REXBURG—For BYU-Idaho student Owen Uffens of Rigby, Idaho, pursuing his dream of becoming a singer meant taking a chance on a national stage. Uffens recently auditioned for NBC’s “The Voice,” NBC’s singing competition. This opportunity pulled him away from his high school graduation ceremony.
In the competition, singers will perform a song during what’s called a “blind audition,” in front of a live audience and a panel of four celebrity judges. It’s a blind audition because judges sit with their backs turned away from the stage. If the judges like what they are hearing, they push a button on their chair, and it turns them around to view the singer.
When deciding what song to perform during his blind audition, Uffens wanted to find something outside the mainstream while choosing a song that fit his vocal abilities. Rather than selecting a more contemporary pop hit, he looked to older music that would allow him to showcase his voice and make the song his own. You can check out his audition here.
“So, I wasn't going to pick, like, you know, Justin Bieber or anything or anything like that,” Uffens said. “I wanted to find a song that, you know, would, resonate with people. And I found I was more just looking for, like, an older song that I could make my own.”
For those considering auditioning for “The Voice,” Uffens said preparation and nerves are a major part of the experience. Before stepping onto the stage, he found himself repeatedly running through the song in his head, hoping to remember every detail and deliver a strong performance.
“Like you're running over the song like a million times in your head, just praying that you can, you know, remember everything correctly and you know give a performance that you're good to give,” Uffens said.
Although the nerves can be overwhelming before an audition, Uffens said they begin to settle once the performance starts. After singing the first note, he found that some of the anxiety eased, even if it did not disappear completely.
Uffens has known for much of his life that singing was what he wanted to pursue as a career. His earliest performances, however, took place far from a television stage. Growing up, he often sang to the family dog, Russell, as he developed his love for music.
“Of course you wanted to do it, but, like, you know, you're just always performing,” Uffens said. “But it was mainly, like, what I got into the group because I told my mom I wanted to do that forever. Like, we had a dog named Russell, and I would always sing to him.”
Looking back on his audition, when both Adam Levine and Kelly Clarkson turned their chairs around to see his face, Uffens said the experience exceeded his expectations. What began as an opportunity to share his voice with a national audience became a successful audition and a chance to take another step toward his musical ambitions.
Following his audition, Uffens faced another important decision: choosing between coaches Adam Levine and Kelly Clarkson. Ultimately, he chose Levine, who told Uffens he could help take his voice to the next level.
For Uffens, the experience represents more than a single performance. It is another step toward pursuing the career he has envisioned since childhood, from singing to his family dog to performing in front of “The Voice” coaches.
To watch Uffens continue his journey on “The Voice,” tune in to the next episode on NBC, Hulu, Peacock or YouTube TV on Monday, Oct. 19.