By Karen Moul

The Voice’s second night of blind auditions brought another group of impressive performers and winning personalities, none more engaging than Nelson “Nelly’s Echo” Emokpae. A native of Nigeria, Nelly was the highlight of the evening, impressing the judges with his rendition of Bill Withers’ "Ain't No Sunshine" and with his personal story.

Sixteen years ago, when Nelly was just 15, his family fled political persecution in Nigeria but were forced to leave his imprisoned father behind. They settled in Baltimore, where thankfully the father eventually joined them. Although it was in Baltimore that Nelly developed his musical talent, his African roots have been a great influence.

“I’m a product of different cultures and geographies,” he explained, “so it allows me to sound like everything you’ve heard but nothing [you’ve heard]. And also coming from where I came from in Nigeria, it allows me to draw from that and gives me strength to go through the tough times you go through as a musician in this business.”

While fans compare Nelly’s Echo to Seal or Sting, he credits a number of Nigerian influences including the legendary Fela as well as newer artists such as P-Square and 2Face.

“Their music has influenced me significantly,” said Nelly. “Even the new styles, the new generation music, I find myself incorporating a lot of their stuff into my music nowadays.”

He certainly caught Christina’s ear; the songstress turned her chair less than 30 seconds into his audition, with Adam not far behind. It was a difficult choice and after hesitating briefly, Nelly joined Team Christina. He later admitted that going into the contest he decided he’d go with whichever chair turned first.

“I knew that if more than one chair turned,” he explained, “the decision was going to be difficult because I respected and would love to work with the other coaches as much as Christina. So I made that decision easier for myself saying whoever picked me, I would pick.

“I felt like the person who took the risk, or took the chance on me first, I would reward them by choosing them. And that’s what I did.”

Nelly later added that his Christina’s incredible vocal talent also played a part. “I’ve always been enamored more by vocalists versus instrumentalists,” he explained. “So getting on the show and having the opportunity to work with Christina, I knew she was going to challenge me vocally. She is primarily a vocalist first, so that was what excited me about that whole opportunity and connection.”

Christina also selected 15-year-old Marissa Ann and former gymnast Lisa Scinta. Nicole Nelson, Loren Allred and Samuel Moulton joined Team Adam while Cee-Lo added pop singer and professional dancer DOMO. Blake chose mother-daughter duo 2 Steel Girls (aka Allison and Krystal Steel).

NBC Conference Call
The Voice
Loren Allred, Samuel Moulton, Nicole Nelson, 2 Steel Girls (Allison and Krystal), DOMO, Marissa Ann and Nelly’s Echo

September 13, 2012

QUESTION: My first question is for DOMO. Since you’ve been working with Cee Lo how do you think his style fits with yours?

DOMO: I feel like he’s so cool and he’s like a free spirit and I have a big genre of different styles of music that I listen to. And I feel like he’s the same. I feel like he doesn’t stick to one type of sound or one type of song selection. I feel like he just throws out different things. I actually wanted him from the beginning so I’m so excited that I got him. I’m just excited to see what he throws at me next.

QUESTION: Nelson, how would you say your journey here from Nigeria has defined you as a singer and musician?

NELLY: With regards to my sound as a musician, I’m a product of different cultures and geographies. So it allows me to sound like everything you’ve heard but nothing (unintelligible) that experience musically. And also coming from where I came from in Nigeria, it allows me to draw from that and gives me strength to go through the tough times you go through as a musician in this business.

QUESTION: Nicole? How tough was it to take a song like “Halleluiah” and make it your own?

NICOLE NELSON: Thanks for the question. I feel that was - it was not tough, because the song is so very beautiful and so very inspiring. I think it would have been harder to take a song that I had less feelings for than it was for a song like that. The song just wakes everything up inside of you when you sing it. It takes on a life of its own. So it was easy to breathe life into that song.

QUESTION: Allison and Krystal, What is the best part of being on Team Blake and why would he be a good mentor for you guys do you think?

KRYSTAL: We are really excited about getting to work with Blake. We’re kind of a country pop, crossover thing. Because we used to do gospel, but we’re really excited to work with Blake because he is so great, not only (unintelligible). I think that he’ll really be able to help us practice. Because we did gospels for so long, we just started to get into country. So for us to get selected by Blake and get to choose Blake, it’s really a blessing for us. We would hope he gets to practice and really work with us and we’re very, very excited about that.

QUESTION: Definitely, and how do you think his coaching style would be from what you’ve seen on the show before and from meeting him now?

ALLISON: His coaching style is very direct, so far that’s what we’ve seen, which is really good. But (unintelligible) we are too. We’re very easy to work with, not very offendable, and he is very straight and he’ll just tell you how it is. And I think at this point in our careers, that’s what we need and Blake has such a big heart behind it. You know that everything he says, even criticism, is for your best interest and for the best interest of the team.

QUESTION: Hi, I have a few questions for (Nelly). I actually live in Baltimore. I’m calling from there today.

NELLY: What’s up?

QUESTION: Nigeria is the heart of the African recording industry and I think most Westerners who know African music, they know Nigerian music. And I wonder if you could talk about any specific influences from the Nigerian scene.

NELLY: The obvious influences would be musicians like Fela, (unintelligible), (unintelligible). But I guess my generation listens to artists like P-Square, 2Face, and (unintelligible), and people like that. So their music has influenced me significantly. Even the new styles, the new generation music, I find myself incorporating a lot of their stuff into my music nowadays.

QUESTION: We have a pretty strong music scene in Baltimore. Could you talk a little about your Baltimore fan base and what it’s been like developing here.

NELLY: I just want to say I love Baltimore, I love the support so far that I’ve received. Not just the past 24 hours, but since I’ve been a full time musician in Baltimore. I feel like we don’t get enough credit in Baltimore for our music sensibility and taste. And just the support we have for our local musicians.

I had the good fortune of playing several local venues like the Ram’s Head, 8x10, The Recher and stuff like that. That doesn’t get as much national face time. But overall, the music scene has definitely helped foster me as a musician and I’m so grateful I’m able to give back to that music scene with my presence on The Voice.

QUESTION: And I just wanted to ask a little about your life here. Do you live in the city, and what part of town, and what do you love best about living here?

NELLY: I live in White Marsh, Maryland which is a stone’s through from the highway that connects to everything in Baltimore. What I love about Baltimore city is its attitude. It’s got its own attitude, it’s very cut and dry, and straight to the point. And it’s a very loyal attitude too. So if Baltimore loves you, Baltimore loves you. Kind of like the Ravens, and the Orioles, too. Thank God they started to win games now.

So the Baltimore scene has an attitude of its own and that’s just very blunt. Very, very loyal. Which I like.

QUESTION: In your interview you said that you wanted to be a part of Team Christina. You thought that she might help take your voice to the next level. Can you elaborate on that, what you mean by that?

NELLY: As a musician you saw me play guitar on stage. I’m not really a guitar player, I just play that to support my voice. And I’ve always been enamored more by vocalists versus instrumentalists. So getting on the show and having the opportunity to work with Christina, I knew she was going to challenge me vocally. Because of who she is as an entertainer, she is primarily a vocalist first, so that was what excited me about that whole opportunity and connection.

QUESTION: I have a couple of questions for the singers we didn’t see a lot of last night. Loren and Marissa Ann, can you guys tell us a little bit more about yourselves?

MARISSA ANN: I am 15 years old, I’ve been taking lessons since I was 6. And a little bit about my story and why I got into music is at 5 months old I was diagnosed with a liver disease. After many months and different kinds of surgeries and doctor’s appointments they told my parents that I needed a new liver, right away. My dad actually, he donated a part of his liver to me and I just take life as a gift every day.

I am so grateful for everything that I have. And music is so important to me because it’s just so powerful. And with a melody, it can change your whole day. So I love sending a message to my audience and really connecting with my audience.

QUESTION: And Loren?

LOREN ALLRED: I just turned 23 years old and I live back and forth from New York City right now. My things are in storage because I wanted to go all the way for The Voice. So I just took that risk. But basically my two parents are classical musicians. My mom is an opera singer and my dad’s a choir conductor. So from a really young age I was trained to sing classically and I was in children’s choirs and everything. And then when I was around 12 or 13 I got my first Mariah Carey CD.

I started singing along with her and I realized that I didn’t want to do classical music, how my parents wanted me to do. I was in piano lessons and clarinet lessons and choirs constantly. And so that brought me to start school at Berklee College of Music, where I studied there and sang in a wedding band to make money.

And while at Berklee I got approached from my videos that were on YouTube by a label and they had me come audition and everything. And it resulted in my dropping out of Berklee to pursue that endeavor with the label. My parents both having doctorates in their field were just kind of like, “What are you doing Loren? This is a big deal. You need to stay in school and everything.”

And being signed was great but the people that signed on to me left the label soon after. So I ended up kind of being forgotten about a little bit. And it had gotten to the point where I was going to start having to sing in the wedding band again. And that’s when I decided to audition for The Voice. Then I got chosen for Adam’s team so it’s just really, really great that this has worked out thus far.

QUESTION: DOMO, we watch these shows a lot of times and the singers get chastised because they don’t have stage presence and they just stand there. What do you think your experience and what do you think your dancing techniques - what sort of advantage do you think that gives you moving forward?

DOMO: I’ve been on the stage dancing for about seven years professionally so it’s kind of a comfort zone for me. I’m used to seeing many faces and interacting with the crowd and getting the crowd hyped. That’s kind of like our glove as dancers. We feed off of the crowd. So if the crowd is energetic and giving a lot of energy and hype it reflects on the performer.

So that’s basically what I bet off of, and I just want to entertain. I want people to have a fun night, because you know what, at the end of the day you don’t know how long you’re going to be there. So every moment has to count. I didn’t want to sacrifice who I was and the kind of artist I want to be. Because I don’t only want to be labeled as DOMO the singer from The Voice and I got up there and sang a ballad. I want to be DOMO, the artist.

QUESTION: Allison, last night you said that you had to quit your job to come on the show. Could you go into what made you decide to take that risk?

ALLISON: I’ve been a professional musician most of my life. But I was a church musician, a fulltime paid church musician. And we left, I actually resigned from there about two years ago. My kids - we’ve just been doing music here in Nashville. And in Nashville there is so many artists that honestly you could play every night of the week and you don’t get paid.

And that’s just how it is so I went from being paid fulltime as a musician to not getting paid at all. And it’s so much work, but here in Nashville you still have to pay your band. Because you have a professional band to play with you and you pay them for each show and for each practice. And we just prayed about it and talked about it as a family.

And sometimes you just have to roll the dice. I really believe in my kids. We weren’t able to send my kids to college even though we were both employed fulltime. We were from a really small town and it was just a really poor town. And so we weren’t able to send them to college, and that is one thing that we had regretted.

And so for this, the reason I quit my job was because I was not able to send them to college and I want to better their future. My children are both so talented. My son plays guitar with us as well in the family band, and he’s a writer, he’s amazing actually. He’s now working at Gibson and it’s just awesome.

So this is to me the reason why I quit my job was because I want to be able to invest more in my children’s future than I have. And to me this is a great opportunity to do that on a national level, actually international. It opens up a lot of doors for them that I think are very well deserved.

QUESTION: Nicole, I read that you’re a part of a duo originally, how has your time as a solo artist been and were you expecting a four-chair turn from the judges?

NICOLE NELSON: I’m in a duo called Dwight and Nicole. And it’s really my passion. It’s so fun for me to sing when it’s Dwight, and to play with him and we write music together. And it’s really woken up a lot of my dormant talents. It challenges me to play different instruments at shows and to Dwight really is the shy musician whisperer. He helps me get up there and do it. So it’s been tremendous to have this next level of exposure and next challenge, doing things on my own. Because I’d gotten sort of used to having a personal cheerleader on stage with me every night. So I feel that it’s lifted my level as an artist to a new height. And it’s challenging us as a duo to take the next step also. We’re getting a lot of press already and exposure through the doors that were opened by The Voice. And it’s just really enhanced everything, everything in my life has been highlighted these days.

The four-chair turn. I had no idea. I didn’t know what to expect with this. I went into this just thinking I had no idea what was about to happen in my life in any next moment. And I still feel that way.

I didn’t expect the four-chair turn. I did think that would be awesome if that happened and at one point I didn’t know if anyone was going to turn around. I’m like halfway through the song, no chairs and I’m like, “Man, this song might be too mellow.” I don’t know. But I sang it from the heart and I think that came across. Which was awesome.

QUESTION: DOMO, it’s clear from last night’s episode that you have a very big personality, what made you decide to choose The Voice over other music competition shows?

DOMO: It’s so weird because before we actually started the entire Voice (unintelligible) everything. We had to take like this psych test, and it’s basically what they do for all the reality shows. But it’s just to evaluate you and to see how you’re doing. And my score actually, they said I was super shy and I am very laid back.

So I’m just the opposite in real life. I’m so shy, even throughout the taping I was always in my hotel room just to myself. Always very quiet. I don’t know, it’s just when I get on stage I feel like you have to just bring it. You know what I mean? Because it won’t resonate if you’re not larger than life. If you don’t come across as you’re already a superstar because if this is what you want to do, you need to already be that person.

That’s with anything, let’s say you want to get a promotion in your job and you want to be manager. Your boss wants to see you already act as a manger and do duties of the manager until they feel you’re ready. And you can move to the next level. So I feel like I have to go up and I have to [act] like a superstar. I had to make my mark because I feel like everyone is going to go up there and sing so I just had to be a little different.

QUESTION: And why pick The Voice over other shows out there today?

DOMO: I actually never considered going on what they call a reality TV show. Because I had experience on America’s Best Dance Crew, and although the experience was amazing and the exposure was great. I just didn’t know if I wanted to put myself out there.

Because sometimes America just sees one thing and rather than you just coming out with a major label behind you and you already being a star. It stamps you a little bit and whatever the show wants you to be is what you are. So I was kind of afraid, so when I heard how The Voice works, or whatever, I was like, “You know, it sounds pretty cool so I’ll give it a chance.”

And you can’t complain. I made it as far as I did and I’m actually happy that I made the decision to go on The Voice, I’m just excited.

QUESTION: Of course you go on there hoping which one of the judges will pick you and you have your favorite. But the time when some of you get the multiple people come up. That must be a really tough decision, especially if it’s someone you had picked but then someone else seems like they change your mind. Can some of you all talk about this experience? What’s going through your head and how do you finally make up your mind? Anybody first?

MARISSA ANN: We all have our favorites, you know. But I think you just have to go in the moment and what you feel and who you feel is going to be the best fit for you. And if they’re the most passionate about you, I would go with that one. I tried to stay away from my favorites and it turned out my favorite liked me, Christina. And I was just so excited but I think you have to just go in the moment and what you feel.

NICOLE NELSON: So I went in there wanting to pick Blake just because I enjoyed his commentary and so forth last year. And my good friend from high school was on his team, Jermaine Paul. So I followed him on Twitter and thinking he was funny and that kind of thing and he seems like a cool guy.

So I was like, “I’ll just do Team Blake because I’d rather just work with someone that I like.” But Adam sold me more in that moment. You know what I mean, I felt a connection with him and it felt real. And it felt kind of last minute. I didn’t know what to do until that final, it just sort of blurted out, “Okay, Adam.” And there it was.

QUESTION: It must be a really exhilarating moment though. I mean for you to just stand there and think, “Okay, here’s my future. Here is what I thought I wanted do but now I’m going to change it.”

NICOLE NELSON: Yeah, it was wild, man. That moment was so intense. It really, it floored me. I was like, “How do people do this, I don’t know.” I’ve seen the show and it seemed like people just think about it and then make a decision. But there was no thinking involved. My mind was just completely obliterated and I was just feeling it.

It was nuts. It was so nuts.

NELLY: The only thing for me was I knew that if I had more than one chair turn, I knew the decision was going to be difficult because I respected and would love to work with the other coaches as much as Christina. So I made that decision easier for myself saying whoever picked me, I would pick. And as musicians I’m sure most of the other contestants can agree with this. Sometimes it doesn’t take 5 or 10 seconds to figure out if you like a person’s voice or not. Obviously the coaches have to be pickier because they want to make sure you have (unintelligible) your voice. Or range to your voice. Before they push their buttons. But I felt like the person who took the risk, or took the chance on me first, I would reward them by choosing them. And that’s what I did.

QUESTION: Nicole, I was hoping you can tell us a little bit more about leading an organic lifestyle. Is that something that is important to you as an artist? Or is it just part of your larger sensibility?

NICOLE NELSON: I think it really stemmed from enduring some sickness at home as a kid. My brother was my best friend growing up. He was two-and-a-half years older than me and he died when he was just 15. And it was really, really hard, obviously, to deal with that. And I think part of - and he died from asthma. And he had terrible allergies.

I was 13, and that was a really lonely time for me. I started reading about asthma and allergies and wondering if there was any way that we could help people that had been through things like that. To sort of help them not be on so much medication. Because he actually died of a heart attack from the asthma medicine, which is very speedy.

And I was trying to see if there was any way people could heal themselves without that and it turns out there are. There’s a lot of things you can do. Asthma is actually not really a disease as much as a symptom of allergies. And so I started getting into a more holistic way of looking at health.

And I realized that I started getting sick too. I ended up with cysts and tumors in my bones. And all kinds of migraines and all this stuff, and I realized - it took years, but I realized it was stemming from my diet. And so a few years back I was living in Brooklyn, New York, where I’m from. And I was shopping at Whole Foods and (digging) all the times and trying to make ends meet.

And I was paying $2,000 a month rent and I realized I was living in the wrong place. We would visit friends of ours in Vermont, where Dwight, my boyfriend, went to college. And I was coming up here and being offered gigs, people would offer to barter for organic vegetables and meat for exchange like money and for me to play a show or things like that.

And I just felt like you can live here. And really live. And be healthy and I live right on Lake Champlain now and I shop at the local co-op and I make tinctures. Medicinal tinctures, which is so easy to do.

It sounds like this crazy, hippy weird thing, but there’s a lot of herbs out there that do what a lot of these really harsh chemicals in medicines do and they do it where the side effects are like, you sleep better or you have a brighter outlook on life or your skin clears up. It’s just a really nice way for me to live my life and feel that I’ve taken charge and I’m not sick anymore. I don’t have cysts anymore, I don’t have allergies anymore.

I felt very passionate about finding a way to take my fear of death and my mourning and turn that into leading a happier, healthier life. And it means - it’s my life. It’s not something I do for music or for any other reason. It’s a way that I live.

QUESTION: Nicole, I heard you mention that you were friends with last season’s winner Jermaine Paul. And I just wanted to see if he was maybe the reason, or one of the reasons that you decided to audition for the show and if you two still keep in touch.

NICOLE NELSON: Yes, we do and he absolutely was. Part of my lifestyle here in Vermont is that we don’t have a television. I live with a bunch of other artists and that TV time is creative time for us. So I didn’t even know about the show until Jermaine got on it and I started hearing from all these other kids because we used to sing together.

He comes from a big family and they all sing. They’re all so talented and so I started watching it online and I was like, “This show is good.” I think American Idol might be one of the reasons why I decided not to watch television anymore. I was like, “I can’t believe that this is the music industry that I have to live in.” Why wasn’t I born 40 years ago or something, 20 years ago something.

Anyway, I started watching it because of Jermaine, and I fell in love with the show through him. And it was like synchronicity. All these weird things started lining up for me. People asking me if I would do it. I was just getting emails, and people would be like, “You need to be on this show.”

And I was like, “Well, maybe I do need to be on this show. What am I doing?” I live a comfortable beautiful life. I really do. But my parents are getting older and they’re not well. They’re on disability and I thought, “Man, I could buy my parents a house.” That would be amazing. How do I do that? And that thought led to, “I need millions of people to hear me.” I can’t do this on a mid-club level.

And then one day I was doing a session in Boston at Q Division Studios and Ed Velasquez asked me if I would ever do something crazy. He’s like, “I know you’re going to say no. I know that you hate this type of shit. But you need to consider it. And would you ever do a TV show called The Voice? Like a reality show like that?” and I said, “Yes. I’ll think about it, I’ll think about it.”

And then the next day he’s like, “We need to know because the auditions are in New York and they’re next week.” So I said, “Okay, I’m going to go for it.” And I actually auditioned with Dwight as a duo. And they wanted to split us up, which we hated. And it turned out contractually we couldn’t do it anyway, together. But I could do it by myself. So I did. And here I am and I am still in touch with Jermaine. We Twitter mostly, it’s very intimate.

QUESTION: So did you guys go to high school together?

NICOLE NELSON: Yes we went to high school, (unintelligible) high school in New York.