Idol Chatter & Voice Views

 

Noah Mac admits he’d given up hope.

He’d heard Blake Shelton declare Keisha Renee winner of their battle round match.

He’d heard Blake express regret over having to cut him loose. He’d hugged his coach. Noah was walking off The Voice stage.

“You know, I was just praying that somebody would steal,” he told Voice Views about his thoughts at that moment. “And as soon as I stepped past Adam’s chair, it was like all of that hope that somebody might turn around was gone and I kind of accepted it.

“And as soon as I accepted that moment for what it was, was when she hit her button and it was just complete surprise and shock. And I couldn’t tell you how happy I was in that moment.”

By she, he means Jennifer Hudson, who rescued Noah from the brink of elimination and gave him a shot at competing with her team in the knockout round.

Noah drew a tough challenge in the battle round that aired Monday night. He was pitted against one of the show’s top vocalists, Keisha Renee, the former background singer for Nicki Minaj who turned four chairs in her blind audition.

Plus, he was being pushed out of his comfort zone because Blake asked them to sing “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” a song recorded by Hank Williams and Elvis Presley.

Not that Keisha was immediately comfortable with the song choice.

“It took me by surprise,” she said. “I wasn’t familiar with that song and I know Noah — I think he had heard it before, but it wasn’t his genre. So it kind of took him out of his genre and took me out of my comfort zone because I’m new to country.

“But we both were excited once we heard it because I felt like it was something that definitely complimented Noah’s voice because he already has like this old country like sound anyway. So to me, it was going to be like a magical moment. We were really excited about it.”

They made it work. Not only did both of them survive the battle, the song wound up being the best performing on iTunes from the first night of the battles. And the only one to crack the Top 200 on iTunes overall singles chart.

As for landing on Team Jennifer …

“You know, I went into this competition really wanting Jennifer as my coach,” said Noah, 17, and one of the most promising young talents on the show. “In the blinds, Blake had a way with words and he ended up getting me to want to be on his team. But in the end, I’m so glad that I’m with Jennifer.”

Editor’s Note: Noah and Keisha have already released music available for purchase and download. Head here for a discography of pre-Voice music from the Season 13 contestants and a 25-song playlist.