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14-Year-Old Jaylen Dunham Shocked Gwen Stefani So Much, She Used Her Coach Replay
Jaylen Dunham isn't wasting any time chasing his dreams on The Voice.
At just 14 years old, Jaylen Dunham has already built an impressive collection of performing achievements. His resume includes commercials, playing extras in movies, modeling, and singing. He has performed in stage plays, on the internet, and now he's auditioning for The Voice.
Dunham hails from Charlotte, North Carolina, where he lives with his mom and dad, and just across the street from grandma. He’s been singing since he was a little kid. Almost as soon as he could talk, he was singing, a performer from the very start.
Dunham started posting song covers online when he was 12 years old, some of which have gained millions of views. That led him to performing at and winning amateur night at The Apollo, with a performance of “Listen” by Beyoncé. “When he sang, the crowd just shook the whole building,” said Aaron Dunham, Jaylen’s dad. “Anything he puts his mind to, he goes 110%.”
Jaylen Dunham's The Voice Season 26 Blind Auditions: details
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Dunham hit The Voice stage for his Blind Audition with a repeat performance of "Listen.” The song begins low and gentle, Dunham’s evolving voice fraying just a little at the edges. His voice is changing (as it's wont to do, when you’re 14) and that’s one of the things he hopes a Coach will be able to help him navigate as a performer.
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By the end of the song, Dunham transferred into a higher and seemingly more comfortable range, delivering a performance that would make any Artist proud, let alone one so young. Unfortunately, none of the Coaches turned for Dunham. At least, not yet. As soon as the Coaches turned around to provide feedback, they absolutely lost it. Gwen Stefani bolted from her chair to congratulate Dunham on his performance and give him a hug.
“They switched out a person, right? Was that you singing?” Stefani asked. “I can’t believe this.”
Across the board, the Coaches were flabbergasted by the cognitive gap between what they had heard and what they were seeing. “I can’t imagine how formidable you are going to be in three years, five years, 10 years,” said Michael Bublé.
“Your singing in that low range of your voice; I’m blown away,” Stefani continued, pointing out some areas for improvement and explaining, perhaps, why none of the Coaches turned. “I think as the song went on you were getting more and more worried that we weren’t going to press, and I could hear it.”
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The frustration in Stefani’s voice at the lost opportunity was palpable but, fortunately for everyone, Stefani had a trick up her proverbial sleeve. “We have this new thing on The Voice. Basically, if you’re like ‘Dang, I should have pressed my button, but I didn’t press my button,’ you can press your button,” Stefani said, and press it she did. Just like that, Dunham instantly became the latest addition to Team Gwen.
“I had to use my Coach Replay for Jaylen. In that moment I was thinking, ‘Should I use it?’ and then I was like, ‘Yes, you have that feeling right now; you have that regretful feeling. That’s what it’s for,’” Stefani said. “My favorite part about his voice was when he was coming in and singing his really low, soft voice. He had a lot of control. To think that is live, on stage, at 14 years old, I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
We can’t wait, either.
