Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Davison and Reid Umstattd await the outcome of their battle round on The Voice with Carson Daly. (NBC Photo)

It’s a pretty sure bet that Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain” wasn’t a staple on Nelo’s set list.

“I’d only heard the song once or twice,” Reid told Voice Views during a Wednesday conference call with the media.

Yet that’s the song Reid was asked to sing with Davison during his Team Adam Levine battle round on The Voice.

And he found a way to make it work. He was declared winner of battle and advances to the show’s knockout round.

As for the song choice, Reid said “I love that style of music. It’s not a style I would pick for myself. But it’s something that was fun to kind of dive into.

“I love to sing anything. That’s how I’ve grown up, sharpening whatever tools I have by singing whatever’s on. That’s the fun in challenging yourself — going out of your comfort zone and singing stuff that pushes you.

“The message of the song – which is the best way to get into any tune – is pretty clear. So you just kind of have to interpret those lyrics in whatever way you can to make them feel most genuine.”

Reid accomplished that, turning in a solid performance. Yet he was still surprised by the outcome. Partly, he said, because Davison’s such “a phenomenal singer.” Partly because The Voice coaches pointed that out repeatedly during their critiques.

“So I just kind of assumed, ‘He’ll win. Hopefully, I’ll be stolen,’” Reid said. “Alicia had turned around for me in the blinds, so I was crossing my fingers for that.”

When Adam declared Reid the winner, “it was a total shock,” he said. “My dad was there in the audience and he thought I was about to pass out. I was totally shocked.”

Reid, 34 when he auditioned for the show, is from Austin, Texas, and is stepping back into music after taking some time off to manage the Waterloo Icehouse, a restaurant owned by his father-in-law. You can learn more about him and the music he released with Nelo here.

The knockout round begins in two weeks on The Voice.