'The Voice' eliminee Bryan Bautista: Not making last season's cut was the best thing that ever happened to me

The Voice eliminee Bryan Bautista was sent home just shy of the show's two-night finale on NBC.


Bryan, a 23-year-old from Brooklyn, NY, was eliminated from The Voice along with Mary Sarah Gross, Paxton Ingram and Shalyah Fearing heading into this week's finale.

Bryan, a member of Christina Aguilera's team, was known for his incredible range and smooth falsetto sound. He sang for the "Instant Save" against Mary Sarah and Laith Al-Saadi, but Laith ended up receiving the most tweets, therefore advancing to the finals.

During a recent interview, Bryan talked about his experience on The Voice. Below is what he had to say.

Reality TV World: What emotions were you dealing with after your elimination, and what was your outlook on leaving the competition at this time?


Bryan Bautista: After being eliminated, I wasn't really down at all. There's always the dire to go on and progress to the next round, but after it was all said and done, I just felt really relieved. I honestly felt like the Top 8 -- it's the best Top 8 the show has ever seen. I feel like everyone is a winner and everyone is destined for greatness.

So, I just feel like, after last night, the four that didn't make it on, we're now given the opportunity to be set free and spread our wings and become true artists. It is a competition and they only allow so much artistic creativity on the show. But now, you can see us in our truest form as artists and creators.

So, I was really relieved and just thought about that, and not really about being eliminated. This chapter closes for everyone; There's only one winner. So at the end of the day, I just saw it as me closing a chapter that I'm writing for myself, so I'll be okay and I was extremely excited. I feel like I had a lot of fun out there last night, so that was cool.

Reality TV World: You auditioned for Season 9 and didn't make it. But this time around, you made it this far. To what would you attribute your growth during that whole period?

Bryan Bautista: About Season 9 and everything, I feel like not making it onto Season 9 was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and I learned so much about myself as a person and as an artist throughout this whole journey on Season 10 as far as working under pressure and building that confidence and that swagger that every artist needs.


However they perform, every artist has a swagger when performing. I was able to hone in on that working with Christina. So, I feel like I attribute everything I learned to just working with Christina and me being humbled in working hard.

Reality TV World: You allowed yourself to be very vulnerable on Monday night's performance show through singing "Hurt" by Christina. Was it easier or harder to go out after opening yourself up to the world like that, especially when it comes to the song's connection with your father?

Bryan Bautista: I just felt confident enough as a performer to take on a performance like that, but it's hard to tap into those emotions when you haven't been seasoned into performing, you know?

When you're performing fresh out of the gate, it's hard to tap into those emotions only because you're thinking about technical things and staging and movements and hitting a certain note, or you think about how you're singing.

But once you've been on the show for so long, I feel like I can speak for everyone when I say we're actually comfortable on that stage at this point. So, I feel like it was my time to give a vulnerable performance like that because I could focus on the emotions instead of everything else you would.


Also during the conference call, Bryan talked to reporters about his "Instant Save" song choice and more.

Why did you sing "Adorn" for your "Instant Save" performance?

Bryan Bautista: It's just a song that I've loved ever since I heard it. I love Miguel and I've always listened to him as one of my influences. So, you know, the music director, they're in close contact with us, and they always ask us what we would like to sing, and they always offer suggestions and lists of songs.

As soon as I saw "Adorn" by Miguel, I was just connected to it, so I felt like it was a good opportunity to sing another one of my influences on the show.

What's next for you? What type of music would you like to make?


Bryan Bautista: The type of artist I consider myself is a contemporary artist. I love the songs that are out now, and I love the vibe of music that I'm hearing on the radio today, and some underground stuff too.

I would just love to be a contemporary artist, like some pop-soul and R&B. Anything I would sing, I'd just bring a soulful aspect to it. I've worked hard to try to basically stay true to who I am on the show, so all of my song selections basically reflect the type of artist I want to be.

Do you have any regrets? Was there any one thing you would have done differently looking back?

Bryan Bautista: Basically, I mean, the one thing I would say I regret is probably not giving you a bit of salsa steps and some merengue in addition. (Laughs) So that's probably the only thing I regret. But on a serious note, I had so much fun.

I'm just proud of myself for staying true to who I was as an artist, only because you're able to look at yourself in the mirror and be happy with the person that's looking back when you do that.


So, I'm pretty excited about everything that I've done, and I'm going to take a couple of days to reflect on everything that transpired from last season to the Blind Auditions of this season, all the way up until now. So, I'm happy with the way everything transpired, and I can't wait for the future, honestly. This is an incredible beginning to all of our careers... so what more could you ask for? I really have no regrets.

What advice would you give to a future The Voice contestant?

Bryan Bautista: The biggest thing is always stay true to yourself... And as much as you can, always prepare. Hone in on your craft and polish your craft. If you're a piano player, they put in hours on the piano to be successful at playing piano, just the same as a vocalist.

When you have to go out there on a strenuous schedule like we had, especially during the live shows, you have to take care of your voice... and make it better... And always give it 1,000% when you go out there. Then you'll be able to leave with no regrets.

Check Reality TV World's The Voice 10 webpage for more interviews with the four semi-finalists.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski