What makes an amazing musical performance?
On one level, the singer performing it generally needs to be able to hit all the notes they’re aiming for with some precision. Still, sometimes having a performer who doesn’t sing with technical perfection but with their own unique style or emotion is enough to send it over the edge. Beyond all the questions of technique, most important of all is that the performer is able to connect with the material and deliver some kind of powerful emotion to the audience.
And one recent performance on The Voice did all of that and more.
As many people probably know, country performances on shows like The Voice are a little bit contentious.
Though there are plenty of fans of the genre throughout the United States, the show’s resident country expert generally seems to be judge Blake Shelton—much to the chagrin of other judges on the show.
Still, even though Shelton seems to get most of the country contestants, Kelly Clarkson occasionally tries to give him a run for his money.
This recent audition showed this all too clearly.
Just like every other episode of The Voice, everything starts with the judges backs turned to the contestant.
The man we’re talking about is Dave Fenley, and the song he’s performing is Travis Tritt’s “Help Me Hold On.”
As soon as he starts singing and strumming his guitar, Shelton starts laughing to himself because the man’s voice is just so good. As soon as Fenley hits his first vocal run, Clarkson is convinced and she smashes her button to turn around.
As soon as she turns, Fenley’s whole family cheers from the sidelines!
Fenley keeps giving a heartfelt, sincere performance—and it’s not long before Shelton turns around as well.
Though it goes without saying, both judges are incredibly into it. When the song is finally over, the audience shows just how into it they were as well by bursting into applause. Once the song is over, judge Adam Levine says that so far Fenley is one of his favorites in the competition. After that, he tells Fenley that he should definitely go with Kelly Clarkson out of the two options.
And with that, the competition is on!
After that, he reveals that although he loves country, he really loves all kinds of music—including hip-hop.
At that, Fenley reveals that he’s also a beatboxer. Before making a choice, he starts into an impromptu beatboxing performance that has the judges on their feet! When it’s all over, the audience cheers for him as well. After that, Clarkson and Shelton are back to fighting over him. After a little bit of back and forth, it’s time for Fenley to make a final decision.
When it’s all said and done, Kelly Clarkson fought a good fight… but Fenley ended up going with Blake Shelton!
Regardless of the end result, Fenley proved that it’s important to keep a few tricks up your sleeve in an audition.
Although the judges were competing for his country talent, he was competing right along with them to prove that he had more than just a country talent! In all, his performance was incredible—and it was yet another reminder of why The Voice had remained so consistently interesting over all these years.
Congratulations to Dave Fenley on teaming up with Blake Shelton! Check out the full performance below:
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
