“I wanna be clear about how great that performance was. That was the best audition we’ve seen,” Judge for “The Voice” John Legend said of Lincoln’s Bryan Olesen.
Olesen performance OneRepublic’s “Love Runs Out” during “The Voice” blind auditions turned around not only Legend, but coaches Dan + Shay and Reba McEntire, who all scrapped to take Olesen under their wing. Olesen picked Legend, and advanced to the next round.
Now the talk of the town, Olesen stopped in to the KLIN studio last week and joined Thursday’s episode of The Dan Parsons Show.
“I typically don’t get nervous, but the way ‘The Voice’ is set up, it was the most nervous I’ve ever been,” Olesen, 50, said about his audition which was filmed last summer.
On top of his impressive vocal chops, Olesen is stage experienced. He performs lead vocals, guitar, and bass for the Christian rock band VOTA (formerly known as Casting Pearls) and also played guitar for the popular Christian band Newsboys from 2003 to 2006. Olesen said his bandmate John Wooten, the drummer of VOTA, was actually the one who encouraged him to audition when he initially felt skeptical.
“All this prep, months to get ready for this moment and the amount of time I sing is 90 seconds,” Olesen described. “I was the last one to audition that day, I was in wardrobe, hair, and makeup by 9:00 in the morning, and I didn’t get to sing till 6:30 at night… I get out there. I can see the chairs and the names and I know that all those people are just sitting there, waiting. You have these thoughts going through your mind like, ‘I could really mess this up right now if I want to.'”
However, Olesen did anything but… wowing judges and earning thunderous applause from the studio audience with a “risky” approach to his arrangement.
“I chose my arrangement to start Acapella. I presented the idea to the music producers and they let me do it. I kind of put myself even more at risk
by starting acapella and waiting for the chorus for the band to come in,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons why I chose John legend, because he really dove into the weeds and he goes, ‘Man, that was a bold move.'”
Legend compared Olesen to U2’s frontman Bono.
“Not because you sound exactly like him, but just the way you carried yourself and your range. You have so much chops and everything you need to be a great superstar. I would love to be your coach, and we’re lucky to have you on ‘The Voice,'” said Legend earning Olesen’s mentor position.
Watch the chair-turning audition below.
“I was in such shock that all that happened,” Olesen admitted. “When it finally came out on TV, it was like I was watching it for the first time. Like ‘Oh, yeah, that was me. I did that.'”
However, Legend was not initially Olesen’s dream coach.
“I was going in saying, ‘If Chance the Rapper turns, that’s who I’m going with’… and Chance was the only guy that didn’t turn for me,” that’s when Olesen said the panic started to set in. “But there was something about John Legend… He really resonated with my arrangement of the song. My gut felt like he’s the person I should choose.”
As special for Olesen as performing for a superstar judge panel, was afterwards when Olesen’s daughter Jaydn joined him on stage to sing Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On.” An unscripted moment according to Olesen.
Music does run in the family, as Jaydn is the lead singer of Lincoln’s local 80’s cover band AMFM.
“Whenever I’m in town, it’s my favorite thing to do. To go watch her do her thing. How cool as a dad just to see her do what I do, but do it her own way,” said Olesen.
With Lincoln’s very own officially on Team Legend, he must now climb the competitive “Battle Rounds” bracket, where each coach pairs two of their team members to perform together, then chooses one to advance in the competition. Olesen will duet with Chicago native Nathan Chester and perform Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”
“We don’t get to pick the song. John picks it. Whatever he throws our way is what we have to sing. So it’s a unique challenge because I’m not used to actually singing a duet with anyone,” he said.
Olesen and Chester will battle tonight. You can see for yourself who wins at 7:00 p.m. CT on NBC and streaming on Peacock TV.
A teaser of their performance can be viewed below.