Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Melinda Rodriguez performs during the blind auditions on The Voice Season 17. (NBC Photo)

Viewers also learned of Chris’s battle with chronic myocarditis and his need for a second heart transplant.

Turns out it was a trip home to Miami to be at her brother’s bedside that led to her blind audition on the show.

Melinda wound up turning two chairs with her cover of “What a Wonderful World” and joined Team Kelly Clarkson.

Here’s what Melinda, 23, told Voice Views about that blind audition.

Voice Views: How did you wind up auditioning for The Voice Season 17 and what prompted you to do it?

Melinda: It was actually almost completely by accident! I was home for a family emergency and the cattle-call (auditions) just happened to be going on the same day. I was at my brother’s bedside in the hospital when he said that I should go try out! He told me that the best things happen when you don’t expect it and that maybe I had a chance, so I went! My whole family convinced me that this was a TV moment and then I needed to just do it!

Voice Views: Why did you choose ““What a Wonderful World” for your audition song? Is that a song you’ve performed often?

Melinda: I picked this song because I really wanted to stay true to my passion for jazz, but I also really wanted to reinvent it. I thought this song was the perfect message for what I was trying to accomplish. When picking my song, I really wanted to do something that was truly timeless. This is a song that everybody knows so I took a risk because people will either love it or hate it!

Voice Views: Why did you decide to join Team Kelly? And how big a factor was it that she could recognize that you were doing an Eva Cassidy version of your audition song?

Melinda: In the moment, I just trusted Kelly. She is a master of all genres and I felt like I couldn’t go wrong with her as my coach. It was definitely pretty cool that she could recognize Eva in my arrangement. That just speaks to how knowledgeable she really is about music.

Voice Views: What’s the biggest thing you’d done performance wise prior to The Voice?

Melinda: Before the voice, I participated in a few well-known jazz festivals and most recently won 1st place in the Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition. I got to open and play with the legendary Count Basie Jazz Orchestra. That was pretty amazing!

See also …
Meet Melinda Rodriguez