It鈥檚 a wild world for 涩里番下载 alumnus Troy Ramey.
A 2011 graduate of the Woods College of Advancing Studies, Ramey is a current contestant and 鈥渕ajor contender鈥� on N涩里番下载鈥檚 hit show "The Voice."
Dedicating his blind audition to his late father, Ramey sang 鈥淲ild World鈥� by Cat Stevens, resulting in all the celebrity coaches鈥擜licia Keys, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Gwen Stefani鈥攙ying for his talent to join their team.聽 Ramey鈥檚 performance was the first of season 12 to result in a four-chair turn around鈥攖he highest audition praise afforded by the coaches.
鈥淵ou moved me and your voice is so tender,鈥� said Stefani, whom Ramey ultimately chose to be his coach for the remainder of the season.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to explain how amazing that audition was,鈥� said Ramey in 聽 鈥淚t was an experience I鈥檒l never forget.聽 All of my years of practice really did lead up to that one moment, as clich茅 as it sounds.鈥�
Growing up, the Vermont native aspired to playing, or coaching, pro basketball; his father, Wayne, was the head coach of his high-school basketball team. When his father passed away during Ramey's sophomore year at 涩里番下载, the communication major turned to music for solace.
鈥淚 also grew up in a musical household," he told The Standard.聽 "My dad was a musician, so singing was always part of life.聽 I loved to sing, although I never really had the guts to do so in front of anyone until I was older,鈥� said Ramey.
After college, Ramey moved to New York where he began to take part in open-mic nights to share his talent, which ultimately led to his blind audition.
鈥淚 would be lying if I didn鈥檛 say I was a little nervous,鈥� Ramey said of his audition.聽 鈥淚n that short amount of time we have to try and show exactly who we are.
鈥淔ortunately, I was able to do that with a song that both my father and I loved,鈥� Ramey said.
Since his blind audition performance wowed the judges, Ramey has made it through the show's "Battle Round" competitions between pair performances and is headed for the next level, the "Knockouts," which pit individual artists against one another. Watch Ramey on . To learn more about him, visit his website .
-Siobhan Sullivan / University Communications