From the excitement of meeting and working with Blake Shelton, to the nerves of performing against another singer in front of not only a panel of extremely talented celebrities, but also an audience of millions, it's safe to say this experience has been a whirlwind!
First off, Blake gathered our whole team together to pair us against each other - that fact
alone was nerve-racking enough considering we'd all become friends at that point. Secondly, we were paired with Jared Blake and were assigned to sing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough!" Our initial reaction, as well as Jared's, was shock. Because our styles are so different, we were taken back at the fact that we were both assigned a song far from either of our genres (not to mention the fact that it's a Marvin Gaye song)!
All of us knew it was going to take a lot of time and effort to find a key and arrangement
that would work well for us, so we went to Paul, the bandleader, to start working it out. Little did
we know another shocker was awaiting us when Blake and his "advisor" Reba McEntire walked in! Long story short, Blake and Reba helped us arrange the tune and gave us some extremely helpful advice. The best part about them both is that they seemed completely invested in the process and truly wanted to help us any way they could. It's not every day you get artists of that caliber to mentor you - so it was surreal.
Before our Battle Round performance of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," we became
comfortable with the trio approach (an idea that was encouraged by Blake and Reba) and knew that whoever Blake chose in the end, it would be a fun performance either way...Sad to say, we weren't chosen. When it came down to it, we didn't get a chance to make "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" more "us." We would have loved to strip down the tune, make it more harmony driven, etc. Since we didn't get that chance, we weren't able to win Blake over. Hats off to Jared Blake for really working the crowd and giving a killer performance.
Needless to say, this has been a crazy and awesome experience. This is definitely only the
beginning for us and our music. We cannot thank you enough for the support, encouragement, and kind words we have received in the past few weeks. We'll be seeing you soon.
Love,
Elenowen
Josh & Nicole Johnson
alone was nerve-racking enough considering we'd all become friends at that point. Secondly, we were paired with Jared Blake and were assigned to sing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough!" Our initial reaction, as well as Jared's, was shock. Because our styles are so different, we were taken back at the fact that we were both assigned a song far from either of our genres (not to mention the fact that it's a Marvin Gaye song)!
All of us knew it was going to take a lot of time and effort to find a key and arrangement
that would work well for us, so we went to Paul, the bandleader, to start working it out. Little did
we know another shocker was awaiting us when Blake and his "advisor" Reba McEntire walked in! Long story short, Blake and Reba helped us arrange the tune and gave us some extremely helpful advice. The best part about them both is that they seemed completely invested in the process and truly wanted to help us any way they could. It's not every day you get artists of that caliber to mentor you - so it was surreal.
Before our Battle Round performance of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," we became
comfortable with the trio approach (an idea that was encouraged by Blake and Reba) and knew that whoever Blake chose in the end, it would be a fun performance either way...Sad to say, we weren't chosen. When it came down to it, we didn't get a chance to make "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" more "us." We would have loved to strip down the tune, make it more harmony driven, etc. Since we didn't get that chance, we weren't able to win Blake over. Hats off to Jared Blake for really working the crowd and giving a killer performance.
Needless to say, this has been a crazy and awesome experience. This is definitely only the
beginning for us and our music. We cannot thank you enough for the support, encouragement, and kind words we have received in the past few weeks. We'll be seeing you soon.
Love,
Elenowen
Josh & Nicole Johnson
