In 2016, an extraordinary candidate distinguished himself during season 5 of “The Voice”. With his beatbox cover of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” during the auditions, the singer-songwriter had completely bewitched the coaches and the public. A virtuoso rapper, he made it to the final. His status as an emblematic candidate for “The Voice” had allowed him to be called back for the “All-stars” version of the program where he had climbed back into the final square.
Today, these “disappointments” of not having been crowned “most beautiful voice in France” have not destabilized him. Far from it, Mohamed Belkhir, his real name, began a career in comedy in the cinema. Alongside Michèle Laroque, he reveals himself in “Ténor”, the story of a young city rapper who discovers opera. To discuss this new experience, MB14 was the guest of the show “En Aparté” on May 5th. The 26-year-old artist took the opportunity to return to his first blind audition in “The Voice”. A painful memory that has left its mark…”It’s a very hard moment. That day, we were called at 10 a.m. and I came at 10 p.m. Which means that for twelve hours, you do interviews, you talk to people to pass the time, you rehearse your song, you worry and you create a thousand and one scenarios because it’s a key moment in a career. And two hours before, I’m so stressed and tired because I haven’t necessarily slept much the night before, that I have the voice that says ‘Stop’. So when I sing the chorus, my voice is broken“, he confided.
This moment of weakness turned him upside down until his emotion overwhelmed him. “I was vocally exhausted which caused me to burst into tears because I was like, ‘Why is this happening to me now? Why when I have the chance to play on the biggest musical program in France, my voice fails me?’ I burst into tears and there is Damien Silvert, who is a vocal coach on The Voice, who comes to see me. He comforts me and tries to soothe me”, he explained to Nathalie Lévy. But MB14 was able to regain control and as we heard, his voice was indeed there. “I don’t know what happened but I managed to do things. I don’t know how I did even today“, he rejoiced.