Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blind audition: Simone Gundy, 26, of Arlington, Texas, performed “I Who Have Nothing” by Shirley Bassey. Her first big note prompted chair turns from Miley Cyrus and Adam Levine. Simone showed off a big voice, which led to a spirited tussle between Miley and Adam as they tried to convince her to join their teams. Miley praised Simone’s performance and vocal skills. Adam called her performance “crazy good” and said he couldn’t fathom why the other two coaches didn’t turn around. Simone joined Team Adam.

Her background: She says she had a very happy childhood, singing in her church choir, all-city choir, Texas state girls choir and others. “I was never not in a choir until I was about 14,” she says. Then, when she was just 15 and in ninth grade, she had her son. He’s now 10 and Simone calls him “the best thing that’s happened in my life.” She now works a full-time job and still performs a lot in Houston, doing musical theater. Jamaal, her boyfriend, describes her voice as strong and passionate, adding “she makes me cry all the time.”

What the show didn’t show:
* Simone gave birth to her son when she was a sophomore in high school. While she left school briefly, she returned to graduate with her classmates on time, according to her bio on The Voice website.
* After high school, she got a job singing cover songs four nights a week on the Royal Caribbean cruise line.
* That bio indicates her full-time job is as a processing analyst for a solar panel company and she’s also taking college courses online.
* Around 2007, she performed in two shows at Rhythm Nation with former American Idol contestant and MTV personality Todrick Hall — “Oz” and “CinderellaROCK.” “The experience literally changed my life,” Simone says. “Being under Todrick’s wing taught me such great work ethic and to have pride in the product that you create on stage.”
* She has a long theatrical resume. She said her biggest performances to date have been with Casa Manana Theatre in Fort Worth, including roles in “Rent,” “High School Musical” and “Big River.” “Casa has a huge following and a wonderful creative team,” she says, adding that possibly “my favorite theatrical moment to date” was the role of the Seasons of Love soloist in “Rent.”
* She played the lead role of Desirae, a woman who was sexually abused by her foster mother’s boyfriend, in a short drama film called “The Monster in My Closet,” directed by Malcolm X. Washington. “That was my first formal exposure to film and I must say it is a different beast than theater, but still very exciting,” Simone said. Unfortunately, she adds, the film was put on hold and has yet to be released.
* She describes herself as “a modern soul” artist and says she has written lots or original music. “But I always second guess myself before I send it out to the public so (The Voice) experience is certainly teaching me to love my sound and appreciate my own creativity.”
* One of her goals is to create original music “that is uplifting to our diverse society because I feel like we live in a time where a lot of people feel like we are not being heard. So I try to write music with a message and substance. Victor Hugo once said ‘Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.’ I think if you live by that mantra as an artist you will move people and that’s what it’s all about.”
* During a conference call with the media, Simone said that during the pitches from the coaches, Miley was saying things that “were just so in tuned with what I wanted.” But she said she tried to be strategic when selecting a coach and knew Miley already had Ali Caldwell, an R&B singer who turned four chairs in the blind auditions, on her team.
* Of course, she added, there were other reasons to go with Adam. “He has this crazy appreciation and knowledge of music,” she said. He’s been in the industry over a decade. He has worked with some powerhouses and he writes amazing music. How could I not want to latch on to that bank of knowledge?”

Keeping up with Simone:
Twitter: @SimoneGundy
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