'Angelic' 16-year-old street singer moved 'The Voice' judges to tears with her stellar performance
Get ready to ugly cry! During the grand premiere of 'The Voice' Season 26, a 16-year-old singer named Chrisdeo from Queens, New York, moved the NBC show's judges to tears with her emotional performance. The judges, Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire, Michael Bublé, and Snoop Dogg, couldn't hold back their tears after hearing Chrisdeo's background story. In the episode, Chrisdeo stated that she, alongside her single mother and her three sisters, resides in the projects for low-income families in Queens. Along with this, the teenager mentioned that shootings and gang activity were a common sight in the area. When Chrisdeo played piano in her family's apartment, her neighbor ended up banging on the wall. “It’s really hard because that’s my life. And that’s my way of getting out," Chrisdeo shared at that time, as per NBC.
For the audition, Chrisdeo sang 'I Won't Give Up' by Jason Mraz and dedicated the song to her mother, who never gave up on her. Then, Dogg was the first coach to turn his chair for the Queens native; he hit the button after listening to just a couple of notes. Chrisdeo was very happy after seeing Dogg turn around. Later on, Bublé also turned his chair as he was captivated by Chrisdeo's soaring high pitch. At that point, Chrisdeo burst into tears; meanwhile, Stefani and McEntire quickly rushed to the stage to console the overwhelmed teen.
Soon after, McEntire assured Chrisdeo, “Those guys are gonna take good care of you," while referring to Dogg and Bublé. Later in the episode, Chrisdeo revealed the reason behind her emotional meltdown by saying, "I just started crying because I'm a street singer. People, like, laugh at me when I sing, and it's just hard because... It's just, everybody was just so happy to see me, and I've never felt that before."
Then, Bublé tried to comfort Chrisdeo by saying, "I was a busker, too. At 16 or 17, I started playing in these weird clubs and stuff, and no one ever paid to see me, Chrisdeo, ever, and my grandpa was a plumber, and he used to trade free plumbing if the club owners and musicians would let me in. And so I always figured, if I could learn to do that, then I could do anything, and I love that raw emotion I heard in you. I heard this really cool pixie kind of thing happening. I'm just so happy for you, kid."
According to TV Insider, Stefani raved over Chrisdeo's voice and exclaimed, “Your voice is angelic. It’s like a diamond in the rough. It sounded to me like you didn’t have the experience to me. That’s okay because we’re here to coach you. And right now, you have Michael Bublé, who is one of the greatest singers of all time, and Snoop Dogg, who is my idol.” On the other hand, McEntire shared, “Thank you very much for sharing your talent with us. And next time those people say bad things to you on the street, just know that all the angels are around you listening to you doing what God gave you to do, and that’s singing with your beautiful voice," meanwhile, Dogg remarked, “When I heard your first note, I knew to turn and hit that button. And then to hear your story, because you had the confidence to come up here and sing after saying that they laughed at you. But we couldn’t hear that. You are strong. You have a gift, and you’re young, so you’ve still got time to grow and learn how to cry tears of happiness.”
