Connor Closs had two superstar coaches fighting for him during his The Voice Season 30 Blind Audition, but the 23-year-old Middletown, New Jersey singer says there was a very specific reason Adam Levine ultimately won him over.
Connor performed Hozier’s “Too Sweet,” showing off the high register, falsetto and smooth transitions that have become signatures of his voice. Adam waited until the first chorus before turning his chair, with Riley Green eventually joining him and giving Connor a two-chair turn.
Riley made a strong case for himself after learning about Connor’s extensive live-performance experience, which includes singing aboard a cruise ship. He told Connor that someone capable of performing in that environment could handle almost any stage.
But Adam focused on something far more specific: Connor’s voice.
The Maroon 5 frontman explained that he deliberately waited for the chorus because he wanted to hear how Connor moved between falsetto and the upper part of his range. Adam said Connor handled the difficult transition exceptionally well and even recognized similarities between Connor’s approach and his own singing style.
That observation immediately connected with Connor.
After the audition, Connor explained that he had admired Adam’s voice for years, particularly his ability to sing comfortably in an unusually high register. He believed Adam understood the exact part of his voice that he most wanted to develop.
Connor said Adam has that area of his voice “dialed down to a science,” which convinced him that the veteran coach could teach him things especially relevant to his own sound.
There was another interesting connection behind Connor’s journey to The Voice.
Before appearing on the show, Connor had already gained major online attention for a performance of Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” According to Connor, The Voice producers discovered that viral performance and contacted him about the competition.
The song also strengthened his connection to Adam. Connor knew Adam had performed “Dream On” himself and had tackled other songs requiring the kind of soaring upper register Connor regularly uses.
For Connor, that made choosing Adam about more than simply which coach delivered the strongest sales pitch.
“To learn from somebody like that is amazing,” Connor said while explaining why Adam’s vocal experience made him such an appealing mentor.
Connor already had plenty of experience before stepping onto the Voice stage. In addition to performing with Jersey Shore cover band The Cliffs, he toured nationally with Hits! The Musical and spent a year performing aboard the Coral Princess cruise ship.
Now that experience is taking him into the next phase of the competition on Team Adam — and while Riley Green came close to winning him over, Connor’s decision ultimately came down to one thing: he saw in Adam Levine a singer who understood exactly how his own voice works.
