A young student named John James Janse van Rensburg stole the show at blind auditions for the second season of The Voice South Africa in 2017.
Too young to audition for the first season, John James brought his best vocals to the stage for season two, wowing judges and the audience with an unlikely song choice – girl pop superstar Meghan Trainor’s hit “Like I’m Gonna Lose You.”
As you can see, when the music began, at least one of the judges was a bit surprised by the young man’s song choice.
During blind auditions, all of the judges’ chairs face the audience and only when they are properly impressed with someone’s vocals do they hit a button to turn their chairs around and get their first glimpse of the performer.
Just a few lines into his sweet and sensitive performance, two judges – Karen Zoid and Khan Morbee – slammed their buttons to turn around, hoping to claim John James for their team.
The teenage crooner – still the youngest person in that year’s competition – was all smiles as he received the positive feedback.
Scenes from backstage showed his family looking on with pride in a very sweet moment.
But would he gain all four judges approval? It was touch and go, even as he sang every note perfectly, whipping the audience into a frenzy.
Finally, he got the third judge, Bobby van Jaarsveld, to slam his button – but South African singer Lira was still on the fence.
However, after hitting a high note, his talent was undeniable and the final judge gave her button a karate chop with a loud “hi-ya” of approval.
Of course, the performer still needs to finish the song and John James really brought it home once everyone in the venue was on his side.
After finishing his performance, John James received a standing ovation from the audience as the judges gushed with approval.
“My heart skipped a beat when I heard you sing. You took my breath away,” Karen Zoid told him after his audition.
The young performer would now get the chance to choose whose team he wanted to be on for the remainder of the show.
Bobby van Jaarsveld told the young man to go with his heart when it came to choosing between the four coaches, but John Jame had clearly gone into the competition wanting to work with Bobby. The other judges were clearly disappointed not to get to work with the young man.
Despite the overwhelmingly positive feedback, the performer did pass the halfway mark but was knocked out of competition shortly after that.
The second season of The Voice South Africa was eventually won by Craig Lucas.
But John James is still sharing his music on his Facebook page if you want to check it out. His most recent post from January is a beautiful cover of a South African song by his Voice coach Bobby Van Jaarsveld.
Be sure to scroll down to see the original blind audition that had everyone talking and has garnered almost 100,000 views on YouTube.
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