Koryn Hawthorne, a 17-year-old high schooler from Louisiana earned her way to be the fourth place finalist on ‘The Voice’ Season 8 on Tuesday, May 19. On the final week of the show, she sang a solo, an original song written by her coach Pharrell Williams, and a duet with Williams. Throughout the competition, she and her coach shared a bond as believers who put their faith in God. During sessions, Williams encouraged his team member’s faith.
Williams wrote an original single entitled “Bright Fire” for Hawthorne to sing. During their recording session, Williams said that the song “feels good” because “it feels like sunshine.” He said “That’s what God is to us.” When Hawthorne felt closed up in the recording studio, her coach asked where she feels most comfortable singing. When she answered that she sings at church and that is her favorite place to sing, Williams told her to pretend that she is at church.
“He’s my bright fire. Oh yes He is,” sang Hawthorne. “He’s my live wire. He took me higher, oh yes He did.”
After Hawthorne’s performance the other judges had much to say. Adam Levine expressed his envy by saying, “Pharrell wrote you a song. I want one of those too man. I saw how joyful you delivered that vocal and how passionate Pharrell was.” Levine concluded his remark by calling Pharrell “humble” in which Williams covered his face with his hat. Christina Aguilera apologized to Hawthorne by saying she was “sorry things did not work out between them” but that she is happy that things went well for the contestant with Williams.
Williams said that his heart beat so fast because they “got to sing the song in front of everybody.” Williams added, “just like the lyrics say, “He is our bright fire, God!” The coach thanked ‘The Voice’ for the platform to share that with the public on live television.
She also sang a fast beat duet with Williams to “We Can Work It Out” by The Beatles on stage. They danced and walked across the stage together while jamming it. The stage was lit with colorful disco lights. For the solo portion of the night, she sang “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” by James Brown.
On results night on Tuesday, May 19, all four judges took the stage together to Honor the late B.B. King. Pharrell was on drums, Adam and Blake were on electric guitar, Christina on vocals. Together they all sang “The Thrill Is Gone” while perfectly hitting all of the high and low notes. Towards the end of the night, Daly read the results from a card to reveal Hawthorne as the fourth place finalist.
An all new season of ‘The Voice’ will return in the Fall. 'The Voice’ is an American reality television singing competition show. Maroon 5’s lead vocalist Adam Levine, country singer Blake Shelton, pop singer Christina Aguilera, and music producer Pharrell Williams make up a panel of four judges. The celebrity judges coach their respective team members and prep them for weekly performances. The show is hosted by Carson Daly.
