St. Louisan and “The Voice” contestant Joanna Serenko admits she wasn’t ready to be sent home; and thanks to celebrity singer/songwriter John Legend, she’s moving on to the next round of the hit reality talent competition.
During the show’s Battle Rounds series, which aired on NBC last night, the teen faced off with fellow competitor Roderick Chambers, performing a duet of Billie Eilish’s “when the party’s over.”
“I felt pretty nervous, the idea of millions of people seeing me started to settle in, which can affect my performance,” the 18-year-old told Gazelle. “But I knew that we had been practicing together a lot and that Roderick was a solid duet partner and I felt very comfortable on stage with him, which helps a lot.”
The duo’s performance brought the crowd to its feet and drew praise from all four coaches, including their coach, Nick Jonas, as well as from Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and John Legend.
In the end, Jonas declared Chambers the winner of the battle. However, just moments later, Serenko was “stolen” by Team Legend.
“It felt like a rollercoaster of emotions,” Serenko said. “I definitely felt as though Roderick won the battle just because of the way he shined through his performance—it was his best yet and I could see all of his growth throughout the process. When Roderick won, all I could do was pray I’d get saved or stolen. I wasn’t even really in the mindset that I would get sent home. When John saved me, I felt so relieved and grateful, especially because I wanted him to be my coach since the ‘Blinds.’”
During the show’s Blind Auditions, which aired in late February, Serenko earned a rare ‘four-chair turn’ from the judges for her performance of The Beatles’ “All My Loving.” At the time, Serenko admitted being torn between Jonas and Legend, but decided on Jonas.
“Nick was my first concert when I was a kid, so it was a very surreal experience for me. Working with him and his brothers was so fun,” she recalled.
Serenko, who graduated from Kirkwood High School in 2019, is no stranger to competition. She emerged with the top prize during last year’s St. Louis Teen Talent Competition at the Fox Theatre, winning an $8,000 scholarship and a recording session to record two of her original songs.
“The size of the Fox venue definitely helped me mentally and physically prepare for a stage as intimidating as The Voice stage,” Serenko said. “Hundreds of legends have stood there and it helped to give me the confidence I needed to be on The Voice.”
Serenko is looking forward to working with her new coach as they prepare for the Knockout stage of the competition.
“Working with John will definitely be helpful vocally because we have similar styles and influences,” she said.
The Knockout rounds on “The Voice” featuring Joanna Serenko are scheduled to air on NBC April 13 and 20.
Check out the performance by Joanna Serenko and Roderick Chambers during Monday night’s Battle Rounds on The Voice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVmvz9v5KgE
