For a pair of Maryland singers, competing on two of television’s most popular singing competitions
was a dream.
Although their times on the shows were cut short, both came out of the experiences with lessons about what is important to them as artists.
Baltimore native Katyrah Love didn’t have high expectations when she auditioned for “American Idol” in 2021.
“In the very beginning when I auditioned, it was for fun…. I had never been past the auditioning stage of a competition. I just wanted to see how far I could go,” Love said.
During her audition, which aired earlier this year, Love dazzled “American Idol” judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan with her rendition of Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love For You” and progressed in the competition.
The singer Funsho, who competed on “The Voice” in 2018, said he was surprised just to make it to his televised audition.
“Going into ‘The Voice,’ by the time I was on TV, I had already jumped so many hurdles and come further than I imagined I would in the process. For me, every step forward was a welcome surprise,” said Funsho, a resident of Lanham, Maryland who is originally from Lagos, Nigeria.
Singing Bruno Mars’s song “Finesse” during his blind audition for “The Voice,” Funsho inspired three out of the four judges – Adam Levine, Jennifer Hudson, and Kelly Clarkson — to turn their chairs around, signifying that they wanted him to be part of their respective teams for the competition. Funsho ultimately chose to join Levine’s team.
As the “American Idol” competition progressed, the intensity heightened for Love.
“I definitely noticed my approach changed after my trip to Hawaii with the ‘American Idol’ crew,” she said. “Hawaii was more relaxed. It was cool, but we also had a competition going on. It was fun. But then instantly, when we’re back in Los Angeles, you have to be on your A-game. They don’t show this, but we were doing vocal coaching, rehearsing with the band consistently, you’re practicing by yourself, you’re doing other things like B-roll.”
Love focused on how she could outdo herself with each performance, and the improvements she made during her run on “American Idol” stayed with her after her time in the competition ended.
“Each week, it wasn’t even like you were in a competition with other people,” she said. “You were in a competition with yourself. And that’s where it becomes a mind game. You have to get out of your head, and have to be a better version of you than you were the week before. Even to this day, I realize I’m hitting notes I wasn’t hitting before competition. I really pushed myself. Now every one of my performances is like a competition with myself.”
Funsho doesn’t feel his stance toward music changed after going on “The Voice.”
“Being on ‘The Voice’ didn’t change my view on music really at all,” he said. “For me, it was an opportunity and a unique experience at that moment in time. I feel like I’ve always separated that from how I view myself as an artist and a creative in a way.”
But competing did give Funsho the chance to share his singing with a new and bigger audience on a national stage.
“‘The Voice’ was a rare opportunity for me to introduce my face, vocal talent, and personality to the world,” he said. “I’m grateful that through that introduction so many people have gravitated towards my real artistry, because that’s what matters to me more than the airtime, or the blue checks, or the incredible names I had the opportunity of rubbing shoulders with.”
Although Funsho survived “The Battles” and “The Knockouts” rounds of the competition, he was eliminated during the first week of the “Live Playoffs” round after singing “How Long” by Charlie Puth.
Love made it to the Top 20 singers of her season of “American Idol.” But her performance of “Through the Fire” by Chaka Khan was unable to earn her a spot in the Top 14.
After being eliminated from their respective competitions, Love and Funsho took the losses differently.
“Not winning the whole competition did not directly impact my artistry really,” Funsho said. “However, the whole experience itself may have, in the sense that living it was a part of my reality, and my reality is inexplicably tied to my art. My artistry is something separate from the opportunity itself, and the exposure it provided.”
Meanwhile, Love’s emotions after losing “American Idol” ranged from sadness to stoicism, panic to confusion, and finally hope for her future.
“Initially, when I got off the stage along with other contestants who were eliminated, everyone was sad and I took on the role of the strong Black woman, unintentionally,” she said. “I was going to cry, but I thought to myself: ‘We made it so much further than we had expected.’ But then it sunk in when I got home. I started panicking. I thought ‘Oh my gosh, what is going to be my job? How am I going to pay for my bills? How do I pay for my rent?’”
Fortunately, Love was able to lean on her support system for financial help, but a question remained for her: what was next?
“I asked: Now what are you going to do? You have to outdo yourself, Katyrah. You’ve done Apollo. You’ve done ‘American Idol.’ Now, are you going to go on another show? What are you going to do? People have a lot of expectations and ask questions,” she said.
Now, Love is working on the next steps to strengthen her brand and get back to what she loves: making music.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do. I ended up shutting down for a hot second,” she said. “But it opened my eyes to the things that I should be doing as an artist. I need to have music out. I’ve been writing and recording to have my portfolio up. I need a website; just different things I could be doing to better myself.”
Readers can keep up to date with Love and Funsho on Instagram at @katyrahlove and
@funshomuic.
