Trevin Hunte covers Beyoncé’s “Listen” on “The Voice” and lands himself a spot on the show
After being told by his eighth grade teacher that he would never make it as a singer, Queens, New York-native Trevin Hunte not only made it to the blind audition stage on the music competition show "The Voice" but blew the judges away with his rendition of Beyoncé's "Listen."
"Never in a million years have I thought that I would be standing here," the 18-year-old said. "[Growing up] we didn't always have the best things. We'd go to sleep with gunshots ringing in the ear and wake up to an ambulance running across your neighbourhood."
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Hunte's parents came to New York from Guyana and his father has worked as a garbage truck driver as far back as he can remember. Coincidentally, it was his father who brought home a radio from his route when Hunte was only seven years old and that radio helped him to realize his dream.
"I always went downstairs to the basement to listen to that radio," he said. "That was the time that I knew I wanted to become a singer."
Praising his son's ability, Hunte's father said, "His singing voice is really powerful and I'm very proud because I never really got a break and it looks like he's going to go farther than I even tried to go."
Revealing that "music has always been that thing that [he] could run to and always completes [him] no matter what," the New Yorker is looking to boost his confidence on the show and hopes to prove his eighth grade teacher wrong.
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"I wasn't the most confident person in the world and in middle school I got the chance to apply for a performing arts school and I needed recommendation letters from all four of my teachers," he said. "I got three and needed the last one and [went to my teacher and she] looked me in the face and told me, 'You're wasting your time, you're not going to become anybody.' It was a hard time for me."
He also added, "If I was to give up when those people told me I wasn't going to become anything, I wouldn't be here. So I'm standing strong as ever and I'm here and I'm thankful. I feel like now is the time that I can prove my teachers wrong. I am going to become something and this is my time."
Judges Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton turned their chairs around wanting Hunte on their team, but it was Green who landed the soulful singer and predicted during the broadcast that he could win the whole competition.
"At 18 years old, he is a prodigy," Green said. "His voice is amazing and his range is regal so I am very honoured that he chose me."
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