Mitchell Lee Continues To Impress On The Voice

Mitchell Lee is proving why he belongs on The Voice with each performance. The South Carolina native continues to Impress coach Blake Shelton and has moved on to The Voice Playoffs.

During the Battle Rounds Lee faced off against Dennis Drummond. The pair sang' "Mr. Jones" by the Counting Crows For Lee it was more of a duet then a battle. Lee would go on to win the Battle Round remaining on Team Blake and moving on to the Knockout Rounds.

“The Battle Round experience I think luckily for me, was in contrast to going head to head against somebody it was more joining somebody in a great duet, a friend of mine. We also had a good time jamming together so we were looking forward to putting on a great performance as if we were a band to the crowd. We felt if we gave them that performance that both of us would have to stay. They would have to steal one of us. We enjoyed our time together rehearsing and went into the battles feeling like that,” said Lee.

During the Knockout Rounds Lee went up against Anna Catherine DeHart. Lee who chose to sing “I’ll Be” would win the round moving on to The Voice Playoffs. With each performance Lee is proving why he has become one of the artists to beat early on in the competition. The talented artist who is a big fan of DeHart’s admits it was a challenge going against an artist of her caliber.

“That one was definitely a different feeling because it wasn't a duet performance. There wasn't wasn't a feeling of being able to lean on a person during the performance. This was you completely by yourself, kind of a fight for your life. I felt that and there were moments where I thought for sure I was going home because Anna Catherine is such a phenomenal talent. We all rehearsed together as a team and critiqued each other as a loving supporter. So we all know each others abilities and skills and we’re all big fans of each other,” said Lee.

“I'm such a big fan of Anna Catherine because of how good she is. So I really felt in some moments that hey if this is when I go home I want to make sure that I at least put out a performance I could be very proud of. I know she even dealt with the same thing a little where she respected my talents that I brought to the table. In those moments we both want to move forward but we don't want the other to go home either. So it’s a big head game at that point and I went into it hoping I gave a good performance. Something I could be proud of and I was telling myself it didn't matter which way it turned out,” continued Lee.

With the song choice of “I’ll Be” Lee was able to stay true to his South Carolina Roots. According to Lee since he cannot sing his original music on the show, his goal is to sing his favorite songs.

“One of things that I thought would be really cool is while I was on the show I was able to sing some of my favorite songs because I'm not singing my original songs that i wrote. I wanted to be able to look back and watch myself sing my favorite songs. Being a kid from South Carolina in the 90s pop rock era, ‘I’ll Be’ was one of those songs that middle schoolers slow danced to even being two feet apart. It’s just such a strong memory bank in my generation growing up… I was just excited to sing another South Carolina song I felt I had already did that with a Hootie and the Blowfish song and was just trying to stay true to who I am as an artist…” said Lee.

During the Knockout Rounds superstar Kelly Clarkson severed as the key advisor for each team. Clarkson helped each artist put forth their best performance. According to Lee Clarkson was able to push him outside of his comfort zone, which helped him grow as an artist. The experience of working with Clarkson was pure joy for the talented artist.

“She’s the sweetest person on the planet, I’m pretty sure. She’s such an itty bitty thing, I hugged her again before we left and our time was up just because she was the sweetest thing I ever had the pleasure of working with. Her really feeling what Anna Catherine was doing, what I was doing and the feedback of her believing in us really kind of takes away the nervousness of singing to somebody who’s known as a global singing star. That can be very intimidating, but her being so approachable and so friendly you kind of forget the status and you just see her as a person. She's such a joy to work with,” said Lee.

To date Team Blake has not only worked with Clarkson but during the Battle Rounds they were able to work with Country Music Royalty Rascal Flatts. Each step on The Voice from the Blinds To the Knockout Rounds, to working with their coach and the mentors has prepared the artists for the Playoffs. According to Lee, he and Team Blake are going to put on a concert like performance for the viewers.

“The playoffs at this point I would say the team, we've grown so close together that for the playoffs it’s less like a head to head competition with one of our brothers or sisters. Which always feels a little weird because we’re like family. Then you have to battle against each other in these earlier rounds, but for the playoffs it’s kind of a free for all. Here lets just put on a Team Blake concert for people listening and we all just go up there and do our thing. I think that’s an exciting thing it takes a little bit of the competition pressure off of it and we just get to go out there and do what we do,” said Lee.

The Voice Playoffs begin tonight on NBC. The key for Lee is to remain true to who he is as an artist. If he is able to do that Lee will continue to impress.

“I think for me it’s about understanding who I am as an artist. Being surrounded by incredible vocalist and recognizing that maybe I shouldn't be trying to emulate, lets say Keisha [Renee]. She obviously can do insane things with her voice and if I were to try to copy that I wouldn't be able to pull it off. It’s really about me knowing who I am as an artist, staying true to myself and being authentically Mitchell Lee. If I can do that I think I can progress through to the next round,” said Lee.