The Voice: Post-Battles Interview with Luke Edgemon – Now of Team Blake

Luke Edgemon chose Shakira as his coach during the Blind Auditions. He took on Monique Abbadie during the Battle Rounds, singing their rendition of Lady Gaga’s “You and I”. Needless to say, the audience and coaches loved their performance. Shakira chose Monique as the winner of the round, but both Blake Shelton and Usher hit their steal buttons to claim Luke for their own teams. Left with the decision, Luke opted to move to Blake Shelton’s team for the remainder of the competition. We spoke with Luke via conference call after the Battle Rounds to talk about the battles and his decision to join Blake’s team. Read that interview below, and follow Luke on Twitter: @LukeEdgemon.

Could you talk about what was going through your mind when Shakira chose Monique over you?

I don’t know exactly – I kind of expected it. Monique and I both performed really hard and it was a very electric performance… and we had a really good time. I think that I kind of forgot that the crowd was there – and for part of the time I even forgot the coaches were there. I think we just had a good time performing with, and to, each other. I thought that whatever happened at that moment was what was supposed to happen because we gave the best performance we could.

How did you choose between Blake and Usher?

I think I was just thinking there are a lot of good, amazing artists on both of those teams. But I had to choose between a team that was a lot more… you know, the singer’s on the Usher’s team have more urban voices – who are wonderful. Then on Blake’s team, there is just a more eclectic group – there were country singers, there were rock singers… it just seemed a little bit more of a melting pot. So I wanted to stand out in the moment rather than blend in and kind of fall below the surface, so that was my decision-making.

You were on American Idol, you were on Glee, now The Voice – so what is your plan going with The Voice?

I think… you know, I didn’t make it quite as far on Idol as Jon did. American Idol was four years ago now and I knew nothing about pursuing the act of being an artist. I didn’t know really much about myself musically even then compared to what I’ve learned now. And being on camera for Glee was kind of a fluke, it wasn’t something that I really auditioned for or went out for because I sing background for the show regularly… which is kind of a pretty behind-the-scenes job… and they just needed someone to fill in for a day or two. Then the Warblers became a pretty well know group and I kind of just had to stay on.

But I don’t really have a desire to be in front of a camera or to act or anything. I think that my biggest passion is music and it’s been three and a half to four years since Idol and The Voice kind of fell into my lap just working in LA now and singing backgrounds and stuff.

It became something that I was kind of reluctant about before because I had done Idol and I didn’t want a reality show jump and that kind of thing. And, you know, in the end it just became… a decision that I ran with and I’m glad I did. I’m having an amazing time and I’m learning a lot.

How did you feel doing “You and I” during the Battles?

I was kind of nervous about it at first. We sang it in the original key and obviously it fits Monique’s voice way better than mine. I tried to change the key at first – so that it would be more comfortable – and Shakira said that she picked it for us because the stylistic difference for Monique pushed her and the key pushed me. So I think that it was a challenge for both of us and, in the end… I was real out of it at first because I am afraid to pursue jumpy, power-pop stuff like that… but I think it pushed us both and I’m really happy with the outcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnlFuSILQmg