CARLTON FLETCHER: Albany singer ‘Chosen’ by ‘Voice’ coaches

A teenage idol, is what I’m gonna be.

— Elton John

Phillip Phillips must be experiencing a certain level of deja vu right now.

It was Phillips, a talented local musician who played at parties, local venues and other events around here for years, who was plucked from the obscurity of small-town America and transformed into a star on the now-defunct Fox TV series “American Idol.”

Phillips won the 2012 edition of “Idol” and has gone on to a successful post-TV career that includes the No. 1 hit “Home.”

On Monday, another Albany native — Josh Hunter, who uses the stage name JChosen — made his debut on the NBC musical competition series “The Voice.” And while it’s too early to say whether Chosen is destined for the same kind of success Phillips has enjoyed, he certainly got off to a rousing start.

Chosen, nee Hunter, was the first artist whose “blind audition” was aired on Monday’s season premier of “The Voice,” and I have to admit there was a cool kind of energy in the living room when the show started and he said, “I’m Josh Hunter from Albany, Georgia.”

Chosen sang Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing,” and by the time he finished, he had four of the biggest stars in the music industry literally begging him to join their “teams.” Despite the entreaties of country superstar Blake Shelton, R&B/pop princess Alicia Keys and pop/rock hitmaker Adam Levine (who fronts Maroon Five), Chosen stunned most viewers by selecting pop/ska star — and Shelton’s girlfriend — Gwen Stefani as his “coach.”

Chosen will have to get through a couple of one-on-one rounds in which he’ll be pitted against other singers on his team (a process that’s already under production) before he’ll have the opportunity to perform live and earn the votes of American viewers in an attempt to win the competition. But if Monday’s first-round showing, which left Keys fumbling for words, is any indication, he has an excellent shot at sticking around.

Now, I, like a whole lot of other Southwest Georgians, have an additional reason to watch “The Voice” this season. But I don’t really need one. I tried to be a musical “purist” and disregard shows like “The Voice” and especially “Idol” (which, I’ll admit, I never watched an episode of, only parts of the season in which Phillips appeared) because I thought it was a gimmicky affront to the process of creating music.

Plus, truth be told, the “celebrity” judges on “Idol” — Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell … ugh — did not in any way inspire me to want to sit through a show in which each went through his or her shtick. Paula was the sweet one. Randy was the cool one. Simon was the mean one. Right.

But the truth is, the music industry has changed so dramatically, a talented singer/songwriter like Phillips might never have gotten the chance to prove himself outside this region if he’d had to go through the studio system the way artists have up until digital home-recording and social media changed the face of the industry. And shows like “Idol” gave many an opportunity to showcase their talents to huge audiences.

I was predisposed to looking on “The Voice” with the same kind of disdain, but it surprised me. It was on one night, I watched for a little while, and found myself hooked. The heart and soul of the show are Levine and Shelton, whose constant “feuding” is somehow endearing rather than annoying. That’s probably because Shelton genuinely doesn’t seem give a rat’s rear what anyone else thinks of him.

There have been other talented artists — CeeLo Green, Pharrell Williams, Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Usher, and perhaps most unforgettable, Miley Cyrus — in the judges’ seats from year to year, and the common traits that all of them have displayed are a genuine love for music and what appears to be sincere interest in helping the contestants get a foot in the door of the music industry.

It’ll be a couple of weeks before we see JChosen again, and a month or so before — if he advances — we get a chance to vote for him in the competition. We all helped create one musical idol. Let’s hope we get a chance to do it again.

Email Carlton Fletcher at [email protected]. Follow @ABH_Fletcher on Twitter.