What exactly went on when American Idol Top 5 singer, MacKenzie Bourg competed on The Voice in season 3? He told a group of reporters after last night’s (3/17) performance show that the difference between the two experiences is how much freedom Idol affords him compared to “that other show.”
“I think it kind of comes across in my performances like how comfortable I am,” he said in the interview. “You know, I have kind of gotten to be myself here, and I have gotten to do the songs the way I’ve wanted to, and I got to perform one of my own songs which is absurd to really fathom right now. Nothing against, you know, the other one [The Voice], but I’ve kind of — look at me — I’m dressed how I want to dress.”
“I go up there and play the songs I want to, how I want to, and you know, it’s no secret why I think Idol produces so many mega stars, because what you have seen so far on TV has been 100% me,” he continued. “So the people at home fall in love with me and love what I am doing. They are genuinely falling in love with me and not a fabricated version.”
MacKenzie made it as far as the Playoff/Top 29 round on Team CeeLo Green. The public vote did not advance him to finals and coach Ceelo chose another singer as his personal pick to advance. It appears that MacKenzie chafed underneath CeeLo “mentoring” which we all know, could be incredibly wrong-headed at times.
CeeLo was the only coach to push his button when MacKenzie sang “Pumped Up Kicks” for his Blind Audition. Song choices after that included “Good Time,” by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen, “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, and the song that got him eliminated at Top 20, “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction. There’s another reason why MacKenzie would rather not sing boy band songs…
Interestingly, looking back at our recap for The Voice Top 20, it says, “Adam calls him an “American Idol”, but doesn’t think he can win The Voice.” Is that prophetic or what?
