If you’re a fan of reality shows, especially American Idol and The Voice,
you’re going to have fun this season by following the journeys of two
Asian American singers who blew their respective judges away this week.
On Sunday (Mar. 3) , U.S. audiences were introduced to highschooler Myra Tran, who has only been in this country for a year.
When she was just 16-years old, Tran actually competed on and won Season 2 of The X Factor Vietnam in 2016. She captivated the judges there, and wanted to compete on American Idol to further establish her talent and work toward her goals.
According
to the show’s program notes, Tran — whose full name is full name is
Trần Minh Như — moved to the United States from Vietnam just a year ago
to pursue her dream of becoming a singer in America. “I [moved] here so I
can follow my dream,” she explained in the premiere episode. “[It’s]
the best way to follow my dream.”For her audition, Tran covered Jennifer Hudson’s “One Night Only.”
You know she impressed the judges on ABC’s American Idol when they began high-fiving each other midway through her audition.
“You’re up there with the Kelly Clarksons of the world,” judge Luke Bryan said, leaving Tran shaking. Clarkson is among American Idol’s most successful alumni along with Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson.
“You just need to keep singing, because if you keep singing, you’re really going to connect with people,” added pop artist Katy Perry. “I think we can really feel who you are through the music. Music transcends language barriers, and you just showed us that.”
Speaking of Kelly Clarkson, on Monday night, she was the first judge on The Voice to turn her chair around for Filipino American Jej Vinson, as he sang “Passionfruit” (By Drake).
As Vinson’s voice began to soar, the other three judges — Adam
Levine, John Legend and Blake Shelton — turned their chairs around,
hoping to convince the singer to accept their tutelage.
“You’re
a better singer than all of us,” Levine quipped. He praised Vinson’s
precision in hitting the notes but advised him to put more emotion into
his singing.
“You showed us this really precise, beautiful runs,” Legend told the Los Angeles-based contestant. “It’s like you knew the note you wanted and you just picked it out the air and hit every single one with precision, and beauty, and excitement. You got the whole crowd going.”
Shelton, on the other hand, said: “I think everybody here is probably a little bit nervous talking to you right now. We all feel like we’re all looking at the winner of ‘The Voice’ this season, I do. I think that.”
Clarkson, who ran over to Vinson to hug him after his audition, said: “I can win this show with you. You are incredible, man. I turned around and I was like, ‘What?’ And it was so effortless.”
In the end, the 22-year old Vinson picked Clarkson to be his coach.
Raised in Davao City in the Philippines, Vinson and his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was 15. The Vinson family settled in South Dakota but three years later moved to Los Angeles where Jej studies music at USC and directs the school’s a capella group.
There has never been an Asian American winning singer on either of these two shows.
Jessica Sanchez, a Filipina American from San Diego, almost accomplished the feat in 2012 but finished as the first runnner-up on American Idol.
It’s very early in their competitions and there will be pitfalls along the way but representation matters. It will be fun to follow Tran and Vinson as they move through their respective competition. In both shows, there comes a point when the audience votes for the singers. Get your smart phones and computers ready!
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