For the most part, the reality singing shows we see on television are designed to bring mainstream pop acts to market.
On a show like American Idol, the goal is to find people who are both talented and telegenic to sign with a record label. Because of that reasoning, many of the contestants and performers that go on those shows tend to fit a similar mold—no matter how talented they are.
Still, every now and then an act comes along that doesn’t seem to fit into any preconceived notions that television producers or record executives may have.
And one of those such performances took place on the French version of The Voice in 2017.
For those who don’t know, The Voice is a show with many different offshoots and varieties around the world.
In all of them, the format is that a contestant appears onstage for a “blind audition” before a group of judges. Those judges can buzz in to compete for that person to join their team.
At the end of the show, the contestants compete to win overall while the judges compete to have the best team. In this particular audition, the contestant was Will Barber, a strong and stout looking man with a huge beard.
As he took his seat onstage with a lap guitar, nobody knew quite what to expect.
Before he even started singing, the first thing that struck the judges were his ominous, bluesy slide guitar chords.
From the very beginning, it was clear something special was happening onstage. After just a few notes, it was clear that the song he would be covering was “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd.
Before he even sings a proper note, one of the judges has already smashed her buzzer to turn around! As he starts singing, it’s clear that his voice is soulful and haunting—and it brings an entirely new interpretation to an already-classic song.
Moments later, the music picks up and Barber let’s a full-throated rock voice come out.
Before long, he gets yet another judge to turn around… and then another, and another!
As the song builds, it becomes a rock performance that’s worthy of a full-seated stadium rather than a television show audition. After bringing the tension in the song up to a fever pitch, Barber slows things back down again and ends on a gentle note.
When the song is finally over, the entire crowd roars with applause! Although the episode originally aired in France, it has spread online like wildfire.
To date, the performance has earned some 77 million views on YouTube!
Needless to say, Barber’s uniquely powerful version of the song has struck a chord with millions of people.
Although it’s difficult to make a career in the music industry, many upcoming artists are told that they have to fit into a certain mold to be popular or profitable.
Although it sometimes pays to cater to the mainstream, Barber’s performance shows that there’s still room to be your unapologetic self and to let it all loose. Even if most of the acts on The Voice are pop acts, Barber showed that rock and roll is still alive and well!
Congratulations to Will Barber on taking a risk and creating such a memorable audition! Watch the full thing in the clip below:
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