The Voice is an NBC reality television series created by John de Mol, Jr. who serves as executive producer along with Mark Burnett, Audrey Morrissey, Lee Metzger and Jay Bienstock. The show is hosted by television host, radio personality, producer and television personality, Carson Daly.
The objective of the show is for four famous musicians to search for the best voices in America, and mentor the singers to become artists, with the American audience deciding which singer takes the grand prize. The ingenious format of the show features five stages of competition: the blind auditions, the battle rounds, the knockouts, the live playoffs, and the live performance shows.
During the blind auditions, the musician coaches sit with their backs facing the person who is auditioning. If a coach is impressed with a particular singer’s voice, he or she pushes a button to select the singer for his or her team. Once the button has been pressed, the coach’s chair swivels around so that he or she can face the singer selected. If more than one button is pushed, the choice of mentorship is left to the singer to decide. If no buttons are pushed, the singer is eliminated from the competition. Once the teams have been set, the real competition begins.
On Monday, 5 October 2015, Dustin Christensen, a finance major and MBA graduate from Orem, Utah auditioned for the show. His awe-inspiring rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Downtown Train” got all four judges to turn their chairs and compete to be his coach. Speaking of the experience, Christensen remarked, “It was amazing. Obviously it turned out better than I could have ever expected.” He continued:
Going into the audition process was not without trepidation.
Your worst fear is that you don’t even get to audition, or that nobody turns. And then you have to think to yourself, well, even if nobody turns, as long as I feel like I gave a good performance. And I was like, if I get one chair – that will be amazing.
Coach Pharrell Williams even called Christensen “a natural.”
Christensen graduated from Orem High School. Following high school he went on to get his MBA and prepared to pursue a career in business. He commented:
It was finally a point where I was just like, I’ve got to give (singing) a few years just to see if it will pan out, because I’ll regret it the rest of my life. I’m such a nerd with music that … a hobby for me is music, even though it’s a job. So it’s great for me to have a job that doesn’t feel like a job.
He further remarked that he went through the entire audition process with an open mind and without any expectations. Next week he will face off against a contestant who has become his best friend on the show. He is not overly concerned about the outcome as he feels that no matter what happens, at least he has had the experience. Christensen is currently working on an album that he hopes to release at the beginning of 2016.
On Monday evening, 12 October 2015, Christensen advanced from the “The Voice” battle rounds. He was paired up with his roommate and closest friend on the show, country singer Barrett Baber, to compete singing Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis.” This phenomenal duo who named themselves #Bronado, reached No. 1 on iTunes Top 200 singles chart. However, despite their success, one of them had to be cut from Team Blake, and that person was Christensen. But, it’s not over for Christensen, as coaches Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani both threw their hats in the ring to steal him for their team. In the end he joined Team Adam after Levine remarked that he and Baber were “two of the best singers in this competition.”
After proving his talents in the Blind Auditions and the Battle Round, Christensen’s journey on “The Voice” came to an end on Tuesday evening, 27 October 2015, when he lost in the Knockout Round to teammate Keith Semple. He sang “Free” by the Zac Brown Band and Semple sang Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.” Coach Gwen Stefani complimented him on his artistry by saying, “Your voice is so beautiful and soothing. You don’t really sing you just tell this story.”
Christensen garnered a great deal of success on “The Voice” and his career is not finished yet. Earlier this year, he signed with Carnival Music Publishing.
