Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Manny Cabo, 45, of Elizabeth, N.J., auditioned with Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again.” He earned a nearly immediate chair turn from Adam Levine. Blake Shelton joined him on the first run-through of the chorus. Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani followed, giving Manny a four-chair turn. Manny got high praise from all the coaches for his vocal power and range. He decided to join Team Adam.

His background: Manny is a freelance and commercial photographer whose work has been featured in major magazines. But he says it’s been his lifelong dream “to rock the stages.” So he performs in cover bands on the side. Manny says he’s been playing drums since he was in fifth grade, but never pursued singing until his first year in college. He says he’s been in so many bands, he’s lost count, performing everything from R&B to Spanish music. One of his favorites, he recalls, was an in-your-face rock band. “I need to let the world know that at 45, it’s never too late.” He calls The Voice his opportunity to “go out there and establish myself as the artist I want to be.”

What the show didn’t show: On his website, Manny identifies himself as a musician, photographer, actor and motivator. And he’ll swap you “seven secrets” on how he made it on The Voice in exchange for your email address. He apparently forget to include fashion designer in that brief bio summary, because he also has developed a line of T-shirts — CNTEEZ Apparel — that you can learn more about through his website.

As for music, his Voice bio says Manny has performed in a number of bands, but never found “the perfect fit for his eclectic style. Nevertheless, you can listen to five songs on that website, including three unreleased demos of apparent originals from 2005. And here’s how he sums up his approach to his artistic endeavors: “By no stretch of the imagination am I the best at anything I do, but one thing is for certain, I will always strive to improve, learn, assist and be the best artist that I can be and hopefully inspire other artists to do the same.”

There’s little doubt his decision to perform “Here I Go Again” was a nod to his persistence in trying to make it big as a musician. As for choosing to join Team Adam — well, in a conference call with the media, Manny said he was actually leaning toward Blake before the audition began. “But Adam hit a nerve with something and he brought back some good memories and he kind of related to growing up with the age of rock stars in the 1980s and playing in garage bands, and it seems that that element of music is kind of missing from contemporary music … It was just his support and the verbiage that he used to relate to me. It kind of hit home and I was really comfortable and I walked off that stage with no doubts in my mind that I had made the right choice.”

On iTunes: Just his performances from The Voice.

Update:
Battle round: Lost to Keith Semple, singing “Baba, O’Riley” and was eliminated.

Keeping up with Manny:
Website
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter: @akamannycabo

Heard it Through the Grapevine (cover)

Angel Son (cover)

Voice audition — “Here I Go Again”