On a Sunday morning like any other, 5-year-old Tess Boyer took the microphone from her pastor father and stole the show.
Tess Boyer, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville senior political science major from Edwardsville, has been singing and dancing her whole life. Her father, Roy Boyer, said her church performance was the beginning of his daughter’s future in entertainment.
“At the conclusion of our service, we had music playing and people praying,” Roy Boyer said. “She came up to me and said, ‘I think I have a song I want to sing; I need the microphone.’ All of the sudden, she starts singing. Everybody stopped, looked and was amazed with what was going on; even I was like, ‘Whoa, where did this come from?’ It was very emotional and very touching. Everybody at that time began to realize she had a gift.”
After this, Tess Boyer’s life was filled with many forms of entertainment. She became involved in pageants and vocal competitions along with performances at the Muny, Fox Theatre and a year as a Rams cheerleader.
Just before her junior year at SIUE, Tess Boyer said she discovered the popular singing show “The Voice” was holding auditions in St. Louis.
“I wasn’t going to go because I didn’t want to do a TV show, but they were coming to St. Louis and people were like, ‘You should do it,’” Tess Boyer said. “I said ‘Alright, but I’m not singing anything anybody wants me to. I’m going to go be obstinate and rebel.’ I sang “Bounty” from the movie “Burlesque,” which I knew nobody would really know because it’s from a movie, but it’s a killer tune.”
Tess Boyer said she waited nine hours to audition and was in the last group of contestants on the second day of St. Louis auditions. Contestants sat in a circle of 10 people and took turns singing to a producer.
“I was tired and cold and just wanted to do this and go home,” Tess Boyer said. “I got done singing and the producer goes, ‘Okay, everybody, thank you. But Tess, come here. For the next round I want you to sing something that people know — a little bit more pop. I really think you should go pop.’ So I made it past the second round and flew out to L.A.”
Tess Boyer said once she passed the first round, “The Voice” suddenly became a very important part of her life.
“This consumed my every thought,” Tess Boyer said. “I knew I had made it past the first round in June, past the second round in July and I knew I was on Usher’s team in October, but I couldn’t tell anybody until February.”
Tess Boyer said she went through two and a half months of auditions before she could try out in front of the judges.
“They announced your name the night before of who was going that next day; I have never experienced that flood of emotions before in my life,” Tess Boyer said. “It was that feeling of, ‘I’m happy I’m getting to go and I have the opportunity to be on a team,’ but then you’re at the point of, ‘It’s coming right now, two and a half months of working on your hands and knees.’”
Tess Boyer said the next day, she woke up at 5 a.m. to get ready to sing in front of the coaches.
“I’ve never been that nervous before. I blacked out completely; all I know is I was on Usher’s team,” Tess Boyer said. “He is the exact person I wanted when I heard he was [a judge].”
Tess Boyer said contestants don’t spend a large amount of time working directly with their coach. They spent a month and a half preparing for the first battle round and worked with Usher three or four times. She said the majority of the time is spent working with their partner.
“I always watched it as an audience member and thought, ‘Why are they always so happy for the other person?’ and then I realized why,” Tess Boyer said. “The girl I was with the first time, [Bria Kelly], I could not stand her; I didn’t like her or her personality. Then I started to spend time with her and we became inseparable. I liked having a partner; you go through so much emotional stress and it’s traumatic. It’s like you walk through fire with the same person every day.”
Tess Boyer lost the first battle round to Kelly, but was stolen by Blake Shelton to be on his team.
“Usher was really cool, very suave, very informative and strategic in the way that he coached,” Tess Boyer said. “Blake was chill and beautiful. He’s so much fun; he’s like a cheerleader in the way he coached.”
For the second battle round, Tess Boyer fell short to her partner Jake Worthington.
“I was like, ‘Well shoot, here I am losing again; this is horrible,’” Tess Boyer said. “Then before I could take another breath, I heard three buttons pushed; all three of them used their one steal on me. Then I had no idea what to do. When people are begging and fighting for you and they are superstars, how do you differentiate any sort of perception? Shakira was shaking in her seat and the stuff that she said to me hit home. I’m really happy I ended up going with her.”
Tess Boyer said during the playoff round, she had her favorite performance moment on the show.
“I sang “Human” by Christina Perri and that was my stand out moment. [Shakira] picked me first to be in her top three,” Tess Boyer said. “I remember [when preparing], hiding myself in my room and thinking about the emotion of the song and just breathing it. I had gone from losing twice to being the top contender.”
Tess Boyer said she lost many friends during the playoff battle round.
“I know it’s weird to say ‘friends’ since it’s a competition, but they become family,” Tess Boyer said. “It’s almost as if they die when they go off the show; you grieve their leaving because you will never be with them again like that.”
Once Tess Boyer passed the playoff round, she said she knew she had made it to the top 12 and did not know what to expect.
“I feel like no one knew what to expect,” Tess Boyer said. “You’re going into a live show and people are voting for you; it’s completely different. The performance part is the same; it’s the same stage and band. Then you get done and the comments are rushed and you can’t really say a whole lot back to the coaches because it’s on a timed schedule. It’s also long days, 6 a.m. to midnight — very taxing emotionally and physically.”
Tess Boyer said the worst part of this process was the results show, specifically being in the bottom three. The first time, she said she was expecting to go home.
“Whenever they announced I was safe, I was in utter shock,” Tess Boyer said. “I dropped out of the camera shot; they had to pan down to see me. So the next week, I knew I had to work really hard and come out swinging. But come next week, I was a little more prepared for it the second time. I knew when I was in the bottom with [Kelly] that we were both going home; it just made sense to be battling each other and then go out together.
Tess Boyer said she has been hired by KSDK Channel 5 to live tweet and watch this season of “The Voice.”
“I didn’t want to watch this season originally; every single week it’s like you’re back in it,” Tess Boyer said. “You take yourself back into that moment; you know a lot behind the scenes. It’s difficult, but I’m happy with it because I’m able to be constantly growing. It helps in the healing process; I feel like when you drag your life, heart, mind and soul through something and you have to heal eventually.”
Since “The Voice,” Tess Boyer has been given the opportunity to sing at various sporting events and has been given a multitude of platforms to share her talents with others.
Tess Boyer’s former dance coach, Hilary Duncan, said she knew from day one that Tess Boyer was on to bigger and better things.
“I knew she was going to be famous; it was just a matter of when it was going to happen,” Duncan said. “Tess is genuinely one of the nicest, most talented people you will ever meet; she has a special drive about her that makes her stand out.”
Tess Boyer said as a political science major, she had many plans for her future — plans that were thrown for a curve once “The Voice” happened.
“Before the show, I wanted to go to law school, so I planned on staying here and doing that,” Tess Boyer said. “Now I have three options; I can stay on with News Channel 5, take the bar and go to law school, or tour. These are three options that are huge life decisions; right now I’m meditating on them.”
Roy Boyer said he is proud of his daughter for who she is as a person, not simply for the things she has accomplished.
“Deep down in her heart she’s always said, ‘I just want to make people smile and give them something to be happy about,’” Roy Boyer said. “She’s used this opportunity to go out and speak to people, and I think that’s what’s most rewarding — to see that your child cares about others.”
Tess Boyer said now this journey is over, she sees things in a different way than before and is blessed for the ways it has changed her.
“I feel like I’m completely different in regards to being a young woman,” Tess Boyer said. “I learned a lot about myself, strengths that I didn’t even know that I had, work ethic and the ability to let my guard down a little bit. I’m excited that I was not prepared; I went in thinking it was going to be something and I came out and it was the greatest opportunity and experience that I’ve been through.”
Caitlin Grove
Via alestlelive.com



