Whatever else happens during the course of this season of The Voice, one element will definitely go down in the history books. It’s Nick Jonas’s first season as a coach, sitting alongside Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and Blake Shelton, and Arei Moon is one of Nick’s OGs, an artist who’s been with him from the very start.
Rewinding to the blind auditions at the beginning of Season 18, Jonas seemed to sense that Moon could end up with Kelly– so he swiftly deployed his block against Clarkson.
He was right on point, as Moon told us during a phone interview last week from Atlanta. She had specifically singled out those two as her top choices in her ideal outcome for the blinds.
“I was definitely hoping Nick and Kelly would turn, as those were my top two options,” said Moon. “Nick turned around immediately, and I didn’t notice that he had blocked Kelly – there were way too many things going through my mind at the moment. But I noticed it toward the end when I saw a red light from the ‘blocked’ sign. I don’t think she noticed right away, as she may have been looking at me. I love all four coaches and I wonder what Kelly would have said to fight for me. Kelly was my first album I bought with my allowance, and I had posters with Nick and his brothers on the wall so each holds a special place for me.”
Moon, a native of Boston who grew up in Orlando, began performing at neighborhood block parties as a kid. At the age of 12, she got the opportunity to open for LL Cool J. After college, she became a full-time musician.
Working with Jonas, who has kept her on his team throughout the battle rounds and the knockouts, she’s been very impressed with how he handles himself as a coach. “He’s very chill and laid-back and comes off as cool and collected with no need to prove himself,” she said. “He’s very daring and what you don’t see is the actual amount of push he can put into people.”
To have brothers Kevin and Joe be the team’s mentors was another experience entirely. “With the Jonas brothers, it was an out of body experience. Was I really here, talking to them? Did I actually talk? I was overthinking it. You grew up seeing them on TV and they’re in front of you and know your name. They seemed really invested and that’s the coolest,” she said.
Another thrilling milestone was working with music legend James Taylor, especially as Moon performs some of his songs with her band when they play corporate events and weddings.
“We had a genuine conversation, and found out we’re from same hometown, Boston. He was so humble, and he was giving,” she said about Taylor, who helped her prepare for her knockout performance (opposite Jon Mullins) of Alicia Keys’ “You Don’t Know My Name.”
“Arei and Jon put two stellar performances together, but Arei is a superstar. I couldn’t let her go,” said Jonas.
As for the live shows, whatever form they may take during this coronavirus pandemic, she’s prepping to make sure her voice is ready. “We’ve had our downtime, we’ve been able to chill and it’s gonna come hit us real hard,” she said. “I want to show a softer side. I’m very high-energy and love to belt, but I definitely want to give people a different dynamic to what I do.”
For Team Kelly’s Mandi Thomas, her hope is that she wants America to have an appreciation for music in general, no matter the genre.
You may recall that she won Clarkson’s heart during the blind auditions by performing Andrea Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye,” fully knowing that Clarkson was looking for an opera singer.
“Anything he sings is incredible,” Thomas said over the phone from her home near Memphis. “Celine Dion sang with him, and that’s how I heard of him, being classically trained. He and Josh Groban are in the same genre, kind of pop and opera mixed together, and that’s why I chose that song—to be able to mix different genres.”
Thomas had auditioned for “American Idol” in its sixth season, the year Jordin Sparks won the competition. But when “The Voice” came around, she knew that it was totally in her lane. Yet she tried out a couple times and didn’t make it – until two of her music students who did get on the show made her believe it was more attainable than she had imagined.
“Going in, I auditioned with country music, because I grew up singing country a lot,” she said. “When it came time to sing the blind song, I had heard Kelly had been asking for opera singers, and Kelly is who I wanted. No one had done opera since Chris Mann in Season 2. I had heard he’d done really well. With Kelly classically trained, I felt she would recognize I could sing other genres. I got lucky she turned around for me.”
She said she’s been incredibly excited to be working with Kelly. “The funniest thing is she said to aim higher. She’s been in our position and completely understands the mindset. The biggest takeaway is her helping with my confidence. ‘You don’t know how good you are,’ she told me.”
For the past seven years, Thomas has performed in the band Cruisin Heavy, where with another female lead singer, Angela Burton, they do covers of mainstream hits in bars, clubs, casinos and festivals around the Memphis area. “We do everything from Metallica to Whitney Houston to AC/DC,” she said.
Being mentored by Dua Lipa was a memorable experience. “She was so kind and complimentary,” Thomas said. “She is very relevant and at the top of the charts–and very cool.”
And she said it was a thrill to be coached by mega-mentor James Taylor. “He is such a legend. His voice to me is one of the most soothing and calming, and he is one of the most amazing songwriters of our time. He was very wise in his critiques and very nice with his compliments. It was definitely a star-stuck moment. It was so fun when he took out his guitar and sang one of Kelly’s songs.”
With her ability to sing almost anything, Thomas is sure to surprise us during the lives.
“Music is a universal language, even if you didn’t grow up with it,” she said. “I want to be part of that representation. And you don’t have to choose a specific lane to be successful in the music industry.”
(“The Voice” airs Monday nights on NBC at 8/7c.)
