Trini singer joins pop star Gwen Stefani's team on The Voice PAULA LINDO 4 HRS AGO
Trinidadian Payge Turner after her performance on The Voice on Monday. Turner joins pop star Gwen Stefani's team afte choosing her as her coach over country star Blake Shelton. -
There’s a Trinidadian on The Voice! Twenty-seven-year-old Paige “Payge Turner” Roopchan auditioned on the NBC series which began its 19th season on Monday.
The singer auditioned with the song Call Out My Name by The Weeknd and drew rave reactions from the crowd and the judges for her range and stage performance. “The low note!” was one of the most common reactions on social media during her performance.
In the blind audition format, judges listen to the performer with their backs to the stage and if they like what they hear, they turn their chair around. If more than one judge turns around, the singer can then choose whose team they want to be on.
Blake Shelton, who is a country music star, was the first to turn his chair around, followed by pop star Gwen Stefani.
Shelton said he was awestruck not only by Turner's voice but also by how she performed on the stage.
“She was high-stepping, her knees were up above her head and she was stomping, it was awesome. She’s not just an incredible vocalist, she’s a performer.”
Stefani said she was impressed with Turner’s voice.
“Your voice is just so beautiful and everybody was dying when you hit that low note, and I just love how much control you have and how sexy your voice sounded and I would love to work with you.”
Turner chose to be on Team Gwen. She, along with other singers chosen during the audition process, will be mentored by Stefani and face off against other judges’ singers during the competition. The winner will receive US$100,000 and a record deal with Universal Music Group.
Turner comes from a family of singers, as her mother Jacqueline Johnson sings with the Marionettes Chorales and is well-known for her vocal stylings, while her two older sisters are also vocalists.
The last well-known Caribbean artiste who performed on The Voice was reggae singer Tessanne Chin who won the competition in 2013.
See when Trinis sing civilized music instead of that soca crap they actually express their true talent... This girl has true talent and would reach somewhere.
Me "supporting her will utilize my resources and net neither me nor this country any immediate and tangible returns. Thats why not, plain and simple. Now, if you can show me how my support (financial, promotional, or any other) will be guaranteed to bring me immediate tangible returns on the investment, I'll happily support her efforts in any way I possibly can.
Now, a public service announcement in the form of a rant. Whoever eh like it can kiss my you can figure out what. & if yuh do agree, I do not care that you do.
Now, what I does cyah understand, is yuh had a plan to get where yuh going, and now yuh there & yuh at the last leg yuh want/ppl asking for random people to "support" yuh. If yuh made it that far in that talent show and yuh need all that "support" from as many random stangers as possible that you can get to make it through & be successful and you may not succeed if judged solely on your own merit, you probably shouldn't have been there to begin with. And what's worse, you undeservedly occupying a space & an opportunity, thus depriving someone that COULD make it soley on their own merit of said space & opportunity to do so, simply because a setta ppl say "yeah gee she a chance nah, cuz she from Trinidad ans all ah we want she to get tru" & beg for yuh.
People need to stop this nonsense, because for far too frickin long, all around the world, we humans keep coming up with new ways to shore up and push forward substandard talent to the forefront, just because of all kinda nonsensical inane reasons (she from trinidad/she wanted this & work at it for a long time/ah kno she fadda cousin barber dog pet fleas/ and whatever other jackass logic the could come up with). Mediocrity has become the new gold standard. In the long run, nobody but the mediocre supported one benefits from this kind of nonsense.
She eh go dead if she eh gt, she will move on with her life as normal. If she make it on she own, good for her. Congratulate her, and wish her the best & move on. If she doesn't, is because she wasn't good enough, and nothing wrong with that either.
That is why we will never get anywhere in this country. Always looking to pull down and not build up.
This is not only about her. It is about representing T&T.
She was born here and migrated but her mother and sisters live here.
She did not have to say she was from T&T. But then some of you have no idea what it means to represent your country at any level, or in anything, and what the tangible and intangible returns are.
But if it was some jackass foreigner, allyuh lining up to pay your money to listen to shrite.
bluefete wrote:That is why we will never get anywhere in this country. Always looking to pull down and not build up.
This is not only about her. It is about representing T&T.
She was born here and migrated but her mother and sisters live here.
She did not have to say she was from T&T. But then some of you have no idea what it means to represent your country at any level, or in anything, and what the tangible and intangible returns are.
But if it was some jackass foreigner, allyuh lining up to pay your money to listen to shrite.
So carry on.
Hello bluefete,
Words just cannot explain how much i understand you patriotism.
Trinis are ALWAYS fighting down anyone that does better than them, therefore if this is their culture, you cannot expect Trinis to support and “Rep” their fellow countrymen.
So yes, you are absolutely correct, we will never get anywhere in this country due to this type of typical Trini mentality. But you knew this, but you still tried, and i admire that, but maybe one day you will understand the reality.
But keep supporting, you be the one And only person in the group that jumps up and chants words of support for your fellow “aspiring” Trini artists. Don’t ever let anyone deter you from doing what you think is right.
Btw, “jackass” millionaire foreigners put in the work and give their all. So i will support them over a Trini “artist” any day anytime.
Trinis need to work harder, stop giving up so easily and most importantly change their attitude if they want to make it “big” in life.
Thoughts and Prayers to you OP, make sure you light a candle in church. It will help you the same way my support will help this woman. Thoughts and Prayers.
Thoughts and Prayers to you OP, make sure you light a candle in church. It will help you the same way my support will help this woman. Thoughts and Prayers.
I am so disappointed in US as a people for the lack of support being given to Payge Turner-Roopchan.
So much has happened since her initial audition.
Most recent - this week. Aced the knockouts.
Week Before
Payge Turner knocks out the competition PAULA LINDO 23 HRS AGO
Payge Turner performs during the knockout round of The Voice - Photo courtesy The Voice/NBC
PAULA LINDO
TRINIDADIAN singer and musician Paige “Payge Turner” Roopchan has continued her winning streak on US network NBC’s The Voice, beating Team Gwen Stefani teammate Ryan Berg in the knockout round to move forward in the competition.
In the knockout round, contestants chose their own songs and were coached by mega mentor Usher Raymond. Turner chose to perform Creep by Radiohead.
Payge with her mother, Jacqui, and sisters Anika (left) and Rianna (right)
Turner said working with Usher was an unreal experience.
“I mean it’s Usher! Like my gawd. He’s a triple threat but he’s like a quadruple threat to me, he’s a singer, a dancer a producer and fine as hell. Okay, but really he was a pleasure and he genuinely saw me for me. He was an absolute sweetheart and really embraced who I was.”
During the rehearsal stages, Stefani coached Turner on how to perform her choice of song. “It seems as if you’re focusing on the singing as opposed to the message for me, I think you can act that out even more, it needs to be drama. When you have a song like Creep that is so emotional, talking about your inner weirdness, how you don’t fit in, you don’t belong, every line has to have something that just draws you in.”
Turner was in tears while rehearsing the song, as she said she relates to the lyrics. The chorus of the song goes, “But I’m a creep/ I’m a weirdo/ What the hell am I doing here? /I don’t belong here. “I connect to the lyrics of the song, because moving to the US, leaving my mom, and then coming to a different country and learning the different cultures, I was a jock but I was also a theatre geek, I’ve always been the person that never fits in in school.
“This song is 100 per cent me, my personality is just a lot for a lot of people so I’ve grown into accepting that part of me but sometimes it does get to me.”
Usher gave her tips on how to use her emotions while singing, and said she’d have an amazing performance if she was able to connect to herself.
“Bottle up that emotion. The rock elements that make this alternative allow it to come into the experience more than you’re physically doing and it’s just as important as what you’re singing. That’s the emotion you need to capture, it’s okay to fall apart and then put yourself back together on stage. The more you give, the more you get.”
Turner took all the tips she was given and put them to practise on stage, giving a dramatic, movement-filled, mesmerising performance that made coach Gwen Stefani emotional and had all the judges on their feet at the end of her performance.
Judge John Legend said he was utterly stunned by Turner’s delivery of the song, calling it a revelation, while judge Kelly Clarkson said, “What the hell? Even your body, like I don’t even know what just happened, your soaring little creepy-head voice stuff all night long, that was so good.”
Judge Blake Shelton said, “I feel like we witnessed her have an out of body experience especially by the end of it, only then were you starting to come back into your body from whatever happened. You truly dissected that song.”
In an e-mail response to Newsday, Turner said the performance was deeply personal and like nothing she’d ever done before.
“I fought for my life. Honestly. It was all or nothing for me. I had the option of either just singing my buns off or leaving everything on the table, and sometimes that’s leaving behind all the focus on vocals.
“Every performance on this stage is out of body, lol. Nothing feels like it. In this particular moment, I just let the brokenness come out. I was going through a lot at the moment too. Funny enough, before this performance, I just had a personal thing that made me feel like I just wasn’t enough and would always be the person that no one chooses as their number one. And this was a moment where that hit me.”
Turner performed wearing a gold bindi and gold jewelry, which she said was significant for her.
“My bindi was a bit of a representation of my heritage. Dougla for dayssss. But truly my heritage has played a lot in my journey as well. It’s also ways that I’ve been rejected. So I felt like I needed to step into all things rejection for PT (Payge Turner) to take off.”
Turner said it still hasn’t sunk in that she won the knockout round.
“It still hasn’t hit me yet. I don’t think anything will hit until after the show ends. I’m looking forward to growing the most. I have a pretty great coach.”
Good she gt, her life goes on, as does yours and everyone else's. Your disappointment is irrelevant, because it doesn't change the fact that whatever you want you have to earn it on your own, off your own efforts. She was not then, nor is she now, nor will she ever be the exception to that rule.
I glad for her, but whether I or anyone else supported her along her journey in this venture, neither her successes nor her failures net me any gains or do anything to improve my or anyone else's life in any significant and real way. Color me disinterested.
Thoughts and Prayers to you OP, make sure you light a candle in church. It will help you the same way my support will help this woman. Thoughts and Prayers.
I am so disappointed in US as a people for the lack of support being given to Payge Turner-Roopchan.
So much has happened since her initial audition.
Hello bluefete,
I understand you disappointment but deep down you knew that this lack of support was expected from Trinis.
Trinis do not care about others, their country and even themselves. Its a stink Trinidadian mentality and way of thinking that is embedded in their DNA.
Its always a jealousy and a fight down thing.
Everyone carries on about their careless life not wondering or caring who our aspiring locals are and where they have reached. But Oh look a Trini on the voice and suddenly everyone flocks to “support”.
I gave our very very few locals that made it big internationally all reason to turn their backs on T&T.
