It was pretty clear who 13-year-old future superstar Kennedy Holmes wanted to be her coach on the 15th season of The Voice.
The Florissant, Missouri middle schooler nailed her blind audition for the U.S. reality singing competition with a stunning rendition of Adele’s “I am Changing,” stunning all the judges with her mature and polished voice.
Adam Levine was the first to slam his button, turning his chair around to get a glimpse of the girl with the golden pipes.
Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, and Jennifer Hudson didn’t hold out much longer as her emotional family wept backstage with pride.
And Holmes lit up at the positive feedback, encouraged to belt it out even harder to impress Hudson, who she greatly admired and hoped to have mentor her throughout the competition.
But like anyone in front of a live audience (and millions at home), she was also nervous. In an interview with The St. Louis American the young singer recounter pulling herself together:
“Over the years, I’ve become good at hiding how nervous I am. I was on stage. It was really dark. Then, the band started playing and I was like ‘Okay, it’s go time. Turn it on.’”
She continued:
“One of my earliest performances was “I am Changing” by Jennifer Hudson. So, it was like, ‘I want to meet her, I want to sing with her and I want to learn from her.’”
And she did – even getting a chance far sooner than expected.
In a surprise move, Hudson was so taken with Holmes’ voice that she got up on stage to hug her and offered to perform a duet right then and there.
A stunned but poised Holmes – who had begun tearing up as soon as her hero started speaking to her – agreed and belted out a few notes, to which Hudson replied with a look of awe – she knew this girl could match her vocals!
But Holmes was trembling inside:
“I have no words for it. I was like, ‘The Jennifer Hudson wanted to sing with me. This can’t be happening. I must be in a dream.’ I was trying not to cry so that I could be able to sing – because singing and crying don’t really go together.”
A very sweet moment followed in which the two sang together beautifully.
Of course, with a talent like that, all four judges were angling to be her coach. (If a contestant gets four “yeses,” they get to choose who to work with during the competition.)
Levine told her she could be the biggest talent to ever emerge from The Voice. Shelton asked to be her coach so that she could teach HIM how to sing like her.
Of course, she ended up working with her hero, Hudson, who also got her start on a reality singing competition, American Idol.
While Holmes went on to become a favorite contestant with gorgeous covers of Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All” and Bette Midler’s “Wing Beneath My Wings,” fans were angry and stunned when she was bumped out in the final round of the competition.
An online poll had her as the odds-on favorite.
Fans revolted when she came in 4th, saying she was robbed and that they would never watch the show again.
But Holmes took it in stride, knowing that she would get her chance at stardom another way.
Scroll down to see the amazing performance of her audition and her duet with Hudson. The video is from a local news channel and has earned over 1.5 million views.
The video posted by The Voice itself has over 13 million!
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