'The Voice': Meet Crystalla Gonzalez who draws inspiration from Gwen Stefani's struggles
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Singer Crystalla Gonzalez graced 'The Voice' Season 26 stage during the second night of Blind Auditions. Raised in Queens, New York City, Crystalla Gonzalez draws from a rich tapestry of Colombian, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Greek cultures. With over a decade of experience, she has been passionately playing rock 'n' roll.
She describes herself as a 'rocker' and exudes confidence, drawing inspiration for her musical style from the struggles faced by coach Gwen Stefani. Crystalla has dubbed Gwen fearless as well as a legend and was thrilled to perform in front of her idol, hoping to get a chair turn from the coach. After Crystalla's rocking performance on Pat Benatar's song 'Heartbreaker', Gwen shared her struggles. The NBC show coach revealed that she started performing at 17 in her garage and received the huge opportunity of performing on the radio when she turned 26. Gwen also shared that she spent nine years performing in her garage, which inspired Crystalla to chase her musical dreams and form her own rock band.
Crystalla Gonzalez creates a Funk band with a high school friend
'The Voice' Season 26 contestant Crystalla Gonzalez has formed a Funk Punk Rock band called No Grudges with her high school friend, Gabriel Castellar. The duo previously performed together in a band named L Train. However, they had to ditch the band during a global pandemic, which led them to create their new group, No Grudges.
The duo are singers, songwriters as well as partners and represented their fresh start. They bonded over their love of Paramore, No Doubt, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers and decided to start playing together. Crystalla and Gabriel share an apartment in New York, where they are quarantined together. TDuring this time, they wrote songs with positive messages, including 'To the Top' and 'Put It Together.'
Did 'The Voice' Season 26 contestant Crystalla Gonzalez get any chairs turned?
'The Voice' Season 26 contestant Crystalla Gonzalez hoped for at least one chair turn; however, the coaches ultimately did not see her talent as a fit for the NBC show.. However, Crystalla's vocals were not the issue; female retro rockers often struggled to get picked in the singing competition.
Michael tried to defend his decision and claimed that he was looking for something else. Meanwhile, Crystalla's idol Gwen Stefani appreciated the contestant's efforts and joined her on the stage to sing an 'I'm Just a Girl' duet. The performance seemed like rehearsed.
'The Voice' Season 26 premieres on Mondays at 8 pm ET on NBC.