Koryn Hawthorne is thrilled to be one of The Voice's Top 8 performers, but at this point, song choice is everything for the young singer. The 17-year-old artist is one of the youngest left in the competition and totally rocked it at The Voice Spring Break Concert on Thursday night at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles. Before taking the stage, Voice star Koryn Hawthorne talked about how she's dedicated to singing inspirational songs with a positive message on the NBC musical competition show.
The young artist, who is on coach Pharrell Williams' team, has won America's hearts — and votes — by singing Ed Sheeran's "Make It Rain," Emeli Sandé's "My Kind of Love," and Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)." So she's been on target with her music selections so far. "I think here it's always about song choice and making the right song choices with your songs," Hawthorne told Bustle at the concert's red carpet. "And for me, picking songs that have the right message, because I'm all about inspiration and I want people to feel something. For me, that's the biggest challenge."
While it might be a challenge to stay on message, it's clearly working. Teammate Sawyer Fredericks commented that her Top 10 performance of "Make It Rain" this week inspired him. "I loved Koryn's last performance," he said on the red carpet. "I feel like she put so much emotion into it. It gives you chills just hearing her voice sing that song."
Williams not only has two very talented artists in the Top 8, but two of the youngest. Hawthorne is 17 and Fredericks is 16 years old — but age is just a number to their coach.
"I don't know that age really matters," Williams said on the red carpet. "When you realize how young they are and you feel that energy that is much older than their years, their ability to discern that emotional complexity and be able to even emote it is mind-blowing. I think people are just blown away by what they're feeling from them more than anything else. And that's what has us really proud of them at this point."
Images: Ryan Tuttle/NBC (2)
