With her parents cheering from the wings, Sharon Mathai, an
18-year-old from Dallas
bowled over the coaches in the blind auditions Feb. 20 of "The Voice"
with her rendition of Adele's "Rumor Has It." The second season of
the popular music reality show on NBC airs every Monday and features four
famous singers – Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green and Christina
Aguilera – who choose members for their teams that go on to face off against
each other.
Mathai's unique voice impressed Maroon 5's Levine, who turned his chair soon
after she started singing. Later, Shelton
and Cee Lo joined in by turning their chairs for her.
"Attention, we are looking at a star right here," Shelton remarked to a loud applause from the
audience as soon as Mathai finished her performance.
The fourth coach, Christina Aguilera, who did not turn her chair, admitted to
being a fan of Adele and told Mathai so. "I love Adele and you put your
own thing," Aguilera commented after her performance. Mathai eventually
chose to be on Levine's team.
Mathai, who quit medical school to pursue her passion for music, is a student
of jazz, according to her profile on "The Voice" website.
She was born in New York to Samuel Mathai, a
psychiatrist , and Elsa Mathai, a nurse, before the family moved to Dallas, where Mathai grew
up and completed her schooling.
According to her bio data on the Actors, Models, and Talent for Christ (AMTC)
website, her big break came when she was discovered by two industry executives
while attending AMTC's SHINE convention in 2010.
Her debut commercial release found her collaborating with producers and
creators Troi and Angie Irons, Tony Rich, Arex, Kendrick "Wylcard"
Dean, JHart and others. She was also seen in the 2011 music video "Minnow
and the Trout" and also made it to the final cut on Oxygen's "The
Glee Project" in June.
"I have a lot to learn and I'm hungry to learn it all," she told her
high school newspaper The Coppell Student Media in an interview in May 2010.
"Also… I'm a big time tree hugger." According to the newspaper,
Mathai started singing when her mother placed her in a church singing
competition when she was only 3.
"When I was a baby, my mom said I screamed really loudly and eventually
sang," she told the paper.
"My family is also really musical. Everyone in my family can either sing
or play instruments. It just made sense to be a part of them and it was really
cool to get support at such a young age," she added.
She began taking jazz vocal lessons as a child before joining choir at Coppell
Middle School North and later Coppell
High School and became a
member of the 2009-10 Vivace! choir.
"It was cool to be a part of something where you dance and sing as a group
and get the chance to highlight everyone's talent," Mathai told the paper.
Mathai found her stride with something that was once merely a hobby, the paper
said. She began expanding her musical tastes beyond choral and worship music,
listening to artists ranging from Adele to Billie Holiday.
Eventually, she branched out from being merely a member of the choral to the
middle of the spotlight, with numerous solos, performances at the senior talent
show and Valley Ranch Baptist
Church.
With the multitalented Levine as her coach, the wide-eyed, pretty and confident
Mathai is someone to watch out for on this season of "The Voice," and
beyond.
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