Orlando mom Sisaundra Lewis has a musical career that spans a decade. She's worked with Peabo Bryson, Patti Labelle, Michael Bolton and Céline Dion, just to name a few. You can hear her in jingles for tons of well-known products like Doublemint Gum, Dr. Pepper and Arby's (what up, Pharrell's hat?). She's done production work with Andrew Lloyd Weber and Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs. She's had a number one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Despite all of these accomplishments, only recently has she become a household name ... if you watch The Voice, that is.
Lewis, who says she learned her craft watching her mom sing in church, also spent 10 years working at Downtown Disney's Cirque du Soleil while raising her three children. In fact, it was Lewis' 15-year-old daughter that convinced her to audition for the reality competition. "I said I was too mature. She said the show didn't have an age limit," Sisaundra told Wet Paint. "How can you turn down a teenager when you're telling them they can do anything? I'm here because of my daughter encouraging me."
During Lewis' initial blind audition for the show, she accomplished the difficult feat of getting all four judges to swivel their chairs around, communicating their desire to mentor her. Both Usher and Adam Levine gave her less-than-glowing reviews, saying Lewis still had room to grow as a performer. In the end, it was Blake Shelton's impassioned speech that tipped the scale in his favor.
Last night, she had what was probably her finest hour on the show. Or finest two minutes, but who's counting? At her mentor's suggestion, she sang Steve Perry's "Oh, Sherrie." She closed out the show with a big, brassy performance of the rock power ballad. According to Adam Levine, Lewis' performance "literally blew the roof off the building and that while there was no longer a ceiling, it was entirely worth it."
Tonight at 8 p.m., we'll find out if our homegrown superstar will make it past the public vote and into the top eight. Voting includes purchases of the performances on iTunes, and if these are any indication, Sisuanda Lewis should be hanging around for another week, at least.
Watch her roof-blowing performance from last night:
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