Stefan impresses judges on ITV’s ‘The Voice’
BIMM London Vocals graduate Stefan Mahendra recently achieved success on ITV’s hit talent show The Voice, whilst also being the first act ever to be selected to perform a second time with his own band.
Stefan recently made it through to the blind audition stages of the latest series of The Voice UK, where he sang a fantastic version of Childish Gambino’s hit track ‘Redbone’. Stefan received positive responses from judges Jennifer Hudson and Olly Murs, both of whom spun their chairs in approval of his stunning vocal performance.
Once fellow judge and Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.I.Am weighed in with visible excitement at the performance, Stefan was invited to perform for a second time – a first in the show’s history – with his own band members, who were waiting backstage to show their support.
Completed by fellow BIMM graduates Iain McFarlane (Drums), Keshav Kanabar (Bass) and Myles Peters (Guitar), Stefan’s band ‘Brown Sugar’ then performed their own unique version of Gnarles Barkley’s number one smash hit “Crazy”.
After the amazing performance, Olly promised that if Stefan agreed to join his team for the current series, then he would have Stefan and Brown Sugar supporting him on tour this year too. This, no doubt, was an opportunity not to be missed.
After weighing up his options, Stefan indeed went on to select Olly as his mentor for the remainder of the show. Here’s what Stefan had to say in the wake of the momentous appearance.
“For me, this is one of the best moments of my life! To even have my band there watching and supporting me on The Voice was amazing enough but when they were invited up to play with me, I don’t think any of us could believe what was going on! I was constantly looking at them during the performance, with the look of – ‘Is this really happening right now?!’ Straight after that performance we had a big night out!”
On reflection, after such a whirlwind of support for Stefan and the band online, Stefan is still very much certain that he made the right choice opting to be taken under Olly Murs’ wing for the remainder of the series.
“Being part of Team Olly so far has been brilliant. He’s such a down to earth, genuine, caring mentor and he wants the best for all of us on his team. He really understands how we all feel, as he has been through a very similar process. I am currently preparing for the Battle stage, and I am so excited for this.
We couldn’t be happier for Stefan and wish him the very best of luck as he battles it out among the other hopefuls to try to get as far as possible on the show.
We’re also incredibly pleased at the prospect of Brown Sugar being invited to support Olly on his upcoming tour later this year.
If you’re interested in studying vocals at BIMM London, like Stefan did, click here.
