THE VOICE Contestant Advocates for Adoption, Autism Awareness After Stunning Judges
By Movieguide® Contributor
Indiana native Jackson Snelling stunned THE VOICE judges with his performance of “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away” and opened up about his advocacy for autism awareness and adoption.
Upon his performance, both Reba McEntire and Gwen Stefani turned their chairs.
“Whenever I got into the song after Miss Gwen turned, that high note that Miss Reba turned for me on, I had my eyes closed for,” Snelling shared.
“So, I did not hear or see her turn at all. So, when I opened my eyes back up, she was there, and I was like ‘oh my gosh!’ I mean, I’ve idolized Miss Reba since I was a kid. I love all of her music. I know her story. I know almost everything about her. I love her so much. And when she turned for me, I almost lost it I could’ve fainted right there on stage,” he continued.
While introducing himself to the judges, he shared about his autism diagnosis.
“Now I am proud to be here and say I have autism, and being on the spectrum, music has helped me so much,” Snelling told the judges.
Snelling’s brother also has autism. Growing up, Snelling would often sing to his brother to help stimulate his brain and learn to talk, Taste of Country reported.
His song choice was a tribute to his dad, who adopted him and later died when Snelling was only 7.
“My mom and my dad were obviously my heroes growing up,” he shared. “They adopted me and my brother knowing we were on the spectrum, knowing the challenges they would have to deal with and they did it anyways. I picked that song so I could feel closer to my dad on that stage.”
While McEntire and Stefani vied for him to join their teams, Snelling chose McEntire, revealing he grew up listening to the country star.
“If there was a bigger Reba fan in the world than me, it would be my dad,” Snelling said. “My dad and my mom were huge Reba fans, had all of her cassettes, records. And I just really wanted and wished that my dad could’ve been there for that awesome moment in my life. So, I thought the next best thing is I could feel him there by putting all of my emotions about him into this song. So, I felt like he was with me on that stage when I was performing.”
Keep up with Snelling and the other contestants by watching THE VOICE on NBC on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/7c and the following day on Peacock.
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