After landing in the bottom for a 3rd week in a row, on The Voice, the end of the road came for Mark Isaiah when he sang for the save against fellow Team Adam Levine singer Lilli Passero and Vanessa Ferguson (who won the battle) from Team Alicia Keys. Nevertheless, the twenty year old R&B singer from Pennsylvania always managed to keep a positive attitude. Coach Adam stressed that he trusted Mark’s artistic instincts so much, that he allowed the singer to choose his own songs. In conference call with reporters on Wednesday (5/10) Mark talked about his Voice journey, singing for the save, and more.
On keeping a positive attitude week after week being in the bottom and singing for the save: I’ve been enjoying this experience and this journey and that’s all I can think about at the moment that I’m on that stage. Just the fact that I’m there, standing in front of millions of people just performing live on television every week. I can’t be mad. There are people out there that don’t get the opportunity to be where I’m at. I was top ten, I’ve accomplished more than what I thought I would accomplish and I’m super grateful for this experience–all I can do is keep a smile on my face. I have the support from everyone, all of my fans and back at home. So I feel great and I’m super excited that I got the opportunity to make it this far in the competition.
On what was going through his mind when he learned he was in the bottom 3 with Lilli Passero and Vanessa Ferguson? First of all, everyone is so incredibly talented on the show and when I was at the bottom three with those two ladies it was just all love. I just felt like, whoever went on definitely deserved it because we all worked so hard to get where we were. Just watching [their] performances, it was amazing. They were giving it all and I’m glad Vanessa was safe, she definitely deserved that especially after that performance. It was just such an awesome experience being there and being able to share that experience with everybody on the show.
On the criteria Mark used to choose his own songs. It was something that I kind of already had planned out before I even did the show. I’ve always had the mindset of doing the show and I already had my list of songs I wanted to do. I think those songs, especially, were easy to make arrangements for me because they’re my style–pop and R&B. I just picked my genre and put my own flavor to it. I’m glad that Adam believed in me as much [as he did] to keep me on the show this long and [gave] me tips and advice through the competition.
Did he change his strategy when he chose his Save Me songs? Not really, not really. I just take the songs that I really already had planned to do on the show it’s just I take them for (the times) I guess. Yes, but I always had my list of songs that I wanted to perform on the show.
On how he plans to apply the things he’s learned on the show going forward in his career. Oh man, there’s so much that I can apply from what I’ve learned on the show to my actual career. My personality now and the way that I carry myself on camera and off camera is different now because I’ve gained more experience. This is like boot camp, honestly. Adam was a great coach in helping me to become a better artist and do my best on stage. Performing, interviewing and everything behind the scene–it’s going to make it easier for me to go out and do my own thing, start doing my solo music and going on tour. I told Adam actually after the show: I’ll see you at the Grammys soon. He was like, yes, I wouldn’t doubt it. We’re definitely keeping in touch and hopefully in the future we’ll get some music started.
On what drew him to audition for The Voice: I always had the passion for music and I remember auditioning when I was 17. I went to New York and I auditioned there at the open call and they accepted me. Then the next one, they didn’t call me back. I was like really let down. So I decided to keep following my dreams and never give up. I just couldn’t find anything else that could replace music in my life. I was just, ‘I’ve got to do it again’ and I prepared myself. I had to work on my confidence again. I just did it–went out there and I made it all of the way to the top ten. I couldn’t be more grateful to everybody that was a part of it. I had such a good time on this experience. It really helped me grow.
On what he plans to do next: I’m definitely going to start putting everything to use that I’ve learned on the show. I’m going to start recording music and [do a single] as soon as I can. [I’m going to] start promoting and finding connections and producing at the studio.
On disagreements with Adam over song choice. Did he ever turn down his input? One time it did happen. He tried to change my song but I strongly felt like the song that he was giving me wasn’t appropriate for that week. I was getting a lot of requests from my fans. I try to hear out everybody that comes to me. Just the fact that [Adam’s] been on the show for so long–and to think that the ideas that I’m bringing to the table are good, and that he believes in me to make my own arrangements and to pick my own songs–it’s awesome. He does help with arrangements and he’s just an awesome coach. I’m really glad that I got to meet him and work with him.
On choosing “Sorry” for his Instant-Save: For the last eight songs, we’ve got to pick from a list that they provide for us. Out of that list [“Sorry”] was the most familiar. It was getting to the point where it was hard for me to learn two songs every week because I was at the bottom every week. I was working twice as hard as everybody else on the show–performing twice on TV and still having to learn two more songs for the next week, plus the coach song that we did with Adam, Hey Jude. It’s been a lot, a lot of songs coming in place. That was the one that I was most familiar with on the list that they gave me. I had to make it easier on me for that week.
