‘The Voice’ runner-up Jaelen Johnston finally breaks silence on forgetting the lyrics: 'The worst thing...'
'The Voice' finalist Jaelen Johnston failed to remember the lyrics of a song during his finale performance. During part 1 of 'The Voice' Season 27 finale, which aired on May 19, Johnston, who was on Kelsea Ballerini's team, performed a rendition of 'What Was I Thinkin’ by Dierks Bentley. At one point during the performance, Johnston forgot the lyrics of the song, and to control the situation, he began humming for a couple of seconds. Regardless of the error, Johnston continued and finished his performance on a high note. As per Us Weekly, after Johnston's performance ended, Ballerini told him, "I know you had a moment early on where you got nervous. But the thing is, this is the most nerve-racking thing you could do. And the only thing that matters is how you recover.”
Then, Ballerini comforted Johnston by saying, "Everyone loves you. That was the most impressive part; you really showed up. I’m so proud of you.” During an interview with Entertainment Weekly after the finale, Johnston was asked to shed light on the best and worst parts of the NBC singing show. At first, Johnston decided to name the worst part and uttered, "I think the worst thing is when you forget lyrics on stage. It really is the worst side of it, to be honest."
During the finale performance, when Johnston forgot the lyrics of the song, the only thing that was going through his mind was "What's the next line?" On the other hand, it was a piece of cake for Johnston to share the best part. "Making connections and friends, and it's been amazing. Everybody out here deserves to be here. They're phenomenal, phenomenal artists, even better people," Johnston told the media outlet.
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While having a conversation with Parade ahead of the finale, Ballerini revealed the reason behind selecting Dierks Bentley's 'What Was I Thinkin' for Johnston. Then, the 'Cowboys Cry Too' hitmaker explained, "We picked ‘What Was I Thinkin" by Dierks Bentley, and it’s a fun moment. You get to see his grit, his edge. He picked on his own [song], ‘Cold’ by Chris Stapleton. I will be honest with you; I was worried. We got to rehearsal, and he sang it, and I said, ‘I think that's it. I think that's the moment.' Because I've been his coach for months now, and I didn't know he could sing like that until he sang that song, and so I think everyone will be as impressed as I was.”
Ultimately, Johnston's efforts fell short as Adam David from Michael Bublé's team was announced as the winner during the thrilling finale. However, Johnston remains grateful for the 'The Voice' experience. After the finale, Johnston took to his Instagram page and wrote, "What an absolute journey this has been!! To get second place in a competition I never thought I’d be in has been the most surreal feeling. It’s definitely a bittersweet thought knowing that it’s over, but the excitement of what’s to come makes it all worth it! I want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for your constant love and support throughout this journey; there’s no way I would’ve been where I’m at without all of you."
