, so we didn’t get to learn much about Rebekah on the show. The Voice website tells us she hails from a large Russian family and discovered her love of music singing in her church with her sisters. And that she spends her free time playing music for different charities.

What the show didn’t show: Rebekah says she grew up around the Russian music her grandparents on both sides of the family listened to and started playing piano at a young age. Both of her sisters sing classical music; she opted for the contemporary route and is now a junior majoring in music business and management at the Berklee College of Music. Her genre of preference: R&B / pop “with an old soul vibe,” she says. As for that charity work, one of her grandmothers died of pancreatic cancer, so her family threw a musical benefit in California and raised more than $20,000 toward the cause. Rebekah also wrote a song called “You Are Enough” with her boyfriend Adam Halliday for a United Way Young Women’s Initiative in Philadelphia. The program is designed to inspire young girls and keep them in school. Rebekah says she and Adam got to perform the song at a gala in March with 50 of the young women serving as their choir. You can check out that song and a couple of others from Rebekah here. As for her audition, Rebekah says she felt calm when it started. Then the chairs turned. “From then on, it’s literally a blur. I’ve never felt more out of control in my life. As soon as the song was over, I had to turn around and put my hands in the air and start flailing. Adam stood up and mocked me. It was so fun.” But it was less the gesture and more what Adam said about her tone and voice that convinced Rebekah to join his team. “I admire Adam Levine so much for his tone,” she says. “As soon as any of his songs come on, you immediately know it’s him. I want my voice to be heard and people to know who I am.” Post-Voice, she already has musical plans. She and Adam have been working on an EP they plan to release. They call themselves Novi, which means new in Russian and also happens to be the name of her father’s business.

Update: Defeated Clara Hong in the battle round; they sang “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.” But she was eliminated in the knockout round, losing to Matt McAndrew.

On iTunes: Just her audition song.

Keeping up with Rebekah:
Twitter: @rebekahsamarin
Facebook
YouTube

“Forever” (cover)

“Te Amo” (cover with Adam Halliday)

“Sweater Weather” (cover with Luke Niccoli)